A film that is almost both too pleasurable and too painful to watch.
The scope is too large to be contained; all of life and death and beyond (it includes lava flows, undersea shots, and an eclipse of the sun). Figurative language abounds, and I can't say I could comprehend it all, but it includes a literal tree featuring in the main character's life, and a vision of the afterlife (crowded beach and shallows at the shore of a great sea) that is indelible.
The cinematography, under the supervision of the godly Emmanuel 'Chivo' Lubezki, is exquisite, luminous and evocative. The musical soundtrack adds to the emotional drama.
The acting is of a peculiar kind. There is very little dialogue, ever; there are whispered clues, and solo outbursts and comments, but rarely if ever is one person speaking in response to another's speech. The main character, Jack, as a young boy, and his mother, played by Jessica Chastain, shine despite these constraints.
Watching the film could easily be a bad experience, if one is not in the mood for such a chaotic, but disciplined, presentation. As in, boring in the extreme. As, in falling asleep until the credits. I could understand that, but try not to give up--think empathy, think memory that just can't wait.
If I had to give a single overriding theme, it is about guilt and its cure, forgiveness. It is a movie of surpassing goodness. I have tried to watch director Terrence Malick's work whenever I can find it; some of the films are like this, but inferior, and some are more conventional. This, I find to be his masterpiece.
The scope is too large to be contained; all of life and death and beyond (it includes lava flows, undersea shots, and an eclipse of the sun). Figurative language abounds, and I can't say I could comprehend it all, but it includes a literal tree featuring in the main character's life, and a vision of the afterlife (crowded beach and shallows at the shore of a great sea) that is indelible.
The cinematography, under the supervision of the godly Emmanuel 'Chivo' Lubezki, is exquisite, luminous and evocative. The musical soundtrack adds to the emotional drama.
The acting is of a peculiar kind. There is very little dialogue, ever; there are whispered clues, and solo outbursts and comments, but rarely if ever is one person speaking in response to another's speech. The main character, Jack, as a young boy, and his mother, played by Jessica Chastain, shine despite these constraints.
Watching the film could easily be a bad experience, if one is not in the mood for such a chaotic, but disciplined, presentation. As in, boring in the extreme. As, in falling asleep until the credits. I could understand that, but try not to give up--think empathy, think memory that just can't wait.
If I had to give a single overriding theme, it is about guilt and its cure, forgiveness. It is a movie of surpassing goodness. I have tried to watch director Terrence Malick's work whenever I can find it; some of the films are like this, but inferior, and some are more conventional. This, I find to be his masterpiece.