It has been over thirty years since you directed the cinematic “Days of Heaven” on location here in Southern Alberta. The four-foot tall wheat in the massive field near Lethbridge was the main attraction I understand. So it’s been decades now, lots have changed. But as to this relatively pristine province of Alberta, I can say the land is still wide and the sky still blue after all these years.
As I was driving through the open country a couple of weeks ago, I was captivated by, no, not the wheat fields, but the rapeseed farms (a better term is canola). The colour was brilliant yellow, equally cinematic as the golden wheat fields. A thought came to me…
Mr. Malick, how about coming back for a sequel to your beautiful film “Days of Heaven”?
Here are some sights I took in on that brilliant mid-summer day:
And if you need a location scout…
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All photos on this post are taken by Arti of Ripple Effects in July 2011. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
To read my review of Days of Heaven, CLICK HERE.
To read my review of The Tree of Life, CLICK HERE.
Ripple Effects 
Oh, Arti, such endless views beneath a wandering sky. Truly beautiful, my friend. I especially like the barn, and the horses trotting up to the gate to inspect you…
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ds,
Thanks. And you’re absolutely right in capturing the intention of the horses. That’s exactly what they were doing when I walked up to the gate. They came near me and peeked through the iron gate, checking me out.
Arti
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The photos are stunning!
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Michelle,
Thanks for stopping by.
Arti
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Wow! I’ve never heard of the movie, but those photos are gorgeous!
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Jillian,
Do click on the link in my post to read about the beautiful film Days of Heaven. You’ll see why I wish Mr. Malick would return. 😉
Arti
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Oh my…gorgeous photos Arti!
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Thanks, Ellen!
A.
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Stunning! If I ever am to make a film, I know where to go!
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Sigrun,
Welcome, and thanks for your kind comment!
Arti
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As usual, I haven’t even heard of Days of Heaven – I’ll be heading off to the internet in just a moment to look it up. I laughed when I read your comment about being a location scout. I read last week that some lucky people get paid to put together big home libraries – what a job! If only!
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litlove,
Just click the link on the title Days of Heaven in the first line and that will lead you to my post, with some amazing movie stills. They shot the film with a Texas setting here in Southern Alberta.
And oh about locations… I visited the Medieval Lacock Village near Bath a few years ago. The place is a popular location where a lot of period films were made, including BBC’s Pride & Prejudice. The people there were paid to not park their cars on their street. If you’re interested, click here to my post on Lacock Village.
Arti
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Whew! gorgeous. Specially with the cloud shapes hanging over the yellow rapeseed fields. Funny that Nature conjures the best canvases and compositions…
kinda synchronicity, too, in view of the country posts chez moi….high five, Arti!
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oh,
High five to you too! O what sync… our photos have the same color scheme albeit as I said in my comment on your post, the ones here are more pristine cause there’s no wind turbines distracting the scenery. 🙂
Arti
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I wasn’t crazy about “Days of Heaven.” Mostly because I loved Sam Shepherd’s character and hated that he was killed by Bill. But I absolutely love the cinematography! I had no idea that the film (or you!) was shot on location in Alberta.
Thanks so much for your blog. I absolutely love it!
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Keturah,
Welcome! And thanks for your kind words. If you can get hold of the Criterion Collection you’ll find a lot of special features (it’s a 2 Disc edition) and a booklet on the production. Fascinating stuff.
Arti
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I’ve never seen rapeseed fields – they’re beautiful! I know corn, or course, and cotton,maize, soybean, wheat – sunflowers, too. But nothing like this. The vistas are just stunning.
My favorite photo is of the gate – but where is the cattle guard? Maybe there aren’t so many cattle around – not with all that farmland, hmmm?
Sometimes in Texas, in a very good year, you’ll see waves and waves of bluebonnets stretching out to the horizon like this. Imagine blue instead of yellow in your top picture and you’ve got it!
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Linda,
You’ll be interested in this tidbit I bet: “Canola is the world’s only ‘Made in Canada’ crop and it is often the nation’s most valuable one, with annual exports of canola seed, oil and meal that are valued at over three billion dollars.” The reason you haven’t seen rapeseed growing in your area is maybe because it’s a Canadian crop. I’m no expert, but this link where I found the above stat. is so interesting and informative.
The gate you saw belongs to a rapeseed farm. There were no cows in sight. But I’d come across ranches, they had fences. Cattle guard? Are they some kind of special fences?
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Yes, they are (special fences, of a sort). There’s a story, of course – one of these days I’ll get it written. A city girl goes to the country and makes a fool of herself kind of story. 😉
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Linda,
Just sent you a tweet with a photo of a “cattle fence” I saw that day. (Now you can send photos easily while typing in your tweet, it’s great!)
A.
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Oh yes. The rapeseed is the star, but in the ones with those dramatic clouds, it shines even brighter. It must be incredible to stand there with it, taking in the field, and the sky. Thank you.
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Ruth,
Yes, they are beautiful. I just love their color, esp. against a bright blue sky. And the expanse. I can’t believe I live with such sights… compensation for what I miss, like New England, or, Michigan 🙂
Arti
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Absolutely gorgeous! And I see the horses are friendly too, coming up to the fence to say hi and have their photo taken.
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Yes, it was quite an interesting moment. I felt like I was being photographed.
A.
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Great photos, Arti! You’ll make a great scout! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
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Good to hear from you D. And yes, I’d be glad to be a location scout since I like driving so…
A.
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Amazing photos! And I love how you showed the “scenes” in a different light than Malcik did, as he famously filmed the entire film during “magic hour” at twilight.
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David,
The day before I took these photos, I did take some at early evening. They were so underexposed that I had to go back out the next day to take them at high noon. You see, I only have a pocket Panasonic Lumix, not so equipped as Mr. Malick.
Arti
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