The Tree of Life

20112011
PG-13PG-13
2h 19min

The Tree of Life (2011)

A preview of Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain.

The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.

See production, box office & company info

See production, box office & company info

Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 116 wins & 129 nominations total

Brad Pitt, Tye Sheridan, and Hunter McCracken in The Tree of Life (2011)

Jessica Chastain in The Tree of Life (2011)

Brad Pitt and Hunter McCracken in The Tree of Life (2011)

Sean Penn in The Tree of Life (2011)

Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Laramie Eppler in The Tree of Life (2011)

Brad Pitt in The Tree of Life (2011)

Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain in The Tree of Life (2011)

Jörg Widmer, Jessica Chastain, and Laramie Eppler in The Tree of Life (2011)

Brad Pitt, Tye Sheridan, and Laramie Eppler in The Tree of Life (2011)

Sean Penn in The Tree of Life (2011)

Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken, and Laramie Eppler in The Tree of Life (2011)

Brad Pitt, Jörg Widmer, Emmanuel Lubezki, and Jessica Chastain in The Tree of Life (2011)

Jessica Chastain Through the Years

Jessica Chastain Through the Years

Take a look back at Jessica Chastain's movie career in photos.

See the full gallery

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The Thin Red Line

7.6

The Thin Red Line

Days of Heaven

7.8

The New World

6.7

Badlands

7.8

To the Wonder

5.9

Knight of Cups

5.7

A Hidden Life

7.4

Song to Song

5.7

Voyage of Time: Life's Journey

6.5

Voyage of Time: Life's Journey

Babel

7.4

Inside Llewyn Davis

7.5

Inside Llewyn Davis

Melancholia

7.2

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. —alfiehitchie

childhood strict father waco texas 1950s death 400 more

Genres
- Drama
- Fantasy
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated PG-13 for some thematic material
Parents guide

Trivia
Dissatisfied by the look of modern computer generated visual effects, director Terrence Malick approached veteran special effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull, who was responsible for the visual effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), to create the visual effects for the film using bygone optical and practical methods. This marks the first feature film Trumbull has provided the effects for in 29 years, his last being Blade Runner (1982).

Goofs
When Mr. O'Brien receives the terrible news at the beginning of the movie by phone, the camera and camera operator are reflected in the handset.

Quotes
Mrs. O'Brien: [voice over] Help each other. Love everyone. Every leaf. Every ray of light. Forgive.

Crazy credits
There are no opening credits.

Alternate versions
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.

Connections
Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.18 (2011)

Soundtracks
Funeral Canticle
Written by John Tavener and Mother Thekla
Performed by George Mosley, Paul Goodwin and The Academy of Ancient Music
Courtesy of Harmonia Mundi USA

Top review

A Bold And Epic Exercise

Terence Malick's existential and experimental drama is truly something special. When I first started watching the film, I was trying to figure out what Malick was aiming to portray due to the film's somewhat convoluted structure, but towards the end, I took in every aspect of the film, the themes of family, of existence, of life in general. Many see this as a hit-and-miss film, but unless you truly focus your attention, you'll miss the point it's trying to make. Is it pretentious? Indeed, but it's equally an amazing picture.

We sit for 2 hours and follow Jack, a young child growing up in a dysfunctional house with Brad Pitt playing (extremely well) his strict and overwhelming father in the 1950s. The story feels inspired by the likes of '2001: A Space Odyssey' and the art-house feel of Von Trier, but despite this, 'The Tree of Life' has its own unique and bold style that works well in creating a haunting and emotional visual treat, accompanied with fantastic performances from Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain and stunning cinematography from Emmanuel Lubezki. 'The Tree of Life' is a bold and epic exercise from Malick that acts as a commentary on our society, a truly rewarding view.

helpful•128

33

CalRhys
Jul 1, 2014

Release date
- May 17, 2011 (France)
Country of origin
- United States
Official sites
- Fox Searchlight (United States)
- Official Facebook
Language
- English
Also known as
- Cây Đời
Filming locations
- Houston, Texas, USA
Production companies
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Budget
- $32,000,000 (estimated)
Gross US & Canada
- $13,303,319
Opening weekend US & Canada
- $372,920
- May 29, 2011
Gross worldwide
- $58,409,247

See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

Runtime
- 2h 19min
Color
- Color
Sound mix
Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1

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