Lowest Price Days of Heaven (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Bill (Richard Gere) is good-looking but going nowhere. His short temper and high hopes make it hard for him to keep a job, and when he attacks an abusive foreman in the turn-of-the-century Chicago steel mill where he makes a living, it's time for him to move on. Afraid of the social consequences, he and his girlfriend Abby (Brooke Adams) conceal the true nature of their relationship as they travel the rails out West with his little sister in search of work. That turns out to be convenient when the terminally ill landowner (Sam Shepard) takes an interest in Abby, and Bill hits upon a scheme to elevate their fortunes.

If the plot sounds like the usual fare, it's nothing like it in the execution. Malick's got a style of his own, and infuses this period piece with an elegance and simplicity that brings it to life. Nothing in this piece feels dated. It conveys its time and place with a freshness and authenticity that is unparalleled. The words of the young Linda (Linda Manz), her fresh and surprising observations on life, her sense of wonder and resignation, her combination of wisdom beyond her years with childlike naivete; the images of natural spontaneity, of insects and animals and elements, and of life untrammeled and apparently unawares; all lend to this film a poetic realism. It is a film whose images have lingered with me for a long time, and still feels vibrant and new, especially in its Criterion edition, which I just saw for the first time and was blown away by its beauty. An essential film.

I wish they'd been able to get Terrence Malick to speak on the commentary track. I know he prefers to speak through his images, and I can respect that, but the interviews I've read show him to be extremely thoughtful about his work and I would have liked to hear what he says about this film, which may be his best (though it's hard to compare).

Here's what comes with the Criterion DVD:
-A new, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Terrence Malick, editor Billy Weber, and camera operator John Bailey
-A new Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack (with DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition)
-An audio commentary featuring Weber, art director Jack Fisk, costume designer Patricia Norris, and casting director Dianne Crittenden
-An interview with Richard Gere
-Video interviews with Bailey, cinematographer Haskell Wexler, and actor Sam Shepard
-and a booklet featuring an essay by (the always fascinating and insightful) critic Adrian Martin and a chapter from director of photography Nestor Almendros's autobiographyGet more detail about Days of Heaven (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray].