Tree of Life

Directed by Terrence Malick

Written by Terrence Malick

                                                         

The film, Tree of Life opens with a quote from Job 38.7, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation...while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” At this point in the film, I looked around and realized that I was prominently the youngest person in the theatre. Not to hate on my elders, but the average age had to be about 60-70 years old. That tells you a lot right there…

As the film slowly begins to unfold in an intriguing non-linear fashion, we see the parents of a seemingly happily Texan family receive the news that their son, age 19, has died. We are then catapulted to the 1950’s where we see the family’s original story evolve and how the children grew up and dealt with their surroundings. The family is comprised of parents Mr. and Mrs. Obrien; played by Brad Pitt and the dashing Jessica Chastain. As well as three young children, Jack, Steve, and R.L. portrayed by Hunter McCracken, Tye Sheridan, and Laramie Eppler. Pitt portrays your stereotypically stern southern father who occasionally expresses a soft side, as apposed to Chastain who fully embodies the young and innocent mother.

The trouble with this film is that a lot of what we see is actually through the memory of Jack (the eldest brother) who as an adult is played by Sean Pean. Unfortunately, we have no connection with Jack and do not care about his suffering in the slightest. This is further enforced by the flashbacks to him as young child where he treats his brother horribly and sporadically abuses animals. It is a fact that in film, if a character saves an animal, the audience will immediately feel a stronger bond towards them. Therefore, this creates the opposite reaction, and the audience’s hatred for this boy is further established. Does it work when one hates the protagonist? Malick cleverly uses this hatred to allow the audience to feel more for the other characters and subsequently emote more despair upon the death of the son.

Don’t forget about religion! If the movie opens with a Bible quote, you should expect a lot of religion stuffed down your throat. Yes…there was a lot of that. However, it is acceptable due to the importance faith has on these characters and how the theme of religion is juxtaposed in the film. While there is a lot of “God talk” in the movie, we also literally see the creation of the world through a scientific perspective We see every single aspect of our “creation” and how it has nothing to do with religion and is purely molecular. This I feel makes the film more appropriate as it expresses both perspectives of the world; both spirtual and scientific.

One aspect of the film that I have not discussed is the symbolic use of imagery and the 30-minute “creation of earth” scene. Throughout the movie, Terrence Malick interspliced images of the world being created and the first cells forming. Yes, the shots of the beautiful first “hot thin soup” of the world is stunning, and I do like volcano’s erupting, but this reaches a point of no return. After what seems like 45 minutes of these shots I am ready to punch the closest elder next to me, but I sit tight knowing this film has won a couple fancy awards…most recently the Palm d’Or at Cannes Film Festival.

Do I disagree with this? Should this movie have won such an award? I will tell you one thing. The movie is beautiful. The characters are delicately created and we have strong emotional feelings for all of them. However, this movie is not for your average audience. As I stated at the beginning, I was the youngest in the theatre by far. The best reason I can think of why River Road Entertainment (the distributor of the film) decided to spend the money to expose the movie on limited release is for the hope of the Oscars. Since the general public will not enjoy this movie, it leaves it for Hollywood’s favorite filmmakers and the dorky film geeks at home (like myself) to enjoy. Will this get a nomination for Best Screenplay and Cinematography? Maybe. Will it be enjoyed by all ages around the world? Not a chance.