The Tree of Life (2011) User Reviews

Epic and Exasperating?

[Milo_Milosovic · 8/10 · 23 March 2014]

Where to even begin with The Tree of Life? Any release from Terence Malick is highly anticipated because, let's face it, "prolific" is not exactly his middle-name. Malick's output of 5 Films in the best part of thirty years makes Stanley Kubrick look like a Roger Corman protégé. Ostensibly, The Tree of Life is the story of a young family growing up in 1950′s Texas. Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain are the parents of three boys living the suburban life. Whilst, Sean Penn plays the grown up older son reminiscing over these times. Here is where any attempt to continue with a plot synopsis collapses under the weight of the films impressionistic non-linear structure.

The Tree of life is a fundamentally polarising experience of the highest order. There will be those who view it as a mess. A sentimental, art-farty shambles. A two hour long perfume commercial stuffed with "meaningful" abstract shots and scenes. A melange of whispered preposterous platitudes and pretentious, "meaning of life" and infuriatingly glib sentimentality. They'll think it's rambling, mawkish, misjudged, ill-disciplined, lacking any narrative cohesion and packed with the kind of heavy handed-symbolism best left to a 6th form Emo's poetry. They'll think it's the work of a director who's lost the plot up his own arse and submitted a self-indulgent soufflé of a film that'll stretch their patience to breaking point. They will hate it. And, they'll have a point.

There will be others though who view The Tree of Life as an elegiac meditation on memory and grief. They'll think it's a lyrical and visual poem. They'll see discussions of familial remembrance, the friction between father and son, the birth of morality, the Universe and universal truths. They'll see a beautifully meandering and melancholic ode that eschews traditional narrative for a sumptuous visual lyricism that washes over them. They'll be prepared to lie-back and let it take them to more melancholic and meditative shores. They will love it. And, they'll have a point.

Guess, which side I fell on.

How can you sum up trees? and life? If a summary was possible then the film it'd deal with would be artificial.

[WilliamCrocodile · 8/10 · 23 May 2011]

Many things have and will be said about this movie. Regardless of the easy critics: it's boring, there's no action, it's self-indulging, etc.., I would only add this. There will always be 2 kinds of people (whether they are film-goers, tourists, readers..): the ones who like to "recognize" things (the same stories being told, who is the hero, who is the villain? the same places to go to, the same food...) and the ones who like to discover new things. As to the film, why don't you try it? How many films have you seen that take your hand and take you to a place you've never been before? On the contrary how often do you understand everything from the very first minutes of a movie? who is going to marry who, who is the bad guy, who's going to betray, will there be a happy end? Aren't you ever fed up with this? Try and see The Tree Of Life. It's about growing up in a family. It's about seeing the world through children's eyes. It's a very American story, and what it's like to be torn between religion, ideals and the lust for success and power and money. It's about betrayal by the people you trust. It's about love.

You may not like it but at least you'll have tried. Be curious! Stop being cinematographically correct.

The Struggle Between Nature and Grace

[AJ_McAninch · 8/10 · 1 July 2012]

Like many viewers, I had questions and some confusion. Then I read a few helpful reviews and went back over major images in the film. The creation, philosophical, and spiritual allusions were fairly clear before, but I hadn't made the connections fully with the family until I read and thought.

I think for me the most powerful are the scenes of the dinosaurs, kitchen, and beach. In the first two, attempts to struggle are met with 'stop', and in both, the healthy dinosaur and the father become gentler. In the penultimate scene on the shore, the mother has stopped struggling with the pain and gained acceptance...grace. The adult Jack, through the child still within him, is allowed to see this and perhaps now accepts that we can never understand why we suffer--like Job--but the struggle only drives us further into deeper pain. The beach scene takes us and I assume the souls he sees back to a majesty suggested by the water: both life and death but also return. These souls are at peace. The final Bridge scene perhaps represents the connections Jack now understands.

The film reminds me of Wordsworth's Great Ode, also a meditation on the mysteries, complexities, and anguish of our lives. He says we "come into the world trailing clouds of glory," but living beats us down, and the glory fades. However, at the end of the poem, like the film, is the image of the shore lining a vast ocean. We stand on that shore waiting to return to our source. It is Romantic and Platonic. Wordsworth believed that Nature is the force 'that rolls through all things": we are connected by it. But life also brings us pain "too deep for tears"--like the loss of a child.

