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DVD Mystery-Suspense
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Written by Abbie Bernstein
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Tuesday, 27 April 1999 |
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title:
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Badlands |
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studio:
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Warner Home Video |
| starring: |
Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri |
| release year: |
1973 |
| film rating: |
Three and a half stars |
| reviewed by: |
Abbie Bernstein |
The phrase "banality of evil" might have been coined just to describe
the main characters in director/writer Terence Malick’s ‘Badlands.’ The
film zigzags between being creepily compelling and exasperatingly slow,
just as its male lead Kit (Martin Sheen) whipsaws between casual
homicidal mania and aw-shucks ‘50s optimism.
Malick based his tale on the real-life saga of multiple murderer
Charlie Starkweather and his underage girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate,
though there are suggestions of a number of cinematic influences as
well, notably ‘Bonnie and Clyde.’ The narrator here is Holly (Sissy
Spacek), a 15-year-old cheerleader transplanted from Texas to North
Dakota when she meets 25-year-old Kit. Kit treats Holly as though she’s
something special, which is a first for her, especially as her
possessive widowed father (Warren Oates) barely lets her out on her
own. When Holly’s father forbids Kit to see his daughter, Kit shoots
the older man dead. Seeing one’s boyfriend murder one’s parent would
end most romances, but Holly hits the road with Kit, heading into
Montana and a lot more killings.
Malick is one of those rare filmmakers who became a legend while having
made only two films, this one and ‘Days of Heaven’ (last year’s ‘Thin
Red Line’ is his third). His reputation for extraordinary images is
justly deserved. Everywhere there are stark but splendid feasts for the
eyes: the overcast skies over endless vistas in Chapter 1; a fabulously
colorful billboard looming up against a brilliant blue sky in Chapter
5; Chapter 8’s stunning pyrotechnic visuals as a house burns down with
choral music swelling soulfully (and cleanly) on the audio track;
Chapter 19’s almost Biblical view of clouds piled above the
mountaintops. Capping it all is a pretty amazing car chase in Chapter
22. The DVD also faithfully preserves excellent sound effects, with
some train sounds in Chapter 19 doing an especially fine job of showing
off the mix and any home audio equipment involved.
However, the most striking element of ‘Badlands’ is the contrast
between Holly’s blandly worried tone -- like the mother of a teenager
who insists on staying out late -- and Kit’s unprompted shooting
sprees. It’s not that she doesn’t acknowledge what Kit is doing, but
she can’t let herself feel it. The emotional detachment is sometimes
fascinating, sometimes deliberately repellent and occasionally dull.
Holly would rather that Kit not kill people, but she’s with him out of
passivity rather than fear. When the only two people on view are
completely incapable of introspection, they eventually become
monotonous company.
This is not the fault of Sheen and Spacek, who are both phenomenal in
their roles. Sheen underplays Kit’s lunacy, making him scary precisely
because he seems so calmly normal even when he’s about to strike.
Spacek finds the perfect pitch of wide-eyed regret and primness as the
breathtakingly conventional Holly, whose lack of reflection is pretty
frightening also.
On the downside, ‘Badlands’ has a slow pace and its episodic structure
is sometimes repetitious. Still, it has Malick’s remarkable eye and his
insights into the mundane-seeming demeanor of killers, both strong
reasons to recommend it.
| more details |
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sound format:
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English Dolby Surround 5.1; French Dolby Digital Mono |
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aspect ratio(s):
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Original
Theatrical Aspect Ratio (exact ratio not given); Full-Screen Aspect
Ratio: 1:3:3 (modified from original theatrical format) |
| special features: |
French Language Track; English Closed-Captioning; French Subtitles; Chapter Search
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| comments: |
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| reference system |
| DVD player: |
Kenwood DV-403 |
| receiver: |
Kenwood VR-407 |
| main speakers: |
Paradigm Atom |
| center speaker: |
Paradigm CC-170 |
| rear speakers: |
Paradigm ADP-70 |
| subwoofer: |
Paradigm PDR-10 |
| monitor: |
27-inch Toshiba |
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