I love this score...There is something called "The perfect composer for the perfect movie"..And this is a case of that..Ennio Morricone's score was a stroke of genius..When you look up "hauntingly beautiful" in the film score guidebook, (if there was one) this score would surely be there.. It still stands today, for me, as it did as a teenager in 78', as powerful achievement..And the film has always been a favorite of mine..Just listened to it yet again..The lp never was far from my turntable back then..I must have been 15, or 16 years old. I still see the house, the fields, and I feel the wind..And the turmoil in those troubled characters...
With you on that one, Anzaldiman. Long since a favourite of mine, and one of the themes often comes unbidden into my head. Wonderful score, but still no Oscar.
And strangely packaged with Two Mules For Sister Sara on the CD....
And strangely packaged with Two Mules For Sister Sara on the CD....
...minus the "Aquarium" main title, the Leo Kottke guitar piece, and all the wonderfully poignant dialogue by Linda Manz. No question -- Morricone's score is great ("Harvest" is one of my all-time favorite cues) but the original LP had so much more of the feel of the picture than the Italian CD (which I also have). How I would love to see an exact reissue of that LP!
One of the saddest, most appropriate themes. Should be taught to composers who need to learn that a melody appropriate to the onscreen action wins out over 100 syrupy, weeping strings anyday. The music seems to flow out of the beautiful photography, like it's part of the atmosphere.
This film has a great use of sound effects, too, especially insect noise and wind.
I was visiting a friend at USC in the fall of '79 whose roommate, it turned out, was a budding film major. I mentioned that I had always had a yen for film music which intrigued the roomie, who then put on an LP and asked me to describe what the music may be conveying. I listened and brainstormed; sonofagun but he was fascinated by my rambling amateurish attempt at stand alone score analysis--which actually was pretty damn near what happened on screen, according to him. I had no way of knowing since I hadn't seen the film. And it was the first time I had heard the sound. Still the amateur and still have never seen the film, but I sure know that unmistakable Days Of Heaven sound now and forevermore.
Guess the roomie's challenge was a telling precursor to my presence at this here Messageboard, too, huh. Who'd have thought it?
"The aim of Days of Heaven is not at all mythic, it's ethnographic. The film wants simply to show us what it was like, farming wheat, in the Texas panhandle, early in this century. What the combines looked like. How the people lived. How the wheatgrains and grasshoppers looked. What changes the seasons brought. Following current styles in historiography, Days of Heaven writes everyday large. The less it is about, the more it is about."
James Monaco, from his book "American Film Now"
Howard, thanks for that insight..I hope you see the film..
Howard, you should watch the film if you haven't. There's an amazing sense of stillness that never seems like stoginess--in fact, the central plot involving the marriage seems to gallop along. I don't use the word "lovely" often but this movie has a lovely sense of time passing, and how youth is all about moving--even the two main adults are fairly young, if in their behavior if not years.
One of those movies that could not have been anything BUT a movie--its scale, and using the mix of visuals and music to create a world, are unmatched. I'm afraid this would never get made today because of the scale--the closest thing to it might be the awful All the Pretty Horses.
In the very best sense, the movie is almost a video for Morricone's score.
I accept y'all's Days of Heaven challenge and have every intention of tracking down a video. Thank you for the encouraging comments. And by the way, the one thing that I clearly recall from my immediate assessment is that the music had a distinct "yearning" feel--something akin to the unforgettable Herrmann 2-note phrase underscoring Martin Sloan as he unwittingly steps back into his past in Twilight Zone's Walking Distance.
Please, check on this; but as I recall, I believe Days of Heaven was shot 70mm. When it was released, the Washington Post film critic spoke of Linda Manz's voice being so earthly real. So much was in the quiet moments and the natural sounds from the landscape.
Please, check on this; but as I recall, I believe Days of Heaven was shot 70mm. endquote]
I'm pretty sure it was shot 35 and blown up. Nestor Almendros started the movie, but had to bail--he claims because of another movie but some say because of eyesite, though he went on to shoot films for years til his death of AIDS in 1992. Haskell Wexler tooko over.
Most of the film was shot in Magic Hour (according to Almendros on the documentary Visions of Light).
So glad to see a post about this film. Yes, the original prints were 70 MM. This was screened at the Eglinton Theatre in Toronto at time of release - the Eglinton was an ex-Cinerama theatre and also the place where 'The Lost Alamo' was screened after discovery. 'Days of Heaven's' music, visual, and audio mix was astonishing. Like being in those fields - the ambient sound engulfed you. Wind, breezes and insects. It IS my favourite Morricone score and I too would love to have the original album on CD. It's weird to find an album where you DO want all the 'pop' source music to be included. Definitely not like today. Yuk.
I am talking about the original Pacific Arts album, the Lp, of long ago..This is the only version of the score I've ever owned..And I love it, source music and all..Now, a few posts have "pined" for a cd release of the original Lp. Can anyone fill me in on the sequencing on the cd, and what "differs" on it from that old Pacific Arts Lp? I liked the score just as it was presented on that recording..I never bothered with the cd that was released..It IS my favorite Morricone score also..
Dana, "Harvest" is an OUTSTANDING cue..It moves me and gives me goosebumps at the same time..Very emotional.. I still sit silently and smile at it's powerful dignity. The score is ultimately "American" without always, sticking to an "Americana" formula..In a sense, it could be anywhere.. But..It's not.. I was astounded at it's brillance then and now.. My favorite all time Morricone score..By far...
