409 Days of Heaven

[DeprongMori]

Interesting quote from a 2015 article:
"/Lee/ Kline shared some fascinating “war stories” about working with the creators of films that Criterion had restored. He recalled that Terrence Malick insisted on reducing the color saturation of “Days of Heaven” during a digital restoration.

Because the film had been hailed on its 1979 release for its brilliant color, Kline questioned him. Malick refused to reconsider. “I realized he was right – the film has a better look without it,” Kline said."
https://www.indiewire.com/features/craf ... ion-64250/

Although this is off-topic, how has a more than 10-year old 4K restoration of Visconti’s Sandra still not gotten even a Blu-ray release?

At the festival, Sony provided two recent 4K restorations of black-and-white classics – Luchino Visconti’s “Sandra,” which stars Claudia Cardinale and debuted at the 2013 Venice Film Festival, where the then-new film won the Golden Lion in 1965; and Howard Hawks’ classic 1939 “Only Angels Have Wings,” with Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth and Jean Arthur.

Also, from a “film preservation” standpoint, I’m kind of surprised that Kline was looking to remove a hair in the gate in The Night Porter. Kudos to Cavani for her stance.

[hearthesilence]

Interesting quote from a 2015 article:
"/Lee/ Kline shared some fascinating “war stories” about working with the creators of films that Criterion had restored. He recalled that Terrence Malick insisted on reducing the color saturation of “Days of Heaven” during a digital restoration.

Because the film had been hailed on its 1979 release for its brilliant color, Kline questioned him. Malick refused to reconsider. “I realized he was right – the film has a better look without it,” Kline said."
https://www.indiewire.com/features/craf ... ion-64250/

Yeah, I remember when Criterion posted that story in much greater detail on one their previous blogs. IIRC they mentioned a running gag that developed during grading where someone would say "that looks beautiful!" and someone would immediately respond "but not too beautiful."

I should add, when they first reached out to Malick about supervising a grade, he apparently asked if he was really needed because he thought Paramount's DVD looked fine - I guess he didn't know the DVD as well as he thought, because that definitely wasn't the look he wanted when he eventually sat down for the grade. (tbf, he didn't grade the DVD, and I doubt he gave it a good look, much less viewed it on a reference monitor. He probably just didn't think anything was "wrong" with it.)

[beamish14]

Interesting quote from a 2015 article:
"/Lee/ Kline shared some fascinating “war stories” about working with the creators of films that Criterion had restored. He recalled that Terrence Malick insisted on reducing the color saturation of “Days of Heaven” during a digital restoration.

Because the film had been hailed on its 1979 release for its brilliant color, Kline questioned him. Malick refused to reconsider. “I realized he was right – the film has a better look without it,” Kline said."
https://www.indiewire.com/features/craf ... ion-64250/

Yeah, I remember when Criterion posted that story in much greater detail on one their previous blogs. IIRC they mentioned a running gag that developed during grading where someone would say "that looks beautiful!" and someone would immediately respond "but not too beautiful."

I should add, when they first reached out to Malick about supervising a grade, he apparently asked if he was really needed because he thought Paramount's DVD looked fine - I guess he didn't know the DVD as well as he thought, because that definitely wasn't the look he wanted when he eventually sat down for the grade. (tbf, he didn't grade the DVD, and I doubt he gave it a good look, much less viewed it on a reference monitor. He probably just didn't think anything was "wrong" with it.)

I still wish they’d asked Haskell Wexler to grade it.

[MichaelB]

I think in this instance Malick was a better choice—as Nestor Almendros (who of course would have been perfect, had he not been dead) said, he's a very unusual example of a director who knows a lot about photography and consequently has a very precise idea of what he wanted. By contrast, Wexler was essentially a cinematographer for hire, having to adopt Almendros' working methods (which very much weren't his) so that what he shot would chime with everything else—but it was Malick in overall charge.

