Following the heavy scene with the locusts, I thought that the scene with the fire to burn them out was extremely impressive not only lyrically, but visually as well. In that scene, we are only given silhouettes much of the time, while in others there are dim lanterns swinging as the farm hands try to stop the fire before it spreads any further. The Farmer is frantic and distressed, and I think that this is a parallel to his feelings about his relationship with Abby. The fire is destroying the farm, yes, but it seems like it is also metaphorical in that a ‘fire’ is consuming his relationship with Abby; while he could notice a different kind of fire burning between Abby and Bill. He knows that something is up between the two of them, but he doesn’t exactly know how to stop it just yet, anyway. I think all of this too is projected onto Linda because she knows the truth about Abby and Bill, but we see her at times being somewhat happy and carefree when she’s in the company of The Farmer and Abby.
As for the visual elements that impressed me in this scene, I think it was just the overall awe of the only light seemingly coming from the fire itself and the few lanterns is like the “golden hour” of the daylight scenes. This fire scene is dark and invokes a certain element of anxiety and may not be as peaceful as the late evening scenes, but I found it to be just as intriguing as the others. The “golden hour” scenes are soft and comforting, but in contrast the fire burning scene was hard and troubling.
To take this film as Linda’s recognition for what were the Days of Heaven is perfect for the narrative context of this film. She carefully observes the world and people around her, even though at times it doesn’t seem like she cared much as a young girl. She did what she had to do, and then later as an adult she reflected on that time in her life with what seemed like a deep love for the place she’d spent a good part of her life in.
Nice job, Jessica. I like your interpretation of Linda as a narrator, and it's interesting, yes, how she seems to act so ambivalently toward the love triangle. I think you make a really interesting case for this to be a film completely about light. The light seems to tell the story throughout, from the soft light of the golden hour, to the various lamps and candles, moonlight, the light of the film projector brought by the pilots, and, of course, the fire. Very interesting.
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