Badlands | True Romance
How Terrence Malick’s legendary debut film influenced Tony Scott’s Tarantino-scripted romantic crime caper
Modern Throwback
One film released before 1980.
One film released after 1980.
A deep dive into both films to discover the thematic similarities and cinematic influences between the two.
To many cinephiles, the director Terrence Malick is treated as a cinematic god and his work as scripture. Considering his stellar reputation, many would be surprised to learn that the man has only directed a handful of films over the past several decades. Nonetheless, the few films he has made have left such an indelible mark on the filmgoing public that Malick’s filmmaking style has become a draw in itself, even to the point of parody for some. This style — featuring beautiful shots of vast landscapes overlaid with wistful voiceover narration — can be found in such modern films as The Thin Red Line, The New World, and The Tree of Life. However, his 1973 debut film Badlands (watch the trailer here) stands out from his other work as a fairly straightforward crime story absent the fancy filmmaking flourishes that would come to define his work. Arguably the most accessible of all his films, the movie would go on to inspire many successful filmmakers in the future and leave a permanent footprint in cinema lore.
Badlands is essentially a story of boy meets girl, boy runs away with girl, boy becomes a criminal to prove his love to girl, which leads to boy and girl on the lam until their inevitable violent capture. Such stories have become commonplace in films today and in the minds of filmgoers, but the trope felt fairly fresh back in the 1960s-1970s, with the 1967 classic Bonnie and Clyde as a catalyst for such violent crime capers. While Badlands is certainly violent in many scenes, it doesn’t come across as exploitative like similar films from the era. There is a somewhat quiet focus on the beauty of the titular part of the country the couple passes through while on the run — from the gorgeous mountains of the Dakotas to the vast plains of Montana.
Badlands features early career performances from Martin Sheen and (pre-Carrie) Sissy Spacek, which make watching the film today quite the treat. Sheen portrays Kit Carruthers, a 25-year-old deadbeat garbage man that fashions himself a James Dean lookalike. He randomly comes across Spacek’s 15-year-old Holly Sargis in her front yard and instantly attempts to sweep her off her feet. His attempts to charm quickly work and the two become inseparable despite their age difference. Things take a turn for the worst when Holly’s father finds out about their relationship, and Kit shows up at the Sargis home to collect Holly. Proving his trigger-happy nature, Kit shoots Holly’s father dead when he threatens to call the police on him. The sudden moment of murder is just a taste of Kit’s violent nature and indifferent attitude about life and death. Holly, in shock but clearly not heartbroken given her despise for her father, agrees to run away with Kit. Far from a romantic gesture, one can easily view Kit’s action as a kidnapping.
The two “lovers” go on the run from the police after Kit burns down Holly’s house with her father’s dead body inside. They build a secluded tree house in the woods until their ultimate discovery by vigilantes. With several more murders added to Kit’s running list, the two head via car to the badlands of Montana. Amidst Kit’s murder spree, Holly increasingly questions her feelings for him via voiceover narration, and it becomes clear that she may be looking for an escape from this situation which will clearly not end well. Her opportunity comes when the two are finally tracked down by a police helicopter, and she declines to go any further with Kit. When he gestures for her to follow, her response says it all — “I don’t want to. I just don’t wanna go.” After turning herself in and Kit’s failed escape attempt, Badlands features some pretty striking social commentary on society’s celebrity worship culture. Once in handcuffs, Kit is somewhat of a celebrity to the town’s police officers. He even hands out his belongings (lighter, comb, etc.) as souvenirs and is given gentle handshakes as he’s put on the plane to his ultimate detention. The two, unbeknownst to them, developed a countrywide reputation as a celebrity criminals on the run from the law.
While Badlands may come across as a cynical portrayal of young love, director Tony Scott’s True Romance, released in 1993, truly reflects the title in its two lead characters’ genuine head-over-heels love one for one another. The film (watch the trailer here) was written by Quentin Tarantino, a fact that is apparent from nearly the first shot as Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) goes on a delightful oration about his love for Elvis Presley and kung fu movies at a musky Detroit bar. True Romance follows Clarence and ex-call girl Alabama (Patricia Arquette) from their “meet cute” moment at a movie theater, to their quick marriage, and onto Clarence’s deadly confrontation with her former pimp. Clarence’s demand for Alabama’s freedom from her former life as a call girl leads to a shootout at a Detroit club, and in the ruckus he grabs the wrong suitcase, picking up one he believed contained his new wife’s belongings. He’s surprised to find that he picked up a suitcase full of cocaine, which has ties to the Mafia, unbeknownst to the two oblivious lovebirds. Thinking they cashed in big time, they head off to California in an attempt to sell the drugs to the rich bigwigs of Hollywood. Stuck in their own romantic fantasyland, Clarence and Alabama have no clue that dozens of violent people are on their tail.
