Movie Review: Badlands
My parents had to convince me to watch “Badlands,” a 1973 film directed by Terrence Malick. I’ll admit that a part of me didn’t want to watch an “old” movie, yet I conceded. I should listen to my parents more often, because “Badlands” left an impression on me that few films have ever succeeded in doing.
“Badlands” begins with the narrator and protagonist Holly Sargis, played by Sissy Spacek, telling us the story of her life in a detached and honeyed voice. She is fifteen, and has lived a sad childhood. Holly’s mother died when she was young. Her father, a protective sign-painter, has never forgiven Holly for this. Maybe this is why she decides to rebel against her father and start seeing Kit Caruthers, a reckless twenty-five year old garbage-collector cowboy (played by Martin Sheen) whom she meets on her street one day.
Not only is the plot intricate and the dialogue prescient, but the cinematography in Badlands is unlike any movie I have ever seen.
The beginning scenes morph into a pleasant love story. But as we continue to follow Holly and Kit, things get increasingly strange. We are pulled in until we are no longer in our dorm room in Exeter, New Hampshire but instead dancing with Kit and Holly in their treehouse campout. We follow them until we are in Kit and Holly’s stolen Cadillac coasting through the Badlands of Montana. We are with the pair until the very end, sitting in a helicopter gliding into the pink horizon.
We trust Holly completely, yet distrust her and Kit in every step. We support their love story, but think it is toxic just the same. “Badlands” succeeds in confusing us as viewers about our morals and whether to defend a character while knowing what they have done. The film compels us to simply see each character as lovable and flawed, it challenges our beliefs on what love truly is. Holly loves Kit, and she tells us persistently. But to believe her would disregard the fact that Holly is an impressionable teenager – does she know for sure that what she feels is love? Or is she swayed by Kit’s influence on her?
From Holly’s words we learn about subjects deeper than one would think possible in an hour and a half long movie. In the middle of the film, she says in an airy voice, “It all goes to show how you can know a person and not really know him at the same time.” This theme isn’t just present in this film, I felt that it applies to everyday life, too. Her words are juvenile in the way that they are said, yet the viewer somehow comes out of “Badlands” with more knowledge than they went in with.
We also learn from Holly about the loss of innocence. She matures throughout her adventure, and generates her own prophetic thoughts. “I felt all kinds of things looking at the lights of Cheyenne, but most important,” she said, “I made up my mind to never again tag around with a hellbent type, no matter how in love with him I was.”
Not only is the plot intricate and the dialogue prescient, but the cinematography in Badlands is unlike any movie I have ever seen. There are lasting, exquisite shots of little branches, the sunset over the horizon, and Holly’s knit eyebrows as she gazes at Kit. Each scene is also paired with upbeat yet eerie music. This gives the viewer a sense of complete immersion into this eccentric storyline.
There is an enduring quality of escapism throughout Badlands. The viewers forget the stresses of everyday life and become enrapt in Holly Sargis’ much more substantial issues. This is especially refreshing for us as Exonians—we need hour-long retreats into the mysterious unknown, just to keep sane in our monotonous and grueling daily lives.
Whether you watch “Badlands” because you are forced by your parents, you happen upon it while scrolling through obscure 1970s films or are convinced by this movie review, I can promise you a heart-gripping getaway where you are left with both a new sense of wisdom and a yearning to know where the characters are this very second.