eTerence Malik’s stunning debut film comes alive on Blu Ray. Kit (Sheen) is a killer and in love. Holly (Spacek) is infatuated with him and declares her love. They kill her father after an altercation and burn the house to the ground. Fugitives from the law, they flee to the Badlands in South Dakota and Montana. Driving through an alien landscape that seems to be as hostile as the outside world to the two, it becomes a journey into fantasy. When reality breaks open the world of their dreams, it will end in violence and death. Bullets and blood cast asunder.
Wow. Badlands is the work of an artist and no denying. Malik takes us on a journey not only into a crime but also into an escape. The two fugitives (played with swagger by Sheen and naive innocence by Spacek) are people at a cross roads. Although metaphorically speaking it is self imposed, we are shifting into understanding what it takes to be in conflict with control. How the agency to defy society manifests itself and what conclusions we reach. Malik uses the barren space to infer this conflict. He also allows the space to always seem endless (The badlands to anyone who has been are literally endless). This makes it a world without end and a boundless exploitative zone. You can search for miles and still never find a safe way out. This is the films real strength. Its full of questions and many are left unanswered. Mores the better for it.
The Disc
Well it looks AWESOME. Pow. The space. POW. The colour. POW. The light as haze. POW. That sunshine so bright and dream like. Its a joy to behold. The absence of Malick is a very good piece on a auteur. He is a fascinating man and an interesting film maker. The doc goes some way to exploring this. The interviews are all over good. The sense of making a superb film and what it meant comes across. The trailer…well is a trailer.
Absence of Malick
Interviews with Cast and Crew
Trailer