Badlands

Handsome garbage-collector Kit and listless schoolgirl Holly embark on an apparently random killing spree after the girl's father objects to the pair's relationship.

One of the most impressive directorial debuts ever, Terrence Malick's film focuses on James Dean-lookalike garbage-collector Kit (Martin Sheen) and listless schoolgirl Holly (Sissy Spacek), who embark on an apparently random killing-spree after the girl's father objects to the pair's relationship.

The superb recreation of the late 1950s, through Jack Fisk's subtle art direction, Tak Fujimoto's limpid camerawork and Malick's inspired use of music, evokes a postwar rural Midwest of near-halcyon innocence, despite the ever-present threat (and history) of violence. But what makes the film so special is Malick's sophisticated, coolly ironic approach to motivation, with Holly's voiceover (couched in the style of the celebrity-obsessed magazines she's forever reading) tellingly balanced both by the fugitive couple's actions and by Kit's oddly moralistic pronouncements, uttered with a view to posterity. The brilliance of the leads' performances is merely the jewel in an exquisite crown.

Directed by:

Terrence Malick

Cast:

Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri

Country:

USA

Year:

1973

Running time:

94min

Certificate:

15