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, 穷山恶水
“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.
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…
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…
“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!)
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…
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.
Director Terrence Malick's feature film debut is a beautifully shot, elegantly crafted & fluidly narrated crime drama that wonderfully exhibits his cinematic eye for detail & breathtaking imagery and also happens to be his most accessible film to date.
Having gained a significant cult following over the years, this classic has a lot in store for both fans & detractors of this filmmaker, as the former will find an early glimpse of Malick's blossoming talent while latter will be pleased with the absence of those rambling philosophical voice-overs.
Loosely based on the real-life murder spree of Charles Starkweather & his adolescent girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate in 1958, Badlands tells the story of Holly Sargis; a young teen who falls for an older rugged guy…
