img_1705.jpg, Badlands National Park, SD

Though Malick paid close attention to period detail, he did not want it to overwhelm the picture. "I tried to keep the 1950's to a bare minimum," he said. "Nostalgia is a powerful feeling; it can drown out anything. I wanted the picture to set up like a fairy tale, outside time."

Malick also pointed out that "Kit and Holly even think of themselves as living in a fairy tale," and he felt that was very appropriate as "children's books like Treasure Island were often filled with violence." He also hoped a "fairy tale" tone would "take a little of the sharpness out of the violence but still keep its dreamy quality."

 
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