The Tree of Life

7

Biff_LomanJul 10, 2011

Had they left out the NASA pictures, the volcanic and prehistoric footage, and the symphonic music, and straightened out the crooked narrative, The Tree of Life would have been a brave, modest film classic about growing up in Waco, Texas inHad they left out the NASA pictures, the volcanic and prehistoric footage, and the symphonic music, and straightened out the crooked narrative, The Tree of Life would have been a brave, modest film classic about growing up in Waco, Texas in the '50s. It would not have been easy to bring off, with the only singular event, the loss of a son in what must have been the Vietnam War. The dinosaurs and the vulcanism would have had to be replaced by further pertinent footage about the events leading up to the son's going to war, along with the terrible aftermath of his loss. Many elements in the story would have had to be fleshed out. Characters besides the father would have had to be developed beyond near mute and emotional simpletons. They would have to have lives and friends and speak up and better explain themselves to each other and to their God. It would have had to be a lot more Bergman and a lot less Kubrick and Antonioni. Malick took the easy way out. He bludgeoned us with Mahler, who will draw tears from a stone gazing at a blank white screen; and he enthralled us with the photographic glories of Hubble's universe. He (and we) would have been better served to dispense with the manipulation and stick to the touchingly simple story he had to tell, of which we got only a beautiful outline. Perhaps it was fear that that story was dated and twice-told that prompted him to go cosmic. But, there is a profound discontinuity between the one realm and the other, and Mahler, the lovely footage, along with painfully trite questions addressed to that God do not begin to adequately bridge it of deflect the viewer's disappointment in the director/author's dodging the real questions. It was a nice try, though.… Expand

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10

Brian_McInnisApr 14, 2012

So dreadfully rarely is film let out of its cage. So terribly scarcely is the language of movies used as though it's never been spoken before. This is cinema unbound. Terrence Malick's fifth film is a grand victory of human awareness andSo dreadfully rarely is film let out of its cage. So terribly scarcely is the language of movies used as though it's never been spoken before. This is cinema unbound. Terrence Malick's fifth film is a grand victory of human awareness and stands among the greatest, most fearlessly original and most universal of all films. It explores human experience from the inside, from within its characters' thoughts and sensations. Malick identifies its protagonist as its viewer and assembles a multitude of brief impressions of astounding vividness to act as an analogue of our own collection of memories. Roger Ebert wrote of Charlie Kaufman's great 'Synecdoche New York',

'For thousands of years, fiction made no room for characters who changed. Men felt the need for an explanation of their baffling existence, created gods, and projected onto them the solutions for their enigmas. These gods of course had to be immutable, for they stood above the foibles of men. Zeus was Zeus and Apollo was Apollo and that was that. We envisioned them on mountaintops, where they were little given to introspection. We took the situation as given, did our best, created arts that were always abstractions in the sense that they existed outside ourselves. Harold Bloom believes Shakespeare introduced the human personality into fiction. When Richard III looked in the mirror and asked himself what role he should play, and Hamlet asked the fundamental question To be, or not to be, the first shoe was dropped, and "Synecdoche" and many other works have dropped the second shoe.'

'The Tree of Life' is an other of the greatest of these works. As the years pass, our films seem to be moving deeper and deeper inward. This film attempts to be a mirror. It shows us a life such as our own and asks us to discern what is important in a life, what is good, what is lasting; and what is meaningless noise, what does not last. Kaufman's film also explored the human experience in an unconventional way, but while it had very little compassion and was devoid of wonder, Malick's film possesses those qualities and others in rich abundance.

