Review: Tree of Life (2011, Malick)
June 26th 2011 04:04
Tree of Life (Malick, 2011)
Written by June 25, 2011
Terrence Malik’s Tree of Life is unlike any other cinematic experience. It doesn’t feel like a film, but rather a magnificent work of art. It envelopes you, swirling around your senses while you breath it in, consuming the beauty it has to offer. The film is a feast for the senses; it asks you to take in its beauty and theme. Some viewers we gratefully give the film this honor – others will long for a cohesive, linear narrative which doesn’t jolt one out of time and space. If you happen to fall into the latter category, this film is not for you.
Tree of Life provides thematical images set against an overt choral score. To explain the film is not the point. There’s overarching themes set forth to a story that is present but not necessarily specific. Malick delves into the issues of loss, religion, faith, spirituality, grace, creation, anger, and love through a visual exploration that takes you from the beginning of time to present day. Many will be put off by the lack of dialogue or “sensical” nature rather than letting the film take the viewer where it wants to go.
Malick creates a powerful, masterful canvas and on it he paints some of the most hauntingly beautiful moving images to ever grace the screen. Jessica Chastain is a sight to be held as she dances across the screen and rises into the air, herself one with nature and God all at once. Her character, Mrs. O’Brien, believes in spirituality and although she is very religious she doesn’t close herself off to the simple things in life. Her husband, Mr. O’Brien, (Brad Pitt) on the other hand is a stern man who keeps himself rigid and conforms to the way he feels God believes a man should be. His character is different than anything Pitt has ever played before and upon watching one cannot help but wonder how much of the audience provides this kind of parenting in their own life – how many actively agree with the raising of children in such a way.
To watch the film on either side of the religious spectrums, from atheist to Christian, would still be an incredibly profound and singular experience, the former perhaps even moreso. The conversations which could be had regarding finding spirituality in nature or finding it in religion – of what these things mean to you and how you live your life accordingly – are endless. Tree of Life provides a framework: it could be any story, any family, any situation; the tale is not specific to this set of people or time period or event.
Rather, the film as a whole is like a blueprint to life; it doesn’t provide all the answers, it doesn’t answer all the questions – it’s just something one has to experience.
This is one of the most memorable, palpable, and captivating cinematic experiences you will ever experience. Go outside your comfort zone, let yourself take it all in, let it wash over you, speak to you, touch you. Let it make you an active viewer; think rather than passively consume. Let it make you reflect about the way you live your life, your own beliefs, how they differ or compare to the characters onscreen. Let it recall your childhood, your family, your innocence. Don’t seek answers or explanations; don’t focus on plot over theme. Instead, lose yourself in the beauty before you.
Some who have seen this film have walked out halfway through; some have even asked for their money back. The biggest gift you can give yourself is an open mind. See this film. Love it, hate it, be indifferent to it but see it nonetheless.
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