There is a shot which lasts a few seconds, toward the end of the film. kit stands on the bonnet of the Cadillac and awaits his arrest. Has anyone else noticed that this is one of the most breathtaking shots in a film, ever? Those clouds, that lighting...never seen a skyscape quite like it.
shareThe 3-dimensional image was always prime to Malick. I agree with what you say.
And, that Malick included sky, clouds, lightning, whatever outdoors, to emphasize a human focus in the foreground. That special image gets hooked into our emotions, to remain permanently.
Few directors have been able to succeed at that so consistently, and many couldn't have cared less to even do it.
E pluribus unum
JackBluegrass thanks for your response. Malick certainly manages to remind us all that we are of the earth.
shareThat's the shot I didn't like. It looked like a painted backdrop - the clouds were too perfect, too well spaced.
share^^ You're criticizing real clouds for being too well placed??
BADLANDS was famously made "new wave" style for $700,000 — a small crew filming (and often improvising) at found locations. They shot in an area of Colorado known for its spectacular vistas because that was the feel Malick wanted — small imperfect people moving against a vast, indifferent environment (nature's perfection — and man's imperfection in its midst — is a trademark Malick theme). Note that many of the vista shots (including the one in question) have no dialogue. This is because Malick, Sheen, Spacek, and the DP drove around specifically looking for such thematic shots when conditions were perfect, and then would return to film dialogue scenes.
If you don't like Malick's fascination with stunning natural skies, stay far away from his next film, DAYS OF HEAVEN.
I'm saying that the shot looked like that. It didn't look real - and had the film been made more recently, I would have figured it was CGI. Perhaps some of the 'perfectness' was added in post.
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