Tuesday, September 29, 2009

days of heaven

I noticed this past weekend, as we drove by fields of corn and
soybeans, most had not yet been harvested. There were a few
freshly cut alfalfa fields and the contrasting tall golden corn was so
lovely. Even though I am a city girl, my roots are firmly planted in
the farmlands of the Midwest, and I enjoy basking in their simple
beauty.

The Netflix film, waiting in my mailbox on our return, was Terrence
Malick's Days of Heaven. Synchronicity came into play with my
thoughts of farmland and harvest. I was previously unaware of this
film's theme and had ordered it by suggestion of Netflix; you know,
the "if you liked this movie, you'll will like this one" kind of thing.

As it turned out, this was one of the most stunningly beautiful films
I've ever seen. It's a story about a young man (Richard Geer) who
flees Chicago in the early 1900s after an accidental murder in a steel
mill. He takes his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) and his younger sister
(Linda Manz, pictured above) to work harvesting wheat in Texas.
The photographic genius of cinematographer, NĂ©stor Almendros, who
won an Oscar for his work, and the endearing narration of the story,
by the raspy voiced young Manz, makes for an extraordinary
experience. Doesn't she look like she could be the girl on the left, in
thrashing photo below?

I descend from five generations of Indiana farmers and my DNA was
particularly tingling as I watched this movie. My grandfather
(pictured below, on a thrasher) told me stories of he and his brother
working with teams of thrashers, like this one pictured above, in
Ervin Township, Howard County, Indiana. It was very much a
community affair; the men and the traction engine were rotated
through the farms until all the harvest was in, and the woman would
get together and cook generous hot meals for the workers.

The scene from the movie below, of the dispensing of a blessing on
the field of wheat, before the harvest begins, is especially touching.
Now is the perfect season for watching this gorgeous movie, and
almost time to get out the woolly socks, too. So, do yourself a favor,
and add this film to your queue. It was so heavenly, I'm watching it
again tonight.
.

top photo: Flax worker near Yeovil, First World War, by Horace Nicholls

85 comments:

  1. What a lovely post, a slice of your past served with a side of present. And the movie, arriving just in time, became the dessert. If only we could revisit our past in such a beautiful way.

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  2. I saw this movie some time ago and I still have memories of how beautifully it was filmed--- the grainy, sepia infused fields in the sunlight-- it was like it was snowing dots of light. Being an artist, I love the cinematography of certain movies-- and this is one of them.

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  3. Yes, I totally agree. This movie is just stunning. Anyone with an artistic eye will adore it. Each frame is like a painting.

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  4. Fab post Willow, and a wonderful step into a history I know very little of. Thanks, and I will look out for the film!

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  5. I remember running through the corn fields as a child in Iowa and Illinois. This movie looks like one I would love.

    It is TRAGIC that now fully 80% of all our corn and soy is from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) which means it has altered DNA, affecting us in ways that have already proven frightening. I long for the return to REAL food and fields we can trust and bask in, like our forefathers did.

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  6. One of my top tens! Just love it, a truly stunning film.

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  7. Thank you , as always, another great suggestion......I am surrounded by those fields and love everyday

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  8. Now I have to see it, with reviews like these! I love movies!

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  9. Hurry and send it back! I'm sticking it on my Netflix list today.

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  10. Not until after I watch it again tonight!!

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  11. Wait ... Is it really almost wooly socks, huddle-under-the-afghan time again? My gosh, wasn't it just Spring?

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  12. Hey, I've been looking forward to woolly socks weather since spring!

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  13. oh, we share the scenery...here in michigan, our drives lately have been stunning...yes, the morning mists, but also those far-reaching golden fields of soybeans ready to snipped up looking like flowers out there, and the waving stalks of corn usually adjacent!
    *i'll have to check out the movie, and *yes, to wool socks. spring and fall are lovely here, and summer in taos my favorite. unfortunately, i get only snippets of that. the heavy humidity and heat of our midwestern summers start to feel like blizzards when you huddle inside, not to keep warm, but artificially cool. aw, weather.

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  14. Harvest -- especially with lots of people involved rather than one person in a giant machine -- is such a archetypal experience. This film sounds wonderful!

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  15. Wonderful post. I won't try to top any of the other comments. I clicked on the comment page and read Lakeviewer's comment and said yes that's what I wanted to say. Also, I haven't seen the movie, but I will now.

