Badlands (1973)

Badlands
Directed by Terence Malick
Written by Terence Malick
1973/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Holly Sargis: [voiceover] In the stench and slime of the feedlot he’d remember how I’d looked the night before. How I ran my hand through his hair and traced the outline of his lips with my fingertip. He wanted to die with me, and I dreamed of being lost forever in his arms.

In his debut, Terence Malick proves himself to be a master of poetry and light.

The story takes place in 1959 in the Badlands of South Dakota and Montana.  Holly (Sissy Spacek) is a 15-year-old girl practicing her piano and baton lessons.  Most of her ideas about life seem to have come from true confession and movie magazines.  Kit (Martin Sheen) is a self-obsessed 25-year-old who is being fired from his job as a garbage man as the movie starts.  He gets work at the local cattle yards but is really not cut out for employment.  He fancies himself as having the looks and cool of James Dean.  When he spots Holly out twirling her baton, she agrees with him and they are soon having a romance.  Holly’s father (Warren Oates) tries to put a stop to this so Kit shoots him and sets the house on fire.  Holly and Kit hit the road.

The remainder of the movie follows the trajectory of Kit and Holly as they cross the wide open spaces of Great Plains.  Kit proves himself a psychopath who is capable of killing for any reason or no reason at all.  The couple try to build a hideout and home in a woods but this is short lived.

I love the sparse landscape and dialogue which is so plain and poetic at the same time. The actors are perfect for their parts and the cinematography is glorious.  For a movie with so many murders, this is far more about mood than it is about action or suspense.  It has held up well over time and I recommend it.