Terrence Malick’s directing career has spanned four decades. Now that can be a bit misleading since he’s only made six films during that time. Still, that small body of work has been enough to make him one of my favorite directors. For me, a Malick movie is an experience. He’s an auteur who plays by no other rules other than his own and the quality of his films are always at a high level. There are also several thematic and visual distinctions that course through every Terrence Malick picture, stylistically and narratively differentiating them from most other movies.
It all started in 1973 with the release of “Badlands”. Malick was inspired by the real-life story of Clarence Starkweather, also known as the ‘Mad Dog Killer’. He and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate went on a killing spree through the midwest in the late 1950’s, murdering 11 people including her parents and her 2-year old sister. But the similarities between the film and the true story are few. “Badlands” does focus on an ill-founded young romance and the terrible events that follow but it looks at them through a much different lens than the true story would allow.
“Badlands” stars a 33-year old Martin Sheen who looked a lot younger than he was. He’s intentionally given a James Dean look with his white t-shirt with rolled up sleeves, blue jeans, dangling cigarette, and rebel-styled hair. He plays Kit, a rudderless ship with seemingly no direction or aspirations for his life. He’s just quit his job as a garbage collector and you get the sense that he has no idea what’s next.
While walking through the streets of a small South Dakota town, Kit comes across 15-year old Holly (Sissy Spacek) twirling her baton in her front yard. Spacek was almost 10 years older than the part but you would never guess it from her performance. She immediately comes across as an innocent and naïve young girl with a very veiled perception of the world. She lives alone with her father ever since her mother died a few years earlier. I got the sense that that loss had deeply affected her life. Holly falls victim to Kit’s charm and a romance follows, against the wishes of her father. From there, as with most of Malick’s movies, the story takes an idyllic idea and carries it through to a sad and violent conclusion.
In “Badlands” there are several things that Malick doesn’t reveal and several questions he doesn’t explore. For example we know practically nothing about Kit’s past. We also never get a clear idea as to the root of his violence. Personally I think it’s all found in his and Holly’s quest to find where they belong in the world. Malick gives us two characters who you could say create their own twisted fairy tale of existence. They romanticize their lives on the run and never seem to count the consequences or consider the damage the do. They live in a fantasy world of their own making. This evident from several scenes and conversations they have. We also sense it from Holly’s narration which we hear scattered throughout the movie.
In “Badlands” you’ll also see the genesis of Malick’s concentration on nature. Even then his camera seems to gravitate towards beautiful shots of the sun breaking through a leafy canopy, glistening dew on a flower petal, or the lively flow of water in a stream. It’s certainly not as profound as in his more recent pictures but it’s undeniably there. And throughout the film there seems to be a contrast between the beauty and peacefulness of nature and the skewed fantasy world the characters have invented.this subtle dichotomy is never more vivid than in the movie’s well-known tree house scene. I’ll leave it at that for those who haven’t seen it, but it’s a fascinating sequence.
Let me build on that last sentence. “Badlands” is a pretty fascinating movie and it’s a strong directorial debut for one of our best directors. It’s a well written tale of two lost souls dancing between idyllic naiveté and sociopathic violence. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Again, “Badlands” is an obvious birthplace of Malick’s particular and personal style of cinematic storytelling and that in itself is worth seeing. But there are also more unsettling stories of lost innocence and tragedy from Malick’s pen that are just as vital to making this a great film.
Keith & the Movies 
Outstanding write up! Easily one of my all-time favourite films, so glad you enjoyed it. Malick was ruthless and visually orientated from the get-go wasn’t he? Such a beautiful, yet haunting film.
Thank you very much. It’s so good and especially for a debut. He definitely set himself apart as a director starting VERY early in his career.
Couldn’t agree more, again, great post :).
Ashamed to say I have never seen badlands, always been on my to watch list. A timely reminder Keith, nice one 🙂
Yep. Hop to it my friend! 🙂
Nicely done my friend. Ya know, I still haven’t seen a single Terence Malick film. I’ve got Tree of Life and The Thin Red Line queued up to watch though. I’ll add this one to the list!
Not a single one??? Grrrrrrrr!!!!!!
I know, I know! I don’t know why, just never got round to it. I shall make it my mission to have seen at least one by this time next month!
No worries. I have plenty of movies that I haven’t seen that put me to shame. It’s funny, I so often see reviews of movies that I should have seen. That’s one of the great reasons I love following other blogs. It brings up movies that I need to watch.
This is one that I really should visit again. I remember not liking it very much but I have since grown to appreciate Malick. Excellent write-up bro.
Thanks man. I would love to read your thoughts after a revisit!
Nice review. I am also a big fan of Badlands. Amazing movie and one of my favorite Malick films.
Hey thanks. I can’t believe it took me so long to see it. I’m a big fan of his and you would think I would have seen this movie by now.
I love Malick but Sissy Spacek really creeps me out.
She has always been creepy hasn’t she? At least I think so.
Yeah, Carrie was pretty profound when I saw it by mistake when I was young.
Great review sir. Terrence Malick is probably my favourite director and I love this film. Like you point out, the two main performances are incredible. Sissy Spacek in particular I think.
Love your analysis of why they are doing the things they are doing and the romanticizing of it all, especially on the road. Will definitely keep some of those things in mind when I revisit the film.
Thanks. I appreciate the comments. It’s a shame it took me so long to see this movie. I love what he’s doing here. There are so many clever touches both visually and narratively. And then those performances. Just a great overall package.
I’m such a bad Malick fan, never seen this. 😦 It’s on my Netflix queue though, so I should fix that soon!
Awesome! Give it a shot
Okay, so I’ve only seen 34 minutes of The Tree of Life and all of Days of Heaven. Hated the 34 minutes of the former and thought the latter was okay if a little meandering. But Badlands is one I really do want to see. I can’t disagree about his nature shots, either.
You’ll love this! Tree of Life was my favorite film of 2011! Love that movie!
Been a long time since I made the rounds I figured this would be a great movie to comment on. You make solid points about Malick and the details of Badlands is right on. I’ve been working on a retrospective of sorts about Malick in what I believe is in a lot of ways a ‘de-evolution’ where he’s been steadily moving away from linear storytelling. I mean if you compare Tree of Life and Badlands, it’s hard to know they are coming from the same person (obsession with the minutiae of nature aside). On that note, I did review Tree of Life and given your reaction to it, I invite you over to check it out. Be warned, I cuts deep – deep across and into the grain of most reactions to it. “..dancing between idyllic naiveté and sociopathic violence…” ~ Nice line. Cheers0>
Thanks for stopping by. Love the comments. Malick is a very “different” filmmaker. I agree with you, his style of filmmaking has drastically changed. You can follow it throughout his filmography an see its steady turns and changes.
I re-watched this about a year ago Keith…it’s a great film. I think the thing I love about it most is that there’s this complete lack of reason for their actions, and as a couple of characters on a murder spree it’s hard to think of anyone more interesting than Kit and Holly as a result. I think Tarantino got close when he wrote Clarence Worley and Alabama Whitman in True Romance (though was well wide of the mark with Mickey and Mallory Knox!) You make some really good points about the use of the natural world in the review, enjoyed reading.
Thanks for the comments. Really appreciate it. It is a great film and a launching point for a great director.
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