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  16. as always I trust your movie savvy - will head for netflix!

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  17. hey willow - i don't watch enough films and so thanks for this. i'll get the driver to pick me up a copy from the film shop!!! steven

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  18. THis is one of my all time faves... I saw it on TV years ago and was seduced. The story and scenes are striking and set to the haunting music of Saint Saens' Carnival of the Animals 'The Aquarium'... (a fabulous pairing!)
    It's sure to make the hair stand up on your neck and get choked up soaking in the beauty of this film. Thanks for reminding me... it's time to watch it again :)

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  19. Yes, Artslice, I forgot to mention the pairing of the music is indeed fabulous! I must buy a copy for my little DVD library.

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  20. I too saw this movie several years ago and was taken by the beautiful cinematography. I am not a big fan of Richard Gere but the movie was better than any one star. My grandfather and aunts did dry farming in Idaho and the Dakotas and this movie so reminded me of those harvests they talked about. Women making full dinners with pie for the working crew...such hard, hard work for everyone. I would love to see it again!

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  21. Great film. Much of it shot at "The Magic Hour" just before sunset. I thought you were about to write about another favourite, "Bound for Glory".

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  22. I have seen the film. You know I so love the photography in it. Absolutely gorgeous. Of course, they used filters for the movie, but the warm lighting are what photographers dream of having and seldom ever get.

    Great post, Willow.

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  23. I'm neither descended from farmers or the midwest but when I saw this compelling movie some time ago, I was wishing I was. I wanted so much to be a part of it all!

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  24. Sounds like a movie I would enjoy, especially the cinematography.

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  25. I think this country lost a lot of it's character when it moved to agribusiness. I've often thought that the industrial revolution was the worst thing that happened to the human race.

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  26. Terence Malick also directed Badlands (1973), loosely based on the Starkweather shooting spree of the late fifties. It starred a young Martin Sheen and a young Sissy Spacek. He didn't direct another film after Days for twenty years, when he directed The Thin Red Line. Malick also directed 2005's The New World. According to imdb.com, his film The Tree of Life is in post-production, slated for release next year.

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  27. K, I see "The Tree of Life" stars Brad Pitt...hmm...I'm not a big fan.

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  28. As a 7 year old, I learnt to drive sitting on a pillow behind the wheel of an old farm pick-up truck driving around & around a freshly harvested field of wheat. The delicious & redolent aroma of those fields will stay with me forever. As always, your delightful words have caused all those memories to come rushing back! Another Willow movie recommendation to attend to pronto.
    Millie ^_^

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  29. When I was 13, I went to visit some family out on the family farm in North Dakota. It was life-altering experience as I was a suburbian girl from Florida. Now that I have read your post, I want to check out that movie. I cannot help but wonder if my early teen memories will come surging back.

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  30. One of my all time top 10 movies, seen it at least 6 times. You should also see "Badlands" if you haven't, believe me, it will knock those wooly socks off.

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  31. Great film. Agree about Badlands. See it next, willow.

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  32. Fantastic post, and Days of Heaven is one of my favorite movies. You should also rent Malick's movie about the discovery of America whose name escapes me right now. I just relish his long, slow shots and the quiet sounds.

    I'm so into your blog and happy to have "found" it --

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  33. Thank you for the sugggestion!
    I shall watch that movie for sure.

    I am a country girl. Give me vast flat fields, and I am right at home there. I remember late summer days, when I drove the five miles home from school through ripe corn fields on my bicycle, there was a fragrance and a music in the air that will stay with me forever.

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  34. P.S.:
    When you look at my Sep 24 post,
    the first image is of such a ripe golden field at sunset. I get homesick right now.

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  35. Lovely review Willow. I love films that look like paintings and bring history to life. I shall look out for it. Good to see another non Brad Pitt fan and thank you for the comment on Johnny Depp. I had forgotten you were a fan JOKE :)
    xx

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  36. It's a great review. I love it when you write about your family's roots.

    Greetings from London.

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  37. Lovely post. Our little cottages, once homes to farm workers of yore, is completely surrounded by large field of wheat, barley and oats. Fields of gold still, even though all the crops were harvested about three or four weeks ago.

