Badlands (1973, dir. Terrence Malick)

Few directorial debuts are as impressive as Terrence Malick's 1973 offering.  It contains many of the thematic and philosophical seeds that would flower in his subsequent works:  the violence inherent in humanity, the mysticism behind natural phenomena, the destructiveness of human relationships, and others - always examined with tact and precision.

The story is from real events of the 1950s:  a twenty-something, rambunctious young man and his teenage girlfriend go on a killing spree that would lead them to infamy and legend.  The pair are played by Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek.  Sheen's Kit Caruthers is a slightly unbalanced, alienated realization.  His likeness to James Dean is noted at times.  Spacek's Holly is an easily-led, introspective adolescent who provides the conscience and the narration of the film.

Narrated voice-over is a tactic employed by Malick in all his features and it offers a strong grounding position for his stories.  In his debut, Holly's narration is eccentric and, at the same time, lyrical.  It provides a certain philosophical underpinning to the film and helps the viewer dig deeper into the film, offering a closer examination of the characters and their motivations.

The film can also be read as a microcosm.  It takes place in the late 1950s but it is a comment on 1970s as well as present-day celebrity culture.  Kit's adulation and elevation to the level of hero by his captors at the end speaks to the celebrity culture of the times and how we as a society choose to worship false prophets and idols and put them on a pedestal.

This is one of the great films of the 70's and introduced Terrence Malick to the cinematic world as a bold new artist to be reckoned with.