Script To Screen: “Badlands”
A memorable scene from the 1975 movie Badlands, written and directed by Terrence Malick.
A memorable scene from the 1975 movie Badlands, written and directed by Terrence Malick.
Plot Summary: Based on the Starkweather-Fugate killing spree of the 1958, in which a fifteen-year-old girl and her twenty-five-year-old boyfriend slaughtered her entire family and several others in the Dakota badlands.
EXT. CITY LIGHTS - NIGHTHOLLY (v.o.)
... we could see the lights of Cheyenne, a city bigger and
grander than I'd ever seen.EXT. CADILLAC'S POV ON PRAIRIEThe prairie rushes under the Cadillac's headlights.HOLLY (v.o.) I felt all kind of things looking at the lights of
Cheyenne, but most important, I made up my mind to never again
tag around with a hell-bent type, no matter how in love with him
I was. Finally, I found the strength to tell Kit this. I pointed
out that even If we got to the Far North, he still couldn't make
a living.INT. CADILLAC - NIGHTKit and Holly's faces are strangely lit by the dash lights. Holly
is absorbed in her map. The radio is on.KIT
(responding to v.o.) I could get a job with the Mounties. The
Northwest Mounties ... Hell, I got all the qualifications. I can
ride, shoot and... I don't mind the cold. Fact. I kind of like
the cold.Holly looks up from the map.HOLLY
What?KIT
Nothing... I was just running off at the mouth... as usual.HOLLY
I'm sorry. I wasn't listening.Holly lights a cigarette.KIT
I was just talking about going after a job... Hey. don't lip it.He reaches over and takes the cigarette out of her mouth. The
CAMERA PANS to her with this gesture.HOLLY
You know... they'd probably ask to see your driver's license
before they hired you.KIT (o.c.)
Well. I'm not going to let that stop me.When the CAMERA PANS BACK to him, he is looking at her cigarette.KIT
You smoke Pall Mall?HOLLY
Yeah.He is surprised to discover this.KIT
Nah, you hadn't seen me when I'm going after something, honey.
Tough?He cocks his head just thinking about it. She reaches for the
radio to change the station. He pats her hand away.KIT
Hey. don't touch that... Nat King Cole.EXT. BADLANDS - NIGHTThey dance in the headlights to the tune of "A Blossom Fell"
coming over the car radio. She is wearing the rich man's jacket.
After a moment Kit whispers in her ear.KIT
Boy, if I could sing a song like that... I mean, if I could sing
a song about the way I feel right now, it'd be a hit.They continue dancing.
The movie version of the scene:
It’s almost word for word an exact translation to the screen. But watch what Malick does with “They continue dancing,” a few nice camera shots to let the moment breathe. Any fans of Badlands? Where does it fit in the list of Malick movies?
One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.
For more articles in the Script To Screen series, go here.