BADLANDS (1973) - ♦♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Terrence Malick

Written by - Terrence Malick

Starring - Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek

"Inspired by the murders of Starkweather and Fugate in the late fifties, Badlands is a film about a young runaway couple that spend their time shifting through senseless crime and pondering the uncertainty about their future, together or apart. 

The film is cleverly underlined by a feminine voice, that of the leading teenage girl, a voice of the coming of age aspect and a voice of feminine reason about life and romanticism. 

It also stands as a tribute to many runaway movies, and is heavily defined by the distinctive style of its filmmaker Terrence Malick, here in his directorial feature debut. So important was the mark he left upon cinema with this debut of his that it is still very much felt in American cinema to this day, whether it is through the actual narrative or through the filmmaker's already visible sensibilities to nature and distinctive views on love. 

At the same time, Martin Sheen and Sissi Spacek are iconic as the pivotal couple not only for the wonderful chemistry they share on screen, but also for their singular distinctive and very different traits. While Sheen recalls the rebellious youth of James Dean in looks and attitude, Spacek is a quiet, shy and introverted freckled girl from the American countryside. 

Badlands is also the timeless representative manifesto of youthful disenchantment, of the power of romanticism but also a close account of the fading away of passion. While the film is a reflection of American social and popular culture, it is just as much a universal representation of the narcissism and brutal alienation of love, which progressively and inevitably grows weaker as it goes on.

Drama, USA