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Today I watched Becket and Badlands.
Becket is led by two great actors -- Richard Burton (Becket) and Peter O'Toole (Henry II). The production is a high quality classical period style that is always visually pleasing to me. The scene when they cross the English Channel is beautiful, and so is the reconciliation attempt scene. Also fine are those inside church scenes, like the Bishop's Ordination and when Becket excommunicates a lord, powering on of the Devil and his fallen angels.
There is much homoeroticism in the film. It is not subtle. Henry II talks so much of his love for Becket that it becomes one of the main themes of the film, interestingly and provactively, along with defending God's honor, power between Church and state, and broken friendships.
Badlands is a visual and aural treat, like all of Malick's films. His simple story of common people resembles more Days of Heaven than his later two films. Martin Sheen is a great actor here, and the innocent Sissy Spacek plays someone so young and naive but starting to lose the romantic luster near perfectly. The ending is weird. What is with all the cops that seem to admire this brutal killer? Are they just amusing him? It confused me.
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