The answer to the question WHY may never be known, which makes us struggle even more. However, the film does not end on an existential note, but spiritual: "I give him to you." That release brings peace that never existed before. Is there more for us when we learn to bear pain and accept loss? Is there a grace then granted, even an afterlife? I don't know. Struggle against pain is a normal and healthy response. But for how long? Nature rather gently at last says 'stop.' Maybe we can't, but if we do, perhaps the peace achieved brings us to that shoreline--where a grace exists we could not know before.

Sheesh... skip all the other reviews. Just read this.

[rooprect · 3 July 2011]

I've just wasted my time reading 20 IMDb reviews for "Tree of Life", both love-its and hate-its. They might as well be telling you how they feel about the colour blue. Subjective, subjective, subjective.

So let's try something different. I'm not going to tell you whether I loved or hated this movie. I'm just going to tell you what to expect. Without either praising or disparaging this film, I'd describe it as being a mix of Fellini, Kubrick, IMAX and "Stand by Me".

This film is presented in 4 distinct acts, each lasting between 30-45 mins. The acts are very disjoint, and although they are woven together by common thematic elements, the experience can be very disorienting. The director seemed to pattern this film after Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" with its 4 contrasting sections.

Act 1: Setting. The film begins with a peek into the life of a 1950s American family that suffers a tragedy. It leaps forward and back in time, setting up the individual characters and their roles in the drama. Though presented in a very fragmented way, this part should be easy enough to follow.

Act 2: Tone. The next sequence, lasting about 30 minutes, is a very impressionistic journey through space, time and evolution. Be prepared. There may be a few voice-overs, but otherwise it's completely without dialogue, actors or events. The best way to describe it is to say it's like an IMAX film with the narration turned off. It's somewhat reminiscent of the "acid trip sequence" at the end of "2001".

Act 3: Plot. After that, we return to the 1950s. This 3rd sequence makes up the body of this film. Having established the setting & tone, the director gives us a story (more or less). It's presented in a series of vignettes focusing mostly on the love-hate relationship between a boy and his father. This mirrors the love-hate relationship that each character has with goodness. Both the father & son are jerks struggling to become good, each in his own way. This portion of the film reminded me of a dark, disturbing version of "Stand By Me".

Act 4: Conclusion. We return to another impressionistic sequence, this time including the main characters and short bits of dialogue & voice-overs. To some of the audience it may give closure & satisfaction. To others, it may just plain suck.

For the sake of presenting an objective review, I'll withhold my own opinion. But I did want to mention some of the reactions I observed in the theater and in the parking lot afterwards. In an audience of about 100, I saw 4 people walk out. (Well, 5, but I think that guy just spilled lemonade on himself.) Most of the audience seemed attentive, but I did hear a lot of yawns and uncomfortable fidgeting. When the end credits came up there was dead silence as everyone filed out. It was pretty uncomfortable. In the parking lot there was a man who hated the movie so much I feared for my life. Seriously, this guy was about to plow his car through a storefront. Others praised the film's technical merits and cinematography but remained lukewarm, if not mostly negative, with their overall impression. Several people were intent on discussing the films philosophical merits, but this only infuriated the angry guy, so everyone just went home.

If I were to compare this to other films/directors, I'd say it's very Tarkovsky-like (Stalker, Mirror, etc). As I mentioned above, it's also much like Kubrick's "2001"--if you were to strip out the suspenseful parts about Hal and the Discovery. Perhaps it's also a bit like Wim Wenders' "Paris Texas" in that it wanders around a lot before coming to its destination.

a very rare kind of film

[xzcgb · 10/10 · 23 March 2014]

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.

Such a promising plot and such a disappointment.

[auberus · 6/10 · 26 May 2011]

Tree of Life is an interesting experiment, some kind of a visual blend. It is a period film centered around a Family in the 1950s. The film depict a crucial time in Life of a boy (the eldest son), who witnesses the loss of innocence and the lack of control over his deepest feelings triggered it seems by the arrival of his new born brother.

But Tree of Life is also a variation over the meaning of Life and Death alternating between a cosmic vision of Life and a subjective and often poetic vision of childhood as an aphorism for Grace, Nature and Love.

The films then introduces the unbearable Death, the one that can't be explain the one that shakes the very balance of a Family, the Death of a son of a brother as we learn that the second born died suddenly at the age of 19 (probably at War).

