1973 Directed by Terrence Malick
Dramatization of the Starkweather-Fugate killing spree of the 1950s, in which a teenage girl and her twenty-something boyfriend slaughtered her entire family and several others in the Dakota badlands.
Malas tierras, Пустоши, La rabbia giovane, Terra de Ninguém, Det grymma landet, 황무지, 恶土, 不毛之地
Westerns Intense violence and sexual transgression sexuality, sex, disturbed, unconventional or challenging death, profound, symbolism, philosophical or vision western, outlaw, cowboy, shootout or gunfight murder, crime, drama, compelling or gripping journey, scientific, humanity, documentary or earth Show All…
“The film's tag line ("In 1959 a lot of people were killing time. Kit and Holly were killing people") inspired the Zodiac Killer, who had been lying low for years, to write a letter to a newspaper denouncing their flippant attitude to violence in society by running such an ad.”
this man and his many hats made the zodiac killer come out of retirement and we should all be terrified
It's gorgeous and serene and wistful plus Martin Sheen murders a ton of people
“Wait!” called Terence Malick. “You didn’t hear the last ingredient! A dearth of style and the sympathetic POV of a morally-accessible character as to not misrepresent any portrayals as glorification!“ But Oliver Stone was already out the door.
Wonderful. So warm and simple it feels like a movie I've known all my life. The tone and ease of a movie a teacher would've shown us in high school with the subject matter of a movie a teacher would've shown us in high school before being fired for something everybody heard rumblings about. Anything interesting I could say about this movie would be ruined if you ever found out I spent every four minutes saying "Badlands" with a Chet Haze-ian patois.
93/100
"I'll kiss your ass if he don't look like James Dean."
Eden ripped to shreds. Terrence Malick's debut feature is an American dream in all its tranquility and outrage, contrasting the tedium of innocence with the rebellion of boundless sunsets and an eternal joyride of attachment. Kit and Holly were made for each other, as the saying goes, but that instant affection moves beyond love, instead speeding towards the resounding finality of damnation. Malick thrives in the visual construction of his worlds, expressing purity with the sight of beaming white short shorts and persuasive dread through a protective Father catching a glimpse of his worst nightmare in a mirror. Speeding cars feel less like a method of transportation and…
Facts.
Holly is a naive, young girl. She has (/had) a dog. She is scared of being with Kit; she is scared of being without him. Kit is a lonely young man. He found a toaster. He is impulsive and charismatic and utterly insane. Badlands is all about the facts.
If I could ask Mr. Malick one question, it would be when facts ceased being sufficient to convey his vision. Badlands is an exceptional example of how fine a movie can be when it is straightforward, compelling, and 'easy' (which is a dirty word in some circles, apparently). This is not a dig against his emerging style as a purveyor of visualized emotion, but an appreciation of his skill at…
“Our age not only does not have a very sharp eye for the almost imperceptible intrusions of grace, it no longer has much feeling for the nature of the violences which precede and follow them.”
―Flannery O'Connor
(a choice quote by michael almereyda in the criterion booklet!)
This film has such a warm, open tone (brought on by those beautiful golden hues of the plains and the openness of the scenery) that the chilling, charismatic, and utterly delusional demeanor of Kit is that much more jarring. The narration by Sissy Spacek being so devoid of emotion also helps make the whole thing seem alien and distant. It's brilliant.
Sheen’s James Dean imitation is really great but the thing i love about Badlands the most is Spacek’s voiceover. Her voice lends the movie a dreamlike feel, there’s such a contrast between her tone and the violence we’re witnessing on screen.
In 1958, Charles Starkweather (age 20) and Caril Ann Fugate (age 14) went on a killing spree, murdering 11 people. This story serves as the basis for Malick's Badlands an amoral exploration of solitude, nihilism and love.
Malick's debut is an astonishing piece of cinema. The story he tells is simple and is filled with simple characters. This is something I always find in his films. But in Malick's particular niche of cinema it isn't always about the story, it is about evoking a sensation and conveying themes. And even though he is hesitantly discovering the boundaries of how far he can reach as an artist, he has already developed a sense of the lyrical realism that has become his…
