william steig drawing

Martin Sheen

Badlands

Malick, you son of a bitch. If you’re only going to make 1 film every 500 years, at least make them crappy so I’m not thirsting for more. In every way, shape and form, Malick’s 1973 film Badlands is a perfect dream. Everything is magical about the film. Nothing fits. Everything is a tad off (things that are a little “off” are inherently magical you know): The strange dialogue (Kit and Holly make childlike observations about simple things. This intensifies the surreality of the two. They are more than surreal, almost omnipotent in some way. As insane as he is, Kit seems to have a greater awareness of the world. Nothing slips by him),