However the genuine narration and enigmatic if not poetic vision of the cosmos mixed with state of the heart but virtual shots depicting how Life started (the way of Nature) makes for a slide-show of boredom. And as we move along the story of this family seems more and more like a "collage" exercise, some kind of a pretext to voice over cosmic images philosophical questions from our main tree protagonists (The Mother, the elder son and the Father). The result is messy and at times superficial.

In this blend of images and emotions actors aren't use to deliver an acting performance but more so to make the philosophical questioning move along. The problem is the questioning stagnates and closure never really gets through. Even if we understand that the border between Life and Death is as thin as a bank of sand between two seas on which we may meet sometimes, the audience is left with the same Belief before entering the Theater. Eventually you remain the same before and after the movie. You don't feel any more comfort, tranquility, clarity or even sadness. You've just seen beautiful shots.

Soaked with Christian Philosophy Tree of Life delivers as a very well shot film but never provides the audience with a sense of progression and closure. The story of this Family never really takes off nor does the Philosophic Questioning gets to an end.

At posteriori Tree of Life seems like an audacious idea on paper and lays out good material to explore. However the film ends up resembling a nice slide-show with little to no story, which makes me wander if cinema was the best medium for this cosmic Tale.

Thank god it's over... Definitely not for everybody.

[mike-3842 · 1/10 · 28 May 2011]

I don't expect the majority of viewers to agree with me as it already has a decent rating, but if you searched for people who hated this film then I suspect you will probably dislike it, and I am going to spare you the unfortunate experience I had of going to see it.

Just to state my preferences and for your orientation, I have enjoyed many of the artistic offerings from the IMDb top recommendations, but I prefer my fare more straightforward.

I'll just fly in the face of protocol now and say I had no clue what this film was about. I wanted to leave after 20 minutes but my girlfriend insisted to stay to the end to see what the point was. Other people did leave in the middle of the film and there was a lot of fidgeting going on in the cinema. For the first time in my life I dozed off for a few minutes in a cinema.

There is no plot - only a stream of images following two boys through their childhood and also a flashback to the the creation of the earth. The cinematography was quite impressive but the overall result was oh-so-dull. I am sure there was a point but I just could not be bothered to try to understand it.

Apologies to aficionados. I don't mean to be derogatory about this film. I only want to save some people from sitting through it who would not like it.

A matchless and immensely complex vision of childhood

[Balthazar-5 · 10/10 · 16 May 2011]

The first thing to say about 'The Tree of Life' is that it is ESSENTIAL VIEWING for anyone who believes that the cinema is a great art, and an early front-runner for 'Film of the Decade'. I first heard about this project in the early 80s when the film world was awash with rumours that Malick had a project that was 'Cosmic, too cosmic even for Hollywood' (John Sayles). And, being a number one fan of Malick's magical realism, I have been metaphorically holding my breath ever since.

Normally, in describing a film one says this is the story of... da da da da. But this film is NOT a story in any but the crudest sense of the word. It is an impression... an impression of a childhood - perhaps Malick's own childhood, which becomes, through Malick's poetry, an impression of childhood itself... of being tactile, of feeling the love of one's parents, of experiencing the arrival of a sibling, of learning to walk... of a thousand things that we take for granted, but are wonderful and shape us more than we can imagine. It is by far the most brilliant evocation of rural childhood that, as far as I can remember, the cinema has ever given us.

This is a film of gesture and movement, of happiness and insecurity, of learning to love and learning to fear. It is unlike any commercial film I have ever seen.... it is as if Stan Brakhage had been given a $100 million budget. The trouble is that Malick may have been too uncompromising. Many, perhaps, sadly, most, of the film-going public, in my experience, find abstraction in films difficult. This is the most abstract film most of them will probably ever see... but it's wonderful and moving and visually stunning. So the question is will they stick with it. With immense sadness, I have to say that I have my doubts.

The much vaunted 'history of the universe' sequence is stunning and is like a poetic editing of all of the most stunning images from science documentaries. It adds even more gravitas to a film that is as philosophically weighty as it is visually impressive. Douglas Trumbull was a special effects consultant and many might immediately think of comparing this sequence with the 'Stargate' climax of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The film's philosophical/metaphysical weight rests, to some large extent on its deeply ingrained spirituality. Of course, this aspect has been there from the beginning with Malick, but here it is much more up-front. The film charts the paths of a family of characters. In the mother's opening line of dialogue she recounts how 'The nuns told us that there are two ways through life, the way of Nature and the way of Grace.' In the film, the characters show how much the difference between these two paths influences the personalities of the characters and the lives that they lead.

