Film Analysis on Badlands - Essay Example

Task: Analysis of badlands film Badlands is a movie centered on a romance story of two fugitive lovers. The two lovers kill several people from South Dakota town to Montana in an effort to maintain their relationship. The film features two main characters Kit and Holly. Shortly after dismissal from work as a garbage collector, Kit meets Holly. After two days, he kills her father, burns down their house and they both escape deeply in love with each other. Kit kills anybody he perceives to be a threat. Holly is only 15 years old while Kit is 25 years old. It ends with arrest of Kit while Holly receives probation (Sheen and Spacek 1). Editing The movie is edited in an appropriate and excellent manner because it is based on ancient time. This is apparent from the ancient designs of the houses presented in the movie. The clothing in the film suggests that the story happened in the mid 20th century. The film portrays crime and love as the main themes. In as much as love is a good thing, Kits and Holly’s relationship are characterized criminal activities. Holly narrates the story as it begins with her confession of ignorance on the consequences of her actions as well as Kits. The movie employs narration and flashbacks in presentation of the storyline. At the beginning, Holly confesses her ignorance and then proceeds to explain actions that led to her current state using narration. However, the story does not rely on narration alone but rather takes the audience through flashbacks highlighting activities that took place when Holly meets Kit (Sheen and Spacek 1). The scenes follow in a successful sequence by portraying the lovable yet precarious situation of Kit and Holly. The audience loves the characters at this stage. The audience’s feelings change as they run from Holly burnt home. The editors made it appear as the expectations of the viewer slowly move from a sweet story to a thrilling encounter that is full of suspense and curiosity. The film portrays arrogant nature of Kit and his antisocial behavior. Holly’s narration uses third person as the subject. Her voice portrays her indifference after developing feelings of romance, violence, fear, hope and the ultimate fate that befalls them. Death does not seem to weigh on the conscience of the two lovers. This comes out in Holly’s passive voice as she describes her father’s reaction when he found out that she was secretly having an affair. In a voice devoid of emotions, she says, “his punishment for deceiving him: he went and shot my dog. He made me take extra music lessons every day after school, and wait there till he came to pick me up. He said if piano didn’t keep me off the streets, maybe the clarinet would” (Klein 1). She emphasizes her father’s treatment towards her and only mentions the death of the dog as a minor explanation (Klein 1). The film does not offer psychological concepts to explain the actions of the two characters. However, the film edition clearly points out the traits of the two characters. Production of the film is based on narration of Holly’s experience. The story follows the transformation of the girl’s innocence because she eventually realizes the processes in the world and law systems. Consequently, it does not explain Kit’s reasons for behaving in the manner he does. The story’s main setting is the road. Consequently, the film has various characters emerging and disappearing. The story only follows the two characters and touches on their status at different times. Consequently, the production does not employ complex plotting (Sheen and Spacek 1) Sounds The sounds used in this film are both diegetic and non-diegetic. Diegetic sounds portray the world experienced by the characters, Kit and Holly. On the other hand, non-diegetic music allows the audience to understand the circumstances caused by the actions of the two lovers. Diegetic music entails the sounds felt by the characters while non-diegetic sounds are for the sake of the audience (Klein 1). Non-diegetic sounds emerge at various scenes. The first example is shortly after death of Holly’s father. Kit goes ahead and sets the house on fire. As the house burns, the camera captures various household items as they burn. In the background, opera music plays with varying tones. The sounds engage the audience’s feelings concerning Kit’s actions. It saddens the audience only to a lesser degree. Thrill and uncertainty of the sudden twist of the movie occupies the mind of the audience. The moments that follow remain a mystery to the audience because a house is a necessity to man. The music allows the observer to reflect on Kit’s arrogance. Another example of non-diegetic sounds are the happy chimes during romance episodes of the lovers. It presents the happy moments experienced by Kit and Holly, taking the audience thoughts through the natural experiences of love (Klein 1). Chiming