Badlands [DVD] [1973]

This is a film in which two unlikely characters become lovers. Kit, a James Dean-like loser, espies the fresh-faced Holly twirling her baton one day and is smitten. He approaches her and, despite her initial reluctance, she begins to see him against her protective father's wishes. Kit is ten years older than Holly, a high school drop out from the wrong side of the tracks, who is unable to maintain a job and appears to have a limited future. He falls in love with Holly and wants her to be his exclusively. Eventually, they become lovers. While it is Kit who does all the actual killing, it is, to my mind, Holly who is the more complex and frightening character. Her prosaic and banal conversation, as well as a lack of empathy in the most heinous and disturbing of circumstances, is most unsettling. This is reinforced in the film through a voiced-over, almost toneless, detached narration by Holly of the events that took place. It is a masterpiece of point and counterpoint, chilling in its very telling and understated irony. When they are eventually caught, Holly remains impassive, while Kit relishes his celebrity and oozes charm, winning over his captors. Martin Sheen's performance is nothing short of brilliant, while Sissy Spacek is mesmerizing with her ability to chill the viewer.

This is an expertly crafted film with an ingenious use of music. The director even manages to utilize the music of Erik Satie (Gymnopedies 3) most effectively, however unlikely it may seem. Like the music of Erik Satie, the film is multi-textured and deceptively complex. Bravo!

Sissy Spacek and especially Martin Sheen given the performances of their careers. So much is conveyed by the dialogue, sparse though it may be. Every sentence Sheen utters is at once profound, inconsequential, natural and stylised but, above all, engrossing.

The film is beautifully shot and the DVD transfer does justice to the cinematography, giving a sense of the scale of the landscape through which Kit and Holly drive on the run. Sissy Spacek's voice over gives the story a perspective in the way that the commentary in Y Tu Mama Tambien was to do nearly 30 years later.

However, the film's greatest achievement is the soundtrack. The predominance of Carl Orff and Eric Satie seems initally at odds with the setting and subject matter of the film but it complements the uniqueness of Malick's approach and amplifies the visual beauty of the film. And when Kit and Holly dance to Nat King Cole's "The Dream Has Ended", the transience of the young lovers' freedom is all too palpable.

This is a film to return to again and again.