Badlands (1973)

Badlands (1973)

Terrence Malick’s Badlands is an incredible directorial debut and as many people say, one for the ages. In essence, this movie became a cult film because of how picky Malick was when it came to choosing projects to direct. Between 1973 and 1997, he only directed two films. But this review will focus on Malick’s 1973 feature. Badlands has everything you want from a Malick film. A story that represents the American lifestyle and culture, beautiful cinematography from Tak Fujimoto, haunting music from the likes of Nat King Cole and Carl Orff, and a story that is held together in narration by one of its main characters. Like most Malick films, this may not be for everyone. Those expecting a traditional Western, look elsewhere. Those looking for a thoughtful, intelligent film about American values (well, values of 1973’s Americans), this is the film for you.

Badlands was written by Terrence Malick himself. His source of inspiration for his main characters Kit and Holly was the killing spree by Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate. Starkweather murdered eleven people during the length of the spree, and Fugate claims she just went along for the ride although Starkweather claimed her just to be guilty as he was. Starkweather was executed by the electric chair in 1959 and Fugate was sentenced to life in prison. With my research regarding this murder spree, I can see how this inspired the main characters of the movie. Kit is just someone who kills because he feels like it and the young Holly follows him because she felt it was nice to have someone love her like he did. Certainly, Malick makes no attempt to humanize or psychoanalyze the deeds of these characters, but he does successfully get the viewers to see why these characters make the decisions that they make.

It’s the late 1950’s, and we are introduced to Kit (Martin Sheen) and Holly (Sissy Spacek). Kit is a former garbage man in his mid-20’s. and has an uncanny resemblance of James Dean. Holly is ten years younger, and suffers from a distant relationship with her father and is constantly bullied at school. Their worlds collide when Holly and her father move from Texas to South Dakota, and the two slowly fall in love. One day, Kit decides to shoot her father and they decide to leave town making their escape look like suicide via house fire. Their plan fails, and a bounty is placed on their heads. Kit and Holly now must avoid the authorities as they muse about the significance of their lives.

This is the movie that lit the fire of both Martin Sheen’s and Sissy Spacek’s respective acting careers. Both actors were fantastic working with each other, but I liked each performance as an individual performance as well. This movie gives off serious “Bonnie and Clyde”-like vibes, but these characters are not like Bonnie and Clyde at all. Sheen’s Kit is a villainous character, but he does not out of anger or even evilness. He is just an empty void. A character of coldness, and that makes his character even more chilling. Spacek’s Holly tells the story from her point-of-view through a monotonous voiceover. She plays the character as very matter of fact and almost as if she is in awe. Regardless, both characters possess an empty void because they are truly in over their heads as if (and maybe they don’t) they cannot understand the consequences of their actions.

Badlands is a very contemplative, thought-provoking feature film debut by Terrence Malick. It is an American film that discusses the values of the time the film was released. It had something to say about fame. After the duo is captured, throngs of people and even the police themselves wants an autograph from the James Dean-wannabe. Take that as you will. Critics compared this debut to the likes of Citizen Kane, although maybe I would tell critics to take a deep breath. I thought this film was a remarkable debut for a director, but sometimes the movie was too contemplative for my taste. Although, I truly believe Malick meant it to be that way. This is a rich movie with striking cinematography and beautiful, haunting music that perfectly resembles the characters of the movie.

My Grade: B+