Izzy Lott Red Group 10/15/13 Cinematic Analysis: Part A: Days of Heaven opens onto an urban factory, filled

with noise, in which Bill, one of the main characters, is introduced as he is running away from his job. Bill runs off after a fight with his boss, and hitches a ride on a train with his girlfriend Abby and a young girl who plays as the narrator of the story. Bill and Abby find work at a farm, where they pretend to be brother and sister to dodge any weird rumors or looks from their fellow workers, and are forced into back breaking work by the bosses. After working for some time at the farm, the farmer or owner of the land takes a liking to Abby. Although Abby and Bill are in love, Bill, looking for money and power, tells Abby to marry the farmer so that the two have claims to his land when he dies. However, Abby falls in love with the farmer after their marriage. After rumors of Bill and Abbys relationship run through the farm, Bill is forced to leave when the farmer becomes suspicious; yet after an unspecified amount of time Bill comes back, pledging his love for Abby. They again begin their secret courtship, but this time the farmer sees them together. He ties Abby up and goes to find Bill, and Bill kills him in a quick fight. The family runs off together, but Bill is chased and killed by policemen from the farming town. Abby is seen later leaving on a train with a soldier, and the narrating child is seen leaving her boarding school, both looking for new adventures and fortunes that are in their futures. Throughout the story, Bill and Abbys selfishness is seen, whether in love or greed, and it leads to a hard future for the both of them. Another theme of the movie is the difference between the rich and the poor. While Bill and Abby have to fight and scheme for their riches, the farmer can look over his farm and care only about the woman he loves.

Izzy Lott Red Group 10/15/13 Part B: History is filled with stories of poverty and migration, hopes for new futures and an enormous gap between the rich and the poor; all of which are accurately, if at times dramatically, in Days of Heaven. Bill, the male lead in the movie, is seen first at an urban factory (Malick, Days of Heaven). Machines do most of the work, and the workers are practically machines themselves. The boss insults the workers as they do back breaking labor, which was a common occurrence in the factories of the early 20th century (UCSC, 2.uscs.edu). Later, Bill is seen looking for a new job in the farm lands. This shows the migration of any Americans and immigrants to other parts of the country to find better paying jobs for unskilled workers. Abby, the female lead, also works, which shows a time of poverty in which both men and women worked despite gender boundaries that had yet to be passed in the early 1900s (UCSC, 2.ucsc.edu). Not only is the work hard and downgrading, it is also extremely dangerous. Running machines makes it difficult to hear, which is shown in Days of Heaven when you cant hear a thing the characters are saying when they are working. The machines are also hot and sharp, and can easily grab up one of the many workers that are close by (Filmsite). The lack of safety in the movie goes right alongside with the lack of safety laws of the time period (UCSC, 2.ucsc.edu). The movie takes place in a time when most people married in their same status grouping, rich or poor. This is where the movie isnt as historically accurate, because despite this social practice the farmer or boss still goes after Abby, a poor working class girl (Malick, Days of Heaven). Aside from this, however, Days of Heaven does a magnificent job of portraying historical accuracies in the workplace and with migration, and only fouls up time period tradition once in the movie when social classes intersect in a way that wasnt common of the turn of the century.

Izzy Lott Red Group 10/15/13 Part C: 1. Discuss how various cinematographic techniques are used to increase the viewers awareness of the setting, characters, or plot development. Terrence Malick, director of Days of Heaven, is often said to have made a cinematographic masterpiece with his movie (Filmsite). Days of Heaven may not always have the strongest commentary, dialogue, or plot; and yet the story told through the pictures and setting strikes the viewer in a way that words cannot. As for the setting of the story, Malick captures beautiful close ups of locusts, a common enemy of farmers in America (Left Field Cinema). Along with the locusts comes an amazing shot of a fire sweeping through the fields, which communicates the emotions of passion and anger between Bill and the farmer much better than the acting and dialogue can (Malick, Days of Heaven). The setting is also made more realistic to a viewer through beautiful shots of wild animals, fields of grain about to be harvested and just general shots that show the magnificence of nature without human interactions, a common theme in Days of Heaven. Along with fantastic portrayals of the setting and emotions, Malicks film work communicates the subtle mannerisms and characteristics of the characters in the story. For example, Abby and Linda and shown as stronger women, made to work in the fields. They are never portrayed as glamorous subjects of interest, nor as the sturdiest and most feminist of women (Left Field Cinema). They are as ever normal and believable characters. Cinematography plays an incredibly large role in how Malicks viewers perceive the characters, setting, and plot line of Days of Heaven, and through that the themes and emotions that are hidden deeper within the story.

Izzy Lott Red Group 10/15/13 Works Cited Filmsite. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. <http://www.filmsite.org/daysh.html>. Left Field Cinema. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. <http://www.leftfieldcinema.com/terrencemalick-days-of-heaven>. Malick, Terrence, dir. Days of Heaven. Film. UCSC. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. <http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/class_domination.html>.