Days of Heaven - 1978

It took 3 tries after reading Roger Ebert's book, but I finally hit the gold mine. Not only did this make it on my top 100 list, it actually feels like a perfect movie to me. I wouldn't change one thing. Richard Gere plays Bill- a dirt poor, hot tempered, uneducated blue collar worker. Brooke Adams plays Abby, Bill's girlfriend. After accidentally killing a co-worker at a steel mill factory in Chicago, Bill takes his girlfriend and little sister with him across the country to find any kind of grunt work they can get their hands on. They end up in a wheat field in Texas. In order to protect Abby, Bill pretends it is his sister not his lover. Her pretty looks cannot be hidden under her migrant worker facade, the rich farmer sees her beauty and decides she will be his. This movie is poetry in motion. The movie has about 10% of the dialogue you would get from a regular show. It almost feels like a silent movie- there are long stretches where no one is speaking. The director uses stunning scenery and a monotone voice of a 12 year old narrator to tell this amazing story of love, greed, poverty, sickness, jealousy, social class differences, murder, con artistry, etc. Everything flows smoothly. The shots of the farmer fields, trains, airplanes, etc. are just breathtaking. The symbolism in this movie is what every director longs for but few ever achieve. The burning of the wheat fields is symbolic of Abby starting a new life. The farmer who falls in love with Abby (Sam Shepherd) overcomes a life threatening illness because of love, but in the end is still sick inside because it really wasn't true love. This movie has so much to offer to the audience. 5 solid stars and it was never in question. Good call Ebert.