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The Tree of Life (2011)
A Monumental Achievement in Cinema History
Since watching Terrence Malick's latest masterpiece The Tree of Life a few days ago I have attempted to write a review at least 5 times. There is no way to write a review of The Tree of Life that can adequately describe the experience of watching the film. I am going to attempt to describe the film's details, but even that will not do it justice. Terrence Malick works in a unique way. Malick does not go for traditional narrative storytelling, his films seem to abandon storytelling all together, but his films always feel as if you are watching a structured story. Malick is not interested in dialog, most of his films running time are essentially silent. Malick is a big fan of using voice-over, his films deal with his characters inner story which most of the time is the opposite of the visuals and "story" being told. Malick uses imagery and silent passages to tell his stories, or the essence of his stories. To watch a Terrence Malick film the viewer must disregard every type of preconceived notion of what a movie is and how a movie should be presented. Malick's films ask philosophical questions about human nature, man's relationship to nature, the existence of God and the soul, but most importantly his films always ask Why. They ask questions that have no answer, but the questions cause the viewer to think about how insignificant human life is in a universe that is infinite.
Malick's latest film, The Tree of Life, is far and away his most ambitious film, and easily the most ambitious film ever made. Malick incorporates essentially everything in The Tree of Life. The film which on the surface is the story of the O'Brien family and the summer days that they occupy in a small Texas town in the 1950s, also summarizes The Big Bang and a spiritual realm, but is never preachy or even religious. The film details the freedom of summertime for children, and the relationships between Mother, Father and their three sons. The eldest is Jack (played by newcomer Hunter McCracken as a young boy, and by Sean Penn as a middle aged man) the film is from his point of view. As a boy who is reaching the age where he can be influenced, where his body begins to betray him, where he is reaching that age when the battle to become an adult and the longing to stay a child conflict, Jack is seen as an inquisitive boy who begins to question the polar differences between this father (Brad Pitt in his most mature and best performance) and his mother (a lovely, milky white Jessica Chastain) who take different approaches to parenting. Father is a walking contradiction, he is a man of strength, he demands respect in the strictest ways, he is also a lover of classical music, he plays the piano for pleasure, he is affectionate and loving with his three sons offering hugs and kisses whenever possible. Father is a good man, but he strikes fear in his children. Mother is like an angel, giving her children only love and affection, never punishing them or causing them any type of harm.
The film begins with the news that the O'Brien's middle son has died at the age of nineteen. The film follows their grief, and their questioning...Why? The film then shows Jack as an adult, who is conflicted in his daily life and the experiences he had as a child. In a voice over narration a character asks God "What are you?" The film then goes back to the beginning of time and in beautiful images shows the birth of the universe, the planets, the earliest lifeforms on earth and the evolution of life. Here is where the film provokes most thought. When the evolution process slows and focuses on the interaction of two dinosaurs, questions about that interaction arise. Why do these creatures behave this way, what is it's reasoning, and what does this behavior mean? The film ends this portion with the birth of Jack, then the film follows the O'Brien family as two more sons are born, and the relationships between the family members are developed. The film is a collage of images used to tell a family history.
The film's final act is about Jack, now middle aged, but still haunted by his childhood and the death of his brother. I cannot remember if a character asked "What happens next?" but for some reason I feel very strongly that those words were uttered in voice over. The film then moves past life existing on earth and goes into the beyond. Here where family members reunite in joy and harmony. Where parents are forgiven and redemption is achieved. And in a film that openly states that human life is unimportant, not that life has no meaning, but that humans may not leave a mark during their brief time in the universe, the film does offer an answer to what is important in life...Love. The only thing that humans can give to one another is love and to live without it is not to live at all.
The film's beautiful images washed over me, creating a sense of awe where I did not take my eyes off the screen once. The film's emotional power, taken from those images is unimaginable. As the movie progressed I kept having this heaviness in my heart, while my mind was spinning with questions. There was a sense of an inner experience I was having that I have not felt from any other movie experience. I have been a great believer and advocator of Terrence Malick's work for over a decade, which began after seeing The Thin Red Line. I knew how he worked, how he arranges his films like symphonies, but nothing from those past experiences with a Malick film prepared me for The Tree of Life.