DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
 
 
 
BADLANDS
July 24, 2018  | By David Bianculli

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

 

This 1973 debut film by Terrence Malick is being shown by TCM as part of its “50 states, 50 movies” festival this month – but whatever brings it to prime time, and gives people a chance to see the newly restored version, is cause to rejoice. Martin Sheen stars as a young killer roaming the badlands with his even younger companion, played by Sissy Spacek. The two of them are playing approximations of real-life 19-year-old Charles Starkweather and 15-year-old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate, whose 1958 killing spree left 10 people dead and an American innocence shattered (the young girl later proclaimed her own innocence). Malick’s visuals, like his approach to this fact-based horror story, are a brilliant juxtaposition of the beautiful and the despicable. Totally unforgettable, just like the disturbingly banal (and therefore brilliant) central performances.

 
 
 
 
 
Leave a Comment: (No HTML, 1000 chars max)
 
 Name (required)
 
 Email (required) (will not be published)
 
IXQBA
Type in the verification word shown on the image.