Badlands (film)

This article is about the 1973 film. For other films, see Badlands (disambiguation) § Films.

Badlands
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTerrence Malick
Written byTerrence Malick
Produced byTerrence Malick
Starring
Cinematography
Edited byRobert Estrin
Music by
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • October 15, 1973 (1973-10-15)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$300,000 (estimated)

Badlands is a 1973 American neo-noir[2] period crime drama film written, produced and directed by Terrence Malick, in his directorial debut. The film stars Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek, and follows Holly Sargis (Spacek), a 15-year old who goes on a killing spree with her partner, Kit Carruthers (Sheen). The film also stars Warren Oates and Ramon Bieri. While the story is fictional, it is loosely based on the real-life murder spree of Charles Starkweather and his girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, in 1958.[3]

Badlands was released in 1973 to positive reviews from critics, who particularly praised its cinematography, soundtrack—which includes pieces by Carl Orff—and the lead performances. At the 28th British Academy Film Awards, Spacek was nominated for the Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles award, and at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, Sheen won the Best Actor award.

In 1993, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4][5][6]

  1. ^ "Badlands (1973)-Articles-TCM.com". tcm.com. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  2. ^ Silver, Alain; Ward, Elizabeth; Ursini, James; Porfirio, Robert (2010). Film Noir: The Encyclopaedia. New York City: Overlook Duckworth. ISBN 978-1-59020-144-2.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference nyt73canby was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "U.S. National Film Registry – Titles". Clamen's Movie Information Collection. Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  5. ^ "Librarian Announces National Film Registry Selections (March 7, 1994) - Library of Congress Information Bulletin". www.loc.gov. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  6. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved September 16, 2020.