Directed by Terrence Malick • 1973 • United States
Starring Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates
BADLANDS announced the arrival of a major talent: Terrence Malick. His impressionistic take on the notorious Charles Starkweather killing spree of the late 1950s uses a serial-killer narrative as a springboard for an oblique teenage romance, lovingly and idiosyncratically enacted by Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. The film introduced many of the elements that would earn Malick his passionate following: the enigmatic approach to narrative and character, the unusual use of voice-over, the juxtaposition of human violence with natural beauty, the poetic investigation of American dreams and nightmares. This debut has spawned countless imitations, but none have equaled its strange sublimity.
In this documentary, actors Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek and production designer Jack Fisk discuss the production of BADLANDS and the role it played in their subsequent careers. They were interviewed in the fall of 2012.
BADLANDS marked the turning point in the career of producer Edward Pressman, as it did in those of many others. In this 12-minute interview, conducted in New York in October 2012, he discusses the ups and downs of the film’s production.
