Badlands (1973)

A 15 year old girl (Sissy Spacek) living in a small South Dakota town meets a 25 year old garbage collector (Martin Sheen). Her father (Warren Oates) objects to the budding relationship but soon after killing her father, the two go on a killing spree. Written and directed by Terrence Malick, the film is loosely based on the Charles Starkweather and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate nine day killing spree in 1958. Rather than portraying the two as cold blooded killers like the actual Starkweather/Fugate duo, Malick romanticizes the pair as star crossed amoral lovers. Romeo and Juliet on the run from the law. It's hard to find any empathy for them as portrayed in the movie. Thankfully, in their breakthrough roles, Sheen and Spacek give stellar performances which go a long way in sustaining the film's narrative. I don't mean to disparage it, far from it, it's an immaculate piece of film making. For all the aimlessness and violence, there's a lyricism to it that's almost magical. Malick's use of music (Carl Orff, Erik Satie) is superb and the lensing of Tak Fujimoto, Stevan Larner and Brian Probyn contributes to its richness. With Ramon Bieri and Alan Vint.