    The fields are still golden, but flat and unwaving. Large bales of straw dotted about, rolled into fat, short swiss roll shapes. Soon to be loaded onto tractor trailers and stored in huge mountains of bales.

    To think that only 60 plus years ago this was all done by a small army of farm workers, horses and carts and hard labour. Now it takes just two men a few hours ...

    Makes yer fink, don't it!

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  38. K, Maureen and Phil, okay, "Badlands" is all queued up for my next Netflix pick. Thanks for the suggestion!

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  39. interesting synchronicity. love the old photos and thanks for the movie recommendation.

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  40. The photo of your father is truly a beautiful and iconic American image. I am reminded of the work of Thomas Hart Benton, who was a WPA painter, a muralist, the mentor of Jackson Pollock, and one of th most under appreciated artists of the 20th century. Your heritage is continued in your writing and photographic work. Very nice blog.

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  41. Hi Willow,
    Great post. I love these old photographs especially when there are known of connections. Have to ask if the first one of the woman with corn is a relative of yours? She's iconically stunning and her facial features look so like yours.

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  42. I love love love! how you said your DNA was tingling!!!!!!

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  43. I will order it today Willow...it sounds wonderful, xv.

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  44. Beautiful post. Your writing ability equals your photographic skills. Well done.

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  45. Lori, I ADORE Thomas Hart Benton!!! I was in Kansas City this spring and was lucky enough to see many of his works at the Nelson Adkins Museum. Also have blogged on him a few times:

    http://willowmanor.blogspot.com/2008/07/thomas-hart-benton.html

    http://willowmanor.blogspot.com/2009/05/everythings-up-to-date-in-kansas-city.html

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  46. Oh man, I LOVE that movie. It's beautiful in every way. The kid's narration is so evocative and moving, and that last bit with the grasshoppers. Wow!!

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  47. Thanks, I am going to have ToonMan add it to the NetFlix queue

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  48. I too come from midwest heritage. Only I love to drive by the field with no urge to do anything about them.

    I have daydreamed about owning a farm though ...

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  49. beautiful review willow...i love it when a movie touches a part of our life we may have forgotten or brings back memories of wonderful days.

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  50. I love the pictures Willow!The first one is beautiful!

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  51. I hope you didn''t think I was being 'not nice' talking about your (former) black background. It is indeed easier on the eye now - and I loved this film, truly loved it. We watch our films on the wall with the aid of a projector and this would be perfect to see all blown up in such detail

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  52. FF, oh, not at all. Like I said, I loved the drama of the photos on the black, but hated the difficulty reading the text. I'm enjoying the change.

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  53. Oh, another great review. I so want to see this. Had not heard of it before. Thx Willow.

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  54. Wow, I feel like a needle in the haystack amongst all these comments.
    You have me sold on renting this movie, it seems like just the story and visual treat i could enjoy much right about this time.
    Your right, the girl in the movie looks very similar to the one in the left of the photograph. Same hairline and forehead. . .had me looking back and forth.
    Those photos are wonderful. Love them not only for the glimpse back in time but for the wonderful aesthetic that these old prints have. So full of age and texture.
    I replied to your comment about the camera review. No need to reconsider brands, both produce amazing equipment.

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  55. If you enjoyed Mallick, you must watch, "The Thin Red Line". It is one of the most beautifully shot war-films of our era.

    Kat

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  56. I love these photos. I have NOT seen this film but plan to do so! Thank you for the recommendation.

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  57. Kat, WT is a huge war movie buff. I think he may even have "The Thin Red Line". I didn't even realize it was directed by Malick. Guess I'm going to have to give it a watch. WT certainly won't be disappointed!

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  58. Thanks, Gary, I'll pop over to see what you have to say...

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  59. Boy these photos brought back some memories. Now I got to have my kisds get that movie.

    Thanks for visiting my blog.

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  60. What a lovely post. you have definitely whetted my appetite for this film.

    I must say that your history is fascinating.

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  61. Gosh, this sounds a hidden treasure.
    Shades of Grapes of Wrath ( sort of).
    Did you ever see Burnt by the Sun?
    Russian and about history and other things but very agricultural visually.

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  62. I remember watching this film once, but I have not seen it in a long time. Thank you for mixing it in with your family story!
    This morning we finally had some cool, crisp, dry air.
    I am so very ready for fall, and October.... a month I adore!
    Have you seen the cover of the special Martha Stewart Halloween issue?

