Terrence Malick's serenely beautiful follow up to Badlands is an Old
Testament allegory about man and landscape, a love triangle and a
plague of locusts. Mystifying, perhaps, but unforgettable, it has
some of the most breathtaking cinematography of all time from Nestor
Almendros; strong, naturalistic performances from Richard Gere,
Brooke Adams, and Linda Manz as the immigrants who find employment in
the wheatfields; and an extraordinarily subtle one from Sam Shepard as
the wealthy farmer who hires them. Mainly, though, it's Malick's
perfect control over every aspect of his film's art that generates its
sublime lyrical power.