True Romance largely takes place in Southern California, where Clarence takes Alabama to meet up with his aspiring actor friend Dick (Michael Rapaport). Dick introduces Clarence and Alabama to an assistant of a hugely successful film producer, Lee Donowitz (Saul Rubinek), who is willing to buy their stolen cocaine. When the assistant is busted by the cops for an unrelated drug charge, he becomes an informant to uncover the cocaine sale. Leading up to the sale, it becomes apparent that Clarence and Alabama are being targeted by both the Los Angeles police and the violent Detroit mafia, who are right on their tail to get their cocaine back. This leads to a crescendo of gun violence in Donowitz’s hotel room, a vibrant and violent spectacle that perfectly harkens back the heyday of 90s action movies.
The ensemble cast of True Romance is remarkable and features many actors that went on to insanely successful careers. This includes such actors as James Gandolfini, Christopher Walken, Brad Pitt, Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, and Val Kilmer — all in memorable bit roles. Such actors get to bask in the glory of a wonderfully written script, with memorable scenes of dynamic dialogue and powerful character moments. The film’s pace is brisk, and the story moves from beat to beat seemingly a mile-a-minute. This leads to a never-dull cinematic experience that is an overall fun road movie with some ultra-violent sequences that became a signature for Tarantino scripts.
While deftly written, some of the dialogue is extremely problematic, especially when viewing again today. There is a horrific racist back-and-forth between Walken and Hopper’s characters that goes on for minutes, and it is simply hard to watch today despite the stellar acting on display. The overall film is unabashedly amoral and will likely offend some segment of its viewership. But one can also argue that its amoral nature is a feature and not a detriment, as it authentically presents the type of grisly lifestyle of early 1990s crime. If one can set these (valid) concerns aside, the remaining film is an exhilarating combination of off-beat style, pop culture references, and dynamite performances. In what other film can you find both a dreadlocked Gary Oldman playing a pimp and a loafing Brad Pitt playing a stoner?
Thematic Similarities
Violence as romantic gesture
The stories of both Badlands and True Romance follow a male protagonist who resorts to violent means in order to prove his love and devotion to the woman he has fallen for. In both films, there is a violent confrontation with an authoritative figure that is deemed necessary to free the woman from a life she surely doesn’t want or deserve. The story trope on its face is arguably misogynistic, suggesting that only a male love interest can offer a respite from an undesirable life rather than the woman taking strides of her own. That said, the violent act comes across very differently between the films.
In Badlands, Kit straight up murders Holly’s father after he forbids their relationship and threatens to call the police. Before this scene, there were subtle hints of Kit’s sociopathic mindset, like when he offers a dollar to his garbage collecting partner to eat a dead dog they encounter on their shift. But it is this murderous act that solidifies Kit as a dangerous sociopath — someone who fires his gun without thinking how others will be affected and is generally unaffected himself. In this scenario, he kills the father of the woman he allegedly loves and wants to run away with, all without blinking an eye. Despite Holly’s pleas to call the town doctor, Kit calmly proceeds to spread gasoline throughout the house to burn the evidence. At this point, it’s unclear if Holly sees this act as a romantic gesture or a disturbing sign of what’s to come. The relationship she had with her father was dysfunctional for sure, but it’s hard not to see Kit’s actions during this sequence as a kidnapping, especially given Holly’s age of fifteen years.
In True Romance, Clarence’s violent actions are perceived very differently than Kit’s. When the movie begins, Clarence comes across as an innocent film geek who works at a comic book store. A life amongst guns and drugs seems like a fantasy. However, his genuine love and adoration for Alabama leads him to take drastic action to hold on to this amazing woman who (literally) fell into his lap. Like Holly’s father in Badlands, Clarence is determined to free Alabama from the man controlling her life — in this scenario, her pimp Drexl. Though he claims to just want to retrieve Alabama’s belongings from Drexl’s club, his intentions are clearly more sinister after he hands the pimp an empty envelope to “pay off” Drexl for Alabama’s freedom. He clearly wants an excuse to kill him and proactively prevent him from pursuing his new wife in the future. After Clarence returns from doing the deed, Alabama’s reaction is much more clear than Holly’s — she thinks it’s romantic and gleefully kisses him. For the remainder of the film, Clarence goes to great strides to be confrontational and violent, especially in Alabama’s presence. It’s clear that the old Clarence is weary about such a violent lifestyle, but his inner ego — personified by an Elvis figure (Val Kilmer) — keeps pushing him forward.
