Days of Heaven
Néstor AlmendrasAn exquisite example of period photography, Days of Heaven teamed director Terrence Malick (who had made a stunning debut with 1973's Badlands) and master cinematographer Néstor Almendros. In spinning a turn-of-the-century yarn about two itinerant farm workers (Brooke Adams and Richard Gere) who become enmeshed in a tragic love triangle involving their boss (Sam Shepherd), the picture offers some of the most stunning "magic-hour" vistas ever recorded on film. Writing for AC in June of 1979, Almendros offered the following reminiscence:
"In filming day exteriors, the normal procedure is to use reflected or artificial light to fill the shadowed areas and thereby reduce the photographic contrast. In this film, however, Terrence Malick and I felt it would be better to use no lights, and to expose for the shadow areas. The effect of this was that the sky would come out overexposed, thereby losing its blue hue. This was an effect that pleased Terry.
"I decided to forgo the use of any artificial of reflected light, and to split the difference between my reading for the sky and my reading for the shadows, resulting in faces being slightly underexposed, and the sky being slightly overexposed, thereby taking away the intensity of blue, yet not letting it burn white.
"Surprisingly for me, this creative decision became a primary point of dissension among the film's technicians.
"The circumstances of a European cameraman working on a major studio film precluded me from being able to select the technicians who would work for me. Instead, the producers assigned the technicians to the production. With very few exceptions, the crew was made up of the typical Hollywood old guard, [who] were accustomed to a very highly polished form of lighting and photography.
"Since we could see the rushes immediately and it was apparent that the results were adding to the visual presentation of the story, we became more and more daring, using less and less artificial light, preferring the raw, natural images. Some of the crew began to see what we were doing, and little by little, [they] joined our interpretation. Others never understood.
"If on the one hand there were conflicts with some of the technicians, on the artistic level I had the good fortune of working with some of the very best collaborators I could have imagined.
"Once [it] became apparent that I would not be able to finish the film [due to prior a comittment to shoot The Man Who Loved Women], I thought of all the great directors of photography in America, searching for somebody who would be appropriate to replace me. I thought of Haskell Wexler, ASC, a man whose work I greatly admire, and a man I also consider a friend. I asked him if he would complete the work I had begun; fortunately for me and the project, he accepted.
"He overlapped with me for one week, observing the style we were using, screening all of our rushes, and sensing what we were after.
"In the end, I had shot for 53 days; Haskell shot for another 19. I don't believe anyone can tell the difference between what I shot and what he did. The continuity he achieved is a remarkable achievement, [and] an example of his immense talent for which I am forever thankful."
© 1999 ASC