A comprehensive account of the making and legacy of Terrence Malick’s elegiac 1978 Western, Days of Heaven, starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, and Sam Shepard.

Director Terrence Malick’s 1978 Western, Days of Heaven, stands out for its dreamlike cinematography and sparse, haunting plot. Malick’s writing and direction animate the usual Western tropes with a uniquely personal style and sensibility. Set in 1916, the threadbare plot resembles a biblical parable more than a traditional Western, as the main characters grapple with their fortunes and face tremendous social change at this pivotal juncture in American history.

In this gripping new addition to the Reel West series, Gary Edgerton offers a comprehensive portrait of Malick’s early career, the making of Days of Heaven, its reception by audiences and critics, and its contributions to Western film. Edgerton’s holistic treatment of Days of Heaven firmly positions it as one of the most skillfully produced, artistically innovative, and culturally resonant Westerns in the long history of the genre.