“Cool” criminals
Clarence’s interactions with his Elvis “mentor” represent another theme for True Romance — the idea of a criminal life style as stylish, hip, and worthy of celebrity worship. After all, what does Alabama scrawl in marker on a hotel napkin for Clarence before the film’s violent shootout conclusion? “You’re so cool.”
This theme is also prevalent in Badlands, as the character of Kit resembles a major celebrity of the film’s time — James Dean. It’s even remarked upon during the film by both Holly, who marks it as one the qualities she’s attracted to, and the police who ultimately capture Kit, seemingly glowing in this pseudocelebrity’s presence. Kit carries himself throughout the film as carefree, even moments after he coldly shoots people dead. When he is eventually captured, he is seemingly giddy with joy as he’s awash with attention by the local police force. Handcuffed in a airport terminal with a big smile on his face, he happily hands out his personal items to the police officers and claims they’ll be worth big money some day. This representation of society worshiping certain criminals (see: white, handsome) was a biting commentary at the time and has proved true after decades of high profile American murder cases.
While the lead male character in Badlands idolizes James Dean, Elvis is a constant presence for True Romance’s Clarence in both style and mood. From his dyed, slicked back hair to his Hawaiian shirts (a la Blue Hawaii), it’s clear that Clarence does his best to impersonate his idol and has no qualms about expressing his love of the legendary musician. One scene in particular may not resonate much on first watch but in hindsight says so much about the character. After arriving in Los Angeles to sell a suitcase of cocaine that was taken under extremely dangerous circumstances, Clarence decides to grab some burgers for him and Alabama. Unbeknownst to him, his new wife is back at the hotel being beaten to a pulp by a Mafia member (James Gandolfini). Cutting back and forth between the bloodshed and burger joint, Clarence spots a stranger reading a magazine article about Elvis. With abundant joy and confidence, he approaches the weary stranger to make his case on why Elvis is the greatest. From the outside perspective, this guy hasn’t a care in the world. And that’s saying a lot considering the violent and deadly experience that is in his near future.
Cinematic Influences
Musical score
Badlands famously features the composition Gassenhauer by Carl Orff, a joyful melody that lends a playful, childlike vibe to the film. The overall film features scene after scene of violence and murder, so the musical piece serves as a reminder of the age and innocence of Holly, as it’s easy to forget her young age of fifteen years. Juxtaposed against such violent sequences, the musical cues offer a sense of irony as we witness the naive young criminals travel across the plains of the Midwest. Holly’s age and innocent nature may explain her detachment from the violence surrounding her.
Perhaps the most clear evidence of the influence Badlands had on the making of True Romance is Hans Zimmer’s cover version of Gassenhauer. Zimmer’s version is appropriately titled You’re So Cool and represents Alabama’s childlike qualities and the general fantasy-like romanticism that the two lovers embody as they strive to run away with each other. The score sounds almost exactly like Carl Orff’s 1536 original that was featured in Badlands, and the effect on the viewer is just as effective. For both films, the pleasant musical piece pulls the viewer out of the extreme violence on screen and serves as a reminder of the protagonists’ naiveté.
Female protagonist voiceover
Another signature detail that both films share is the voiceover by the female protagonist — Spacek’s Holly in Badlands and Arquette’s Alabama in True Romance. Both voiceovers offer a calm and romanticized narration of the crazy events throughout the film. Further, both characters’ voices are southern-accented and sound very similar to each other in tone.
The fact that the female leads are narrating their versions of the events in each film instead of their male counterparts offers a much more interesting perspective. I guarantee you that a Kit-narrated Badlands would be much more dull than its current iteration. A Clarence-narrated True Romance would lose the childlike romanticism that Alabama offers in her voiceover. In both films, the female leads’ calm voice provides a sense of hope from a fairly hopeless situation she’s found herself in.
One can argue that True Romance is a modern adaptation of Badlands, and the argument would be a valid one. However, the various difference between the two films prove the worth of past films influencing future filmmakers. While Badlands features a cynical ending with unjustified criminal celebrity worship and Kit’s death penalty, True Romance offers a “happy” ending with Clarence and Alabama’s escape to Cancun where they theoretically live out their days with their child (named Elvis, of course). It’s an ending that Tony Scott reportedly changed from Tarantino’s script after falling in love with the characters. Many cite the 1993 film as one of the best from the decade, and it has developed a fan following over the years, especially as its actors developed mega-successful careers. It’s a film that would not exist in its current form without the influence of 1973’s Badlands.
I hope this entry of Modern Throwback has shown how cinema influences itself throughout time. If we are willing to reflect on the filmmaking process, it becomes clear that filmmaking is a revolving door of ideas and techniques that makes film an overall stronger art form.
