Arielle Gottlieb Blue Days Of Heaven Part A 10/10/13 Days of Heaven, directed and written by Terrence Malick, begins

establishing the setting of the film in the opening credits. The names of the the cast and crew roll over pictures set in the 1910s of men, women, and children, working or playing in time period dress. The film is set in 1916, and begins in a Chicago steel mill, where Bill (Richard Gere) is employed as a laborer. The plot quickly picks up with the inciting incident, when Bill accidentally hits his boss with a pipe and kills him. Fleeing the situation, and searching for a change in scenery, Bill takes his girlfriend, Abby (Brooke Adams), and his sister, Linda (Linda Manz), on a train to Texas. The three find work as stackers on a wheat farm. On the farm they tell people that Abby is the sister of Linda and Bill, to avoid gossip. The farmer, not knowing that Abby and Bill are lovers, falls in love with Abby. Bill, knowing that the farmer is sick and will likely die, gives Abby permission to marry him so that they may inherit his wealth once he dies. This decision creates the theme that you should do anything for the one you love. Abby marries the farmer so that one day she and Bill can be happy together, and Bill, although he seems miserable without her affection, allows Abby to stay with the farmer so that she can all enjoy his wealth. The farmer begins to suspect that Bill is not, in fact, Abbys brother, and Bill begins to suspect that Abby is falling in love with the farmer. A traveling circus comes to the farm and serves as a symbol of freedom. It symbolizes freedom of the world outside of the farm, and freedom from the love triangle Abby seems to be trapped in. When it comes time for the circus to leave, Bill, unable to bear the sight of Abby and the farmer together, decides to leave as well. While he is gone Abbys feelings about the farmer are confirmed; she loves him too. This is displayed through a montage of their happiness over the seasons. After a year has passed Bill returns to the farm, and he and Abby begin to secretly give each other affection more often, without the farmer noticing. The farmer, after witnessing Abby and Bill kissing, is able to confirm his suspicions about the two of them.

At the climax of the film, a swarm of locusts plagues the farm, and in his anger, the farmer burns his land and crops. He then ties Abby to a column of the house, and with his gun seeks to kill Bill. The farmer at this point is portrayed as the antagonist and displays the opposite of the theme by trying to kill Bill even though he knows it will hurt Abby. Defending himself, Bill stabs the farmer with a screw driver, killing him. The course of action from the beginning of the film repeats and Bill takes Linda and Abby and runs. In the falling action, while traveling around on a boat going nowhere, Bill is shot by policemen, leaving Abby and Linda with no one but each other. They split up in the end. Abby leaves Linda in a school for ballet, which she always dreamed of going to herself, and she is alone with herself.

Arielle Gottlieb Blue Days of Heaven Part B Set in 1916, the film begins in the booming industrial city of Chicago, where Bill works in a steel mill. During this time factories and mines labored heavily through these years to provide the raw materials and finished products needed for expansion of the railroad system

(Scholastic). The time period is illustrated during the opening credits, as the names of the cast and crew roll by pictures of men, women, and children of the city in the 1910s. But the setting quickly changes drastically from the crowded and noisy city, to the quiet open land of Texas. Bill had accidentally killed one of his co-workers in the steel mill, and he went south in order to escape any consequence that might come of his actions. These characters move to the rural South to get work. This is shown when everyone gets off the train and they are immediately approached by a man in need of stackers with little experience necessary. Evidence suggests that this was not usually the case because during these years the nation's cities underwent tremendous growth. Many new urbanites came from the American countryside, (Scholastic). The new demand for labor in cities was caused by industrialization. During this time period it was much less likely for someone to move to a rural area from an urban one than it was for someone to move from an urban area to a rural one. During the rising action of the film the farm is plagued with a swarm of locusts. An occurrence like this would have been very common, because since the very beginning of agriculture, people have struggled to prevent insects from eating their crops. Locusts and grasshoppers, insect cousins, are among the most feared pests (A&E Television network). Because the film was not based on a true story it is difficult to find inaccuracies, but evidence can support the swarm of locusts, however it is more likely that someone from the south would have moved to a city like Chicago, then for someone to go from Chicago to Texas. The film came out at a time of political, moral, and economic distress.

When the film was produced in the 1970s it echoed the significant question over who the good guy is in the lives of Americans (Godshall). Days of Heaven left viewers questioning each character because their motivations are not completely clear. The farmer is even left nameless. Much like in the Vietnam War, the viewer is confused as to who the good character is and who the bad character is (Godshall).

Work Cited "The Gilded Age." Scholastic.com. Scholastic, 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2013. <http://www.scholastic.com/browse/subarticle.jsp?id=1673>.

"Grasshoppers bring ruin to Midwest." History. A&E Television Network, 26 July 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2013. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ grasshoppers-bring-ruin-to-midwest>.

"History Times: The Industrial Revolution." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, 2013.

Web. 13 Oct. 2013. <http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/ gilded-age/essays/history-times-industrial-revolution>.

"American Cinema of the 1970." Lafayette College site. WordPress MU, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. <http://sites.lafayette.edu/ams362-02-sp12/author/ godshalh/>.

Arielle Gottlieb Blue Days of Heaven Part C 10/14/13 Days Of Heaven uses camera angles, costume and makeup, lighting, and various other cinematic techniques to increase the viewers awareness of the setting, character, and plot development. The setting of the film is Texas in 1916, but all the seasons pass as the movie progresses. The cinematography uses the seasons to convey the mood of the story. During the first winter Bill and Abby are still workers for the farm left out in the snow, which is used to symbolize the cold hardships of winter. The next winter passes in a montage where Bill has left the farm, and Abby and the farmer are married. In this montage the season is used to illustrate a mood of comfort and coziness that winter has brought them. When spring is coming there is a tight shot of a flower as it blossoms that symbolizes not only that spring has come, but also that

Lindas character is growing up, just like the flower. Lindas growth is also represented by the use of makeup to create the illusion that she is older. The film uses shots of the expensive things in the farmers home to represent the drastic plot change. The camera goes quickly from long shots of the luxury in the farmhouse to Bills conflict, amazement, and distress that is caused by it. The plot has changed because Bill, Abby, and Linda, have entered into a new world and a new life. After Bill kills the farmer and Bill, Abby, and Linda are forced to leave, the film displays several wide angle landscape shots of the three out on the water to give the idea that they are traveling. Throughout the film there is a warm hazy light because almost all of the film was shot at The Magic Hour (also known as The Golden Hour), which are the two hours of the day when the sun is setting and rising. (M. Dawson) This creates lighting that makes t he setting beautiful, graceful, and romantic.