Mon 8 Dec 8.00 Tues 9 Dec 5.45
Dir: Terrence Malick (1973/reissued 2008) US 94mins
Cast: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates
One of 2008’s highlights – a welcome reissue of one of the most impressive directorial debuts ever. On the surface, it's merely a rural gangster movie in the tradition of Bonnie and Clyde, with its young 'innocents' going on a seemingly gratuitous homicidal spree across the Dakota Badlands. But what distinguishes the film, beyond the superb performances of Sheen and Spacek, the use of music, and the luminous camerawork by Tak Fujimoto, is Malick's unusual attitude towards psychological motivation: the dialogue tells us one thing, the images another, and Spacek's beautifully artless narration, couched in terms borrowed from the mindless media mags she's forever reading, yet another.
“Malick’s debut movie as a director from 1973 looks even more effortless and sublime 35 years on.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
