Slog - Comments on Today in Stranger Suggests http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/today_in_stranger_su_20 'Days of Heaven' (FILM) All the rapturous bleating about Terrence Malick's recent trifle The New World makes sense only in one context: the absolute glory of the films made before his 20-year hiatus. Days of Heaven, from 1978, is slow and takes visual luxuries that the story—about a love triangle between two migrant workers and a wealthy landowner—can't quite justify. But when you see those blissfully arid images pouring through a new 35mm print, you won't care. (Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 267-5380. 7 and 9 pm, $5—$8.) ANNIE WAGNER... Copyright 2008 Tue, 28 Nov 2006 10:00:00 -0800 Wed, 29 Nov 2006 06:13:04 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Andrew Visually, this has to be one of the most beautiful movies ever filmed.

It's also one of the most spare as far as dialog is concerned. All of the dialog in this very long film could probably fit on one page, and I've always wondered what the script looked like. It's a fascinating take on a less is more style of writing.

]]> Andrew http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/today_in_stranger_su_20#c503141 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/today_in_stranger_su_20#c503141 Arts Tue, 28 Nov 2006 10:30:08 -0800 Comment by Creek The assistant director, Skip Cosper, spoke at a college screening I attended in the 1980s. He said the film's visual grandeur was partly because of Malick's decision to shoot most exterior scenes during "magic hour," the period of muted natural light immediately before sundown.

]]> Creek http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/today_in_stranger_su_20#c503603 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/today_in_stranger_su_20#c503603 Arts Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:15:22 -0800 Comment by COMTE Andrew,

I saw this last week, and it occured to me that perhaps a lot of the dialogue was improvised; it's so spare and spontaneous that it felt like it wasn't really "scripted" in that sense at all (the voice overs of course are another matter entirely).

Simply a gorgeous film, and the new 35 mm print is nearly flawless.

]]> COMTE http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/today_in_stranger_su_20#c503811 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/today_in_stranger_su_20#c503811 Arts Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:30:48 -0800 Comment by Andrew Good point and that makes sense; maybe much of it was ad-libbed. I guess I hadn't thought of that because the visuals are so hypnotic.

]]> Andrew http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/today_in_stranger_su_20#c503998 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/today_in_stranger_su_20#c503998 Arts Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:53:11 -0800 Comment by MyDogBen There's an urban legend about the 70mm prints of this film. (You think it looks good in 35mm? 70mm was a visual orgasm). Anyway, the story goes that the 70mm prints are all gone because someone high up in Paramount hated Tom Cruise, and ordered all the prints of Days of Thunder destroyed. And someone got it almost right. Oops.

]]> MyDogBen http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/today_in_stranger_su_20#c508059 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/11/today_in_stranger_su_20#c508059 Arts Wed, 29 Nov 2006 06:13:04 -0800