| Errors | Missing | Unverified | Supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4 | 0 | 14 |
The film Days of Heaven (1978) presents a profoundly tragic arc for its central characters, with nearly everyone ending up worse than at the start. However, one character survives and gains a measure of freedom and self-determination.
Linda (Linda Manz), Bill's younger sister and the film's narrator, is the only main character who ends up with a future that could be interpreted as better, or at least one of survival and newfound agency.
Three main characters end up significantly worse, with two being killed and the third left alone and adrift.
The summary states Abby is 'left with nothing,' but this omits the major fact that she inherits the farmer's vast estate. While she loses both men emotionally and faces an uncertain future heading to WWI, materially she has gained significant wealth. This changes the comparative assessment of whether she's 'worse off' than at the start when she was a poor migrant worker.
The summary incorrectly suggests the fire happens during the chase/confrontation ('mistakenly starting a fire'), when in fact the locust plague arrives first, then fires are set to fight the locusts (destroying the harvest), and THEN the farmer discovers the deception and confronts Bill. This sequence error misrepresents the causation chain of the film's climax.
While the summary correctly notes Linda escapes with a friend, it misses the detail that this is someone from their shared past on the farm, which adds thematic weight to Linda's circular journey and her connection to that 'days of heaven' period.
While the summary argues Linda ends up 'better' through agency and survival, it doesn't adequately acknowledge the profound losses (death of brother, abandonment by Abby, no material security) that make this assessment highly debatable. Roger Ebert's analysis emphasizes how 'hope and cheer have been beaten down in her heart,' suggesting her ending is more ambiguous than the summary conveys.
In Days of Heaven (1978), the question of who ends up 'better' or 'worse' is complex and ambiguous, particularly for the sole survivor.
Who ends up better: Only Linda could arguably be considered 'better off,' but this assessment is highly debatable. She survives when Bill and the Farmer die, and at the film's end she escapes the boarding school where Abby left her, running away with a friend from the farm to face an uncertain future. She gains a measure of agency and self-determination by rejecting the imposed structure. However, she has also lost her brother Bill (killed by police), been abandoned by Abby, and faces complete material uncertainty. Roger Ebert's analysis suggests 'hope and cheer have been beaten down in her heart,' making her ending more ambiguous than straightforwardly 'better.'
Who ends up worse:
Bill (Richard Gere): Definitively worse. He starts as a fugitive in poverty but alive with Abby and Linda. He ends shot dead by police while trying to escape after killing the Farmer.
The Farmer (Sam Shepard): Definitively worse. He starts wealthy but terminally ill and lonely. He ends dead—stabbed by Bill with a screwdriver/leather punch during a confrontation—after being deceived into a marriage and genuinely falling in love with Abby, only to discover the betrayal.
Abby (Brooke Adams): Worse overall, though materially improved. She starts as a poor migrant worker with Bill's love and Linda's companionship. She ends having lost both men (both dead), having abandoned Linda, and boarding a train with soldiers heading to WWI—an uncertain and likely dangerous future. HOWEVER, she does inherit the Farmer's vast estate, so materially she has gained significant wealth even while losing emotional connections. The film suggests she's heading toward WWI, 'haunted by memories of her lost loved ones.'
Key chronology correction: The locust plague arrives first, then fires are set to fight the locusts (destroying the harvest), THEN the Farmer discovers Bill and Abby's true relationship and confronts Bill, leading to the Farmer's death. The fire does not happen during their confrontation.
Thematic note: The film is narrated by Linda as a reflective adult looking back, and critic Roger Ebert emphasizes this is fundamentally 'the story of a teenage girl, told by her, and its subject is the way that hope and cheer have been beaten down in her heart.' The 'days of heaven' refers to the brief, illusory period of prosperity before everything collapses.