The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.Written by
alfiehitchie
The tree of life that appears in the film is a gargantuan 65000-pound live-oak tree situated at Smithville, Texas. See more »
Goofs
At one scene further in it shows the boys playing on the telephone. The telephone has two clear plastic buttons used to hang the receiver up. Those phones did not come until a decade or so later than the 50s. The '50s would have had a cradle for the receiver to press when you hung it up rather than two clear plastic buttons that would be pressed down by the receiver. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Jack:
[in a whisper]
Brother. Mother. It was they who led me to your door.
[choir singing dirge]
See more »
In September 2018, Criterion Collection released the 189-minute extended version, which restores several vignettes and additional scenes. The additions are as follows:
When Mrs. O'Brien learns of R.L's death in Vietnam, there are more shots of her in the bed. After that, a neighbor's boy brings over some food.
There are additional shots of adult Jack walking around the office building including walking into a masked ball.
Adult Jack visits the museum. He is always accompanied by a woman, while he seems to lose himself more and more in the past.
There is an additional montage of adult Jack encountering shady characters before it ends of him sitting in the airplane in panic.
Steve and R.L look at the chicks that have fallen off from their nest.
An additional vignette of Jack and his mother, which establishes the insight of his activities including lassoing and weeding. Dad then checks on Steve whether if he has finished.
In the dining scene after that, Mr. O'Brien drinks from a bottle of Tabasco.
Mr. O'Brien learns of a mishap that befell his father.
Jack talks to the other boys about his experience with the three-legged dog while the children played with it.
R.L tells his mother that she's not old yet, then while mixing she accidentally mixes with her hand. Jack goes out to the lawn with his father while Mother watches from the inside longer.
The Uncle Roy (Mrs. O'Brien's brother) vignette is put back and his presence excites and makes the three boys happy. However Mr. O'Brien is not happy about his brother-in-law and unceremoniously kicks him out of the house because he makes the boys turn away from him. (Note: This is one of the two longest restored sequences)
Another vignette has Jack and his friend ravaging the latter's house. It is explained this was done in anger he was often mistreated and locked up by his father (an appearance by Ben Chaplin) - this sets up Jack's subsequent change of behavior. Next, a violent tornado storm happens whose devastation can be seen in retrospect. (Note: This is one of the two longest restored sequences)
Jack and his friends hurt other animals and even destroying other people's property.
When Jack goes upstairs, he stares at the bird cage briefly before continues through the floor until he reaches a room that catches his interest.
Jack creates more problems, even in school and even annoys R.L. This eventually leads to his mother having to have conversations with some of the schoolteachers, and she slowly begins to understand where Jack is heading.
When Mr. O'Brien returns, he has a conversation with Jack, aware of his behavior and describes his feelings of his sons. He reveals that he had hepatitis during his work trip in China. He then has a short trip to the lake.
Jack's parents eventually decided to put Jack to a boarding school and his mother explains to him her decision to do so. This somehow has him finding his inner peace in the subsequent scenes in the new school. It also made R.L happy on his own side too. In an additional short scene, his parents had one more moment of time together at the lakeside.
Several additional shots were added when Jack is heading towards the beach, which includes a girl walking among the ruin, people coming out from a building into the open space and more shots of anxious children. Later he is seen walking back to his house.
The closing credits includes additional cast members who only appeared in the new cut.
For a concise summary of what to expect from this film I can't do better than direct you to Rooprect's review.
When I saw Tree of Life I think I was fortunate in that I knew absolutely nothing about it beforehand. All I knew was the title, and I'd briefly seen the enigmatic poster for it. But who was in the cast or who directed it, etc, I knew not. So I went in completely open minded.
I also timed the cinema visit so I missed all the ads and trailers - I'm not saying this necessarily improved the viewing, but the nature of the movie is at a polar opposite to all that commercial stuff, and it was good not to be distracted by that crap.
Turned out: It really was a memorable film, and I won't forget that couple of hours in the cinema watching it, it felt like a rare treat. Very enjoyable experience, but a film completely outside the usual Hollywood fodder of an Odeon or Vue.
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For a concise summary of what to expect from this film I can't do better than direct you to Rooprect's review.
When I saw Tree of Life I think I was fortunate in that I knew absolutely nothing about it beforehand. All I knew was the title, and I'd briefly seen the enigmatic poster for it. But who was in the cast or who directed it, etc, I knew not. So I went in completely open minded.
I also timed the cinema visit so I missed all the ads and trailers - I'm not saying this necessarily improved the viewing, but the nature of the movie is at a polar opposite to all that commercial stuff, and it was good not to be distracted by that crap.
Turned out: It really was a memorable film, and I won't forget that couple of hours in the cinema watching it, it felt like a rare treat. Very enjoyable experience, but a film completely outside the usual Hollywood fodder of an Odeon or Vue.