[hearthesilence]

I think in this instance Malick was a better choice—as Nestor Almendros (who of course would have been perfect, had he not been dead) said, he's a very unusual example of a director who knows a lot about photography and consequently has a very precise idea of what he wanted. By contrast, Wexler was essentially a cinematographer for hire, having to adopt Almendros' working methods (which very much weren't his) so that what he shot would chime with everything else—but it was Malick in overall charge.

Criterion's commentary track is great in detailing that, especially Malick's knowledge of film stocks, and there's no question Malick was pushing for things that everyone but Almendros would've resisted or been reluctant to do on set. I don't recall editor Billy Weber mentioned being on set, but he certainly got to see Malick's reaction when they looked at the results, especially how pleased he was to get what he wanted when nearly everyone doubted they were going to get a usable exposure.

[JamesF]

It's not like a Wexler-approved grade would have been free of controversy either, judging by the response to the Matewan remaster.

[hearthesilence]

Last night, I ran into Brooke Adams and her husband Tony Shalhoub outside of Lincoln Center, probably waiting for a car. I didn't want to disturb them, but as I walked past them, I couldn't resist half-yelling in her direction "Days of Heaven is one of my favorite movies!" She spun around with a big smile and said "thank you!" I just smiled and kept waving back as I continued on my way, then felt guilty ten minutes later that I didn't say anything to Shalhoub. (I know Monk is supposed to be good, but I've never seen an episode - I rarely watch any television anymore.)

It also occurred to me I had no idea what Adams thought of the film, and given Malick's approach to filmmaking, it's very rare when a performer isn't bewildered by the experience, with some like Christopher Plummer going on record (even to Malick himself) that they were very displeased.

A quick search turned up two articles: a short one published in 1978 for The New York Times, where Adams says “I didn't quite know what to think when I saw it for the first time...I kept asking myself: ‘What happened to that scene? How could he have cut it there?’ It wasn't so much that I was disappointed. I just felt strangely unrelated to it, and I think Richard Gere felt the same way I did.”

But then there's this one from The Film Stage that was done in anticipation of the new 4K restoration that played at Film Forum in 2023 and then released on UHD soon after. Long story short, the film and Malick left a very lasting impression, so much she kept up with his work even after she left acting for a few decades.

I'm glad Malick's first choices of John Travolta and Geneviève Bujold weren't cast, and it all comes down to the eyes. There's a youthful innocence to Gere and Adams (not from guilt or wrongdoing but from experience and moral awareness) that wouldn't be seen there with Travolta and Bujold. With Travolta and Bujold, their characters' plans would've seemed more devious, cold and calculated, but with Gere and Adams, they always feel like they're in over their heads and not fully aware of the potential consequences - something about that goes hand in hand with reckless and irrational love.

Anyway, I wasn't just saying that before, I've loved this film ever since I first saw it as a teenager. It's still my favorite Malick film and my favorite New Hollywood film of the 1970s along with Taxi Driver. I've seen it start-to-finish at least two dozen times, and that includes several times in a theater (all in 35mm - I still haven't seen the 4K DCP but I have the UHD).

[The Curious Sofa]

I didn't know that Travolta and Bujold were the first choices. Though I think Gere and Adams are perfect, I can see Travolta and Bujold working. The characters always remain somewhat enigmatic, mainly because we mostly see them through the eyes of Linda Manz, who is too young to fully comprehend the situation.

A year before Days of Heaven came out, Bujold starred in Claude Lelouch's romantic western Another Man, Another Chance (also known as Another Man, Another Woman), which, although now completely forgotten, is tonally similar to Days of Heaven and gives an idea of what her performance could have been like. I can also see Travolta as the hotheaded, impulsive Bill, and it's less a matter of performance than how Malick approached them. Interesting that Gere got two of his early career breaks as a replacement for Travolta.

My first encounter with Brooke Adams was Invasion of the Body Snatchers and she gives that movie its heart. It's devastating when this warm, funny woman becomes a pod person.