Days of Heaven - Jessica Nguyen

Days of Heaven was full of symbolism, mostly Biblical, and the narrative foreshadowed what was coming later during most of the movie. One of the first ones I noticed was when they were on the train and Linda's voice over is heard talking about a man she had met once that told her the Earth was going to go up in flames and that creatures would be running every which way, foreshadowing the fire that takes place later in the movie where we see animals running for their lives and the good people that escape the fire while the two men, Bill and the Farmer, end up dying in the end over their battle for Abby. Another time is when the accountant tells the farmer he should leave while he has the money. Instead, he stays, loses his crop from the locusts and the fire, gets his heart broken, and loses his life. Every one involved in the love triangle seems part of a tragedy, symbolically depicted by the locusts and the fire destroying the crops; Bill loses Abby to the farmer after being greedy for his money, Abby loses both of the men she loves, and the Farmer loses his life in a jealous rage over Abby and Bill. The deep reds and oranges from the fire may symbolize the love and destruction of the three of them....two ending in blood and one running away on her own.

The first part of the movie, before the love triangle begins, shows the happiness and carefree-ness felt by the three main characters, Abby, Bill, and Linda, as they travel around and eventually end up on the farm, working yes, but also running around playing tag, playing in the river, and enjoying their lives together. The vast wide angle shots shown throughout this time show the beautiful colors of the "golden hour" which fit perfectly along with the lives of the three main characters. The warmness of the wheat fields, the calm of the blue skies, and the joy from the golden haze of dusk are perfect at depicting the happiness of Bill and Abby together, and Linda's carefree childhood. The only problem with having the whole film shot at the same time everyday was it made it difficult to understand time. Instead of basing time off of days and the sun moving through the sky like most films, time has to be discovered through the rare shots of seasons changing, the harvest being over, and when the new one begins.