I love, love, love the way Malick makes movies. He spurns artificial light, films his actors constantly (even when they don't know it), foreswears story-boards, always seeks to captivate fleeting, chance moments; a butterfly alighting on Mrs. O'Brien's hand, thunder flashing in the skies before Pocahontas, an inquisitive baby giving John Smith a kiss. He films and edits what ever and how ever he wants; what ever feels right, what ever is beautiful. He loves open fields, tall grass. He loves twilight and dusk. He loves water. He loves Sol, loves its light shining among plants, among people. He loves flocks of birds, hands holding hands, heads turned upward. He loves things that glow. He nearly always shoots manually; his camera is free. It swings and flutters about Smith and Pocahontas as they embrace. It runs joyously through a forest, peering upward and making Sol beam and dance among the branches and leaves. I am so very grateful there exists such a film-maker as him. I am stunned to learn that Malick himself lost his own younger brother as a young man, for which he largely blames himself, and has borne that guilt and grief for the rest of his life. This explains so much about his films - this one above all - and the depth, meaning and power of it are made so much more profound by this knowledge. 'The Tree of Life' is the product of a tortured man, and what we see in it is not only his philosophical message, but is from his own wounded heart. His own pain is present. We are told artists must suffer for their art, and here Terrence Malick, in his anguish for his little brother he's carried since the late sixties, has made a film which stands among the greatest and most essential of all human art. Jack's vision of the after-life is also more clear in this light; what Malick shows us is not only his belief, but is deeply personally important to him. It is his consolation, his hope.

There's a moment in the film that moves me more than film has ever before moved me. One morning, when the boys wake to find their father has gone on a trip, and they're free to romp in the house and tease their mother with a lizard and for once life is as it ought be with them, they run outside laughing with her as 'Les Baricades Misterieuses' plays, and we hear the mother's prayer for her children - for all that live. 'Help each other. Love every one. Every leaf. Every ray of light. Forgive.'… Expand

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7

Khunter4382Jan 23, 2012

I suspect this film will forever be underrated and misunderstood. That would be unfortunate due to Pitt's excellent performance as a naturalistic, authoritarian yet loving father trying to raise his boys with his graceful wife. Many scenesI suspect this film will forever be underrated and misunderstood. That would be unfortunate due to Pitt's excellent performance as a naturalistic, authoritarian yet loving father trying to raise his boys with his graceful wife. Many scenes are visually stunning, but the pacing of this film is hard to latch on to. If the film were 30 mins less in duration, the pace would seem more bearable. Though symbolistic overtones and undertones dominate the goal of this film, it is almost as if it can't make up it's mind......documentary or movie? Both portions are equally enthralling, but the juxtaposition of both is hard to digest.....which is why this film won't hit home for the masses as fast as other films do.… Expand

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7

rpzrzJul 18, 2011

This movie was a mix of the ridiculously pretentious, the amazingly beautiful and incredibly poignant moments. First of all let me say that there is no doubt that this movie is filmed brilliantly. There were a few moments of breathtakingThis movie was a mix of the ridiculously pretentious, the amazingly beautiful and incredibly poignant moments. First of all let me say that there is no doubt that this movie is filmed brilliantly. There were a few moments of breathtaking beauty not least in Hubble telescope shots. In addition to this the main plot is haunting and, if you let yourself, asks some really deep questions about life itself. However the last 30 mins is pretentious nonsense and the film is overlong. Also you really have to be in the right frame of mind for this film. Do not go and see this film if you want anything above a sloths pace as you will be sorely disappointed… Expand

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7

debjyotinsecJan 26, 2012

the photographic effects in this film is really upto something
plus mallick's bit unorthodox
some religious senses are also there
overall watchable.(7/10)

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7

Odin777Jan 25, 2012

While this film is beautifully crafted and shot, it misses the mark in telling a coherent story. If you are looking for a very artistic and visually strong film, this film may appeal to your tastes. As someone who likes being able to followWhile this film is beautifully crafted and shot, it misses the mark in telling a coherent story. If you are looking for a very artistic and visually strong film, this film may appeal to your tastes. As someone who likes being able to follow the plot of a story, I cannot say Tree of Life accomplishes that.… Expand

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7

TyranianDec 5, 2019

A strange yet fairly captivating film with some beautiful imagery and powerful moments.