Badlands

UK Release Date. 19 December 1974
Certification. X
Running Time. 1 hour 34 mins
Director. Terrence Malick
Cast. Warren Oates, Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek.
Rating. 88%

Review.

Terrence Malick's astonishing debut feature Badlands is one of the defining films of the 1970s.

Loosely based on the shocking true story of the Charles Starkweather killing spree of the 1950s [Starkweather killed 10 people between January 21 and January 29, 1958 and throughout was accompanied by his 14 year old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate]. In Badlands, Kit (Martin Sheen) a quietly psychotic and self-deluded garbage man falls in love with 15 year old Holly (Sissy Spacek). After shooting dead her father (Warren Oates), the two take to the road and Malick treats the audience to a delicate, and raw, insight into the lives of two young criminals on the run. 

Badlands is both paradoxically violent and tender. Kit is incredibly handsome and charismatic, Holly naive, implicitly trusting her escort with innocent, child-like faith. The central performances are superb, aided by an unbelievable chemistry between Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen. Whilst Spacek went on to become one of the most in-demand stars of the 1970s (Carrie, 3 Women and Coal Miner's Daughter), Sheen - aside from Apocalypse Now - had to wait until becoming a middle-aged character actor before roles worthy of his talent materialised. His portrayal of Kit is surely one of his best performances.

The film is brilliantly composed with a loose, directionless plot and a delicate, literate voiceover from Spacek. Malick does not attempt to romanticise the couple. Despite the brutality, he valiantly attempts to humanise them.

While Terrence Malick has worked with several different collaborators in the photography department over the years, his camera has always held an ethereal presence - floating among his characters - as if it is a character itself. His films have a distinctive cinematography, one that routinely captures some of the most beautiful images ever seen in cinema. This trademark is noticeable even in Badlands, his remarkable debut feature. The film still looks sublime, 50 years on.

Terrence Malick's Badlands is a near-forgotten classic. Achingly evocative of a time when mainstream Hollywood studios had the courage to invest in complex and morally ambiguous films. Badlands should be held as an indisputable masterpiece of American cinema; and although many have imitated the film - Wild At Heart, Kalifornia and Natural Born Killers - none have bettered it.