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  63. Yes, e, I love "Burnt by the Sun" and actually own a copy. It's very evocative...the Russian farm and pastoral scenes are gorgeous.

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  64. FireLight, no, I haven't seen the MS Halloween issue. Should I keep my eye out?

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  65. Days of Heaven has been one of my favorite movies ever since it first came out. It's wonderful to see that so many others love it too. One of the most beautiful soundtracks ever also.

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  66. Willow, this post is amazing! The first photo of the woman is absolutely beautiful. I love the expression on her face.
    Thanks so much for sharing.

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  67. well, willow, wanna hear something weird?! this weekend i was down in a little town about 15miles from here - a road i travel frequently - on this road there is a farm house - and every time i pass this house, i have mental images of the farm house in this movie - it isn't as large and it sits on a small flat lot close to the road - it's brick - there are not that many physical similarities to the heaven house, but i'm telling you, it is something to drive past it if you've seen the film -

    the other day, my daughter was with me and as we passed the house, i told her the entire story of "heaven" and how this house just cries out to me in many ways - but especially from the movie - and i told her i was going to put my camera in the car because i would be coming back down in a day or so and i was at last going to stop and take a few shots - i've been saying this for more than a year -

    the other oddity is that my sister who is in experimental theatre is doing a production of one of sam's [shepard] pieces in a few months - she is casting now -

    neat post - and great story!

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  68. This looks like a lovely movie!

    We're having roast pork tonight, too! Great minds think alike! ;)

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  69. Netflix will be wondering why there is such a run on this movie. You have, indeed, done a great review on your blog and, coupled with your own photographs, created an incredible picture of life in those times. I, too, have added the film to my queue.

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  70. Hello Wills,
    It's been a long time since I've last blogged. I love your new muted colors and theme.

    I wish I knew more of my ancestors. If I had the time I would do the research.

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  71. GypsyWoman, oh, that is strange. Funny how synchronicities work like that, isn't it? Now you must take pictures of the farm house and work up a delicious post for us!

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  72. Willow, I posted the cover over at TKR in my sidebar photos...scroll down a few under Autumn Favorites! (And yes I may make a new post some time soon!!)
    It is a whoooo whhhoooo hoot! I thought of you and your ghosts as I thumbed through the issue.

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  73. FireLight, that Martha is a hoot! I must pick up a copy at the grocery this week. FUN-eeee!!

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  74. A wonderful post, Willow, as it brought memories of my late mother telling me about the threshing crews of the early 1900s going from farm to farm during harvest. She benefited from one such crew while stooking cut green oats in a 20-acre field. I'll post about it one of these days.

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  75. I forgot to add that I'm putting this movie on my list as it's right up my alley.

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  76. I wasn't familiar with this one, Willow--it sounds beautiful. I'll have to tell Joe to order it for when we are together again. Thanks!

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  77. I wonder if Netflix notices an upsurge in specific retails every time you plug a movie...surely they do!

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  78. Heehee, maybe I should start charging them a little fee! :D

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  79. ah, definitely need to watch this beautiful movie again....ben a while

    great post.

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  80. I should have clarified the first photo is not from my family collection, but a favorite postcard I bought at The Imperial War Museum in London years ago.

    The photographer is Horace Nicholls.

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  81. Thanks Swanie, I must find this movie to watch this fall! L&B AD

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  82. I trust all your movie picks. All the movies you have recommended in the past and that i had the opportunity to watch, I LOVED!

    "Days of Heaven" is next, for sure.

    Thank you,

    Isabel

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  83. Willow, I can't think of Days of Heaven without thinking of Z Channel and Jerry Harvey -- next for your queue I submit http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Z_Channel_A_Magnificent_Obsession/70022311

    His is an incredibly sad but amazing story and one I think you'd appreciate. I was stunned to find I had completely forgotten about the Z Channel of my youth until I heard of this docu and watched it -- Harvey's story had been that effectively obliterated here in LA due to its awful denouement. The Z Channel viewing guide was a film history in itself -- wish I'd kept them!

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  84. Denise, I think I remember watching Z Channel years ago, but it's time for another view! Thanks for the suggestion! :)

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)