music plays through the film to represent passing time as well. It begins as the film starts until it ends. For example, this is evident when Kit and Holly are dating before escaping from torching the house. In this scene, various dating images progress with time. The images convey the feelings Kit introduces to Holly’s life. The events focus on addressing the audience’s curiosity before the shocking scenes. It helps the observer follow from scenes, understand the mood and attitude in each separate scene (Klein 1). The same music plays as they travel across Badland and every time they took off from each location. This portrays the constant mood of the film. It also indicates that though the two characters passed through various experiences, the reality did not change because they were still escaping. Additionally, their plight does not change permanently (Klein 1). As Kit is making a recording after murdering Holly’s father,’ Holly remains in the house with her dead father pacing as she smokes. The music playing here indicates that she is thinking. She is either trying to understand the occurrences or pushing the thoughts from her mind (Klein 1). Diegetic music emerges when the two lovers are escaping in the car and the radio is playing. Diegetic is the music felt by the characters in the film. Holly wants to turn off the radio because she does not find it amusing. Kit stops her explaining that he likes the music. The music continues playing allowing them to dance to the same song. This brings out Holly’s submission to Kit. Kit is in control and influences Holly’s say in matters concerning them. The music acts as the environment that Holly finds herself in amid other happenings (Klein 1). Certain sounds act as both diegetic and no-diegetic sounds. These sounds include chipping of crickets, the gunshot sounds, footsteps when someone is approaching, screeching sounds of the train, echoing of glass as Holly swirls a finger around its rim and the bubbling of a stream. The two characters experience these sounds. It is evident that such sounds capture attention of the audience by making the specific scenes interesting. Formalism Formalism is also evident in the movie, Badlands. Particular sounds remind the audience that they are watching a movie and not a reality show. The non-diegetic sounds when the house burns to the ground remind the observer that it is a movie. Cracking sounds and howling winds would better capture the attention of the audience making it difficult to remember that they are simply watching a movie. When Kit leans on the piano, he strikes the keys accidentally producing sounds. The sounds continue as he pours gasoline to set the house on fire. This synchronization of diegetic and non-diegetic piano sounds and the ensuing music reminds the audience once again that it is simply a film (Klein 1). Formalism also comes out during the dating period of the two lovers. The non-diegetic sounds playing during such scenes substitute the words that the two lovers would share. The audience does not know the words spoken all the time. However, the music captures their thoughts in the mood of the film. When Holly wants to turn off the radio as they travel, Kit stops her and the music plays on. Scenes change because viewers can see them dancing to the radio music at night. The scenes change again as the camera captures the rising sun over the mountains. The same music plays throughout the three scenes brining out formalism. As they leave the mansion and head northwest, Holly highlights the topic of travel. Viewers can see pictures of beautiful landscape and still images of animal as Kit holsters a gun on his shoulder. This further shows formalism (Klein 1). Realism The film tries to be as real by following the narration of Holly’s encounters as she escapes with Kit. The presentation of the movie is comparable to documentaries. Holly gives different encounters and reasons for each happening. She wins the audience sympathy through justifications of her actions (Klein 1). Ignorance and narcissism characterize teenage love affairs in the actual world. Holly falls in love with Kit, a man she hardly knows, and allows him to take her on a bizarre travel away from her home. The high numbers of corpses they leave behind does not seem to bother her because she wants to spending her life with the person she loves (Klein 1). The story is also based on a true story. A similar fugitive couple “Bonnie and Clyde” left a trail of 11 dead people including Clyde’s father and small sister in the late 1950s. Therefore, though Badland is a fiction movie based on geographical setting that do not relate to “Bonnie and Clyde’s” story, it closely resembles happenings of the real world. Works Cited Badlands. Dir. Terrence Mallick. Perf. Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. 1973. Klein, Amanda Ann. Film Studies. 2 February 2012. 5 November 2013 . Read More