Because of this, it has a profound religious sense but without trace of piety or sentimentality. And if, like me, religion is not your thing, don't worry, the film's wonders do not require belief to reveal themselves.

There remains to be said a few words on Malick's stylistic approach. All of his films are incredibly visually rich, 'The Tree of Life' is no exception. But more important even than this is that large sections of 'The Tree of Life' are made in the magical style that he monumentalised in the two 'abstract' sections of 'The New World' - the love affair between Capt Smith & Pocahontas and the amazing final 20 minutes of the film covering her death. It is this fusion of magnificent meaningful imagery and musical montage that lifts this work to levels barely conceived of by most filmmakers.

'The Tree of Life', for all its wonders, is certainly not perfect as it seems again that Malick's dislike for dialogue has become a thorn in his side, as it was for 'Days of Heaven' and we get some embarrassing pauses as characters wordlessly confront one another or stare meaningfully into the void. It is not the matchless masterpiece to challenge 'Citizen Kane' that I was secretly hoping for, but it is wondrous and moving and unforgettable, a staggering piece of cinema that gives the impression of being immensely more meaningful than it appears at first sight... one just needs to put all of the pieces together... not in the narrative sense, for there is barely any narrative, but connecting up Malick's, 'universal' vision with the images of childhood that he presents. An example here is the confrontation between the two dinosaurs that has a resonance with the relationship between young Jack and his father.

All in all, this is one of those films, where it is more important to let one's psyche experience the incredible richness of the film's emotions, than to try to understand it intellectually - at first viewing, at any rate! (And I am sure that Malick would concur about the experience versus understanding conundrum.)

Finally... it is a very, very good idea to watch 'The New World' immediately before seeing 'The Tree of Life' - on DVD or VOD (if it is not being shown locally by some insightful cinema) because, stylistically, it puts you in the 'right groove' to appreciate Malick's cinematic expression... perhaps THE wonder of modern cinema.

Amazing Or Terrible You Decide

[ThreeGuysOneMovie · 7/10 · 3 June 2012]

I have been sitting on this film for 2 and ½ weeks and still cannot figure out how I want to go about my review, so instead of letting a difficult task waste away I am going to forge forward. In the 17 days that I have been thinking about this film I have had several contrasting thoughts but what it comes down to truly is, did I like this film? My answer to that is I still do not know how I feel about the film but I will try to express my thoughts as clear as I can.

The Tree of Life follows a family from the beginning to the end. By beginning I do not mean from start of their union as a family, I mean from the Earths creation. Big bang, cell division, dinosaurs, evolution, you catch my drift? So imagine you are sitting there watching a movie about a family and all of a sudden the television turns you to a channel airing Walking With Dinosaurs, Carl Sagan's Cosmos and Through the Wormhole but you have an inability to change the channel. Then after about 40 minutes of that you beam back to the movie you were watching about a family and you say to yourself, "wow, it almost seems like they were connected." Welcome to the world of Malick and his film The Tree of Life.

As a movie it lacked dialogue, direction, and continuity so if you wanted to see something engaging on tangible level this film will anger you, but you should have known that going in, Malick does not care what you think, nor should he. His movies are never to please an audience but to try to stop himself from cutting his own ear off, it is a release for him, not for you or me.

As a work of art it was beautifully shot, thought-provoking and spiritual, so if you wanted to be engaged in an intangible tour of a man's psyche with picturesque visions and dreamlike shots of life that kind of go together but often veer off like the mind of a toddler then this film will blow you away.

I am no Malick aficionado; I have seen Badlands which I loved and A Thin Red Line which I also loved but have yet to see Days of Heaven, his most critically acclaimed film, and his 2005 film The New World. What I do know or think is that Malick's films are often more about the art than the content, more about a vision than a message, and more about himself than the audience.

The Tree of Life is a film that asks the questions but does not have the answers; there are no real beginnings or ends, just a myriad of themes beautifully shot within the journey of a family, from creation to death. It is not going to be for everyone but then again it was not meant for everyone.

check out our site at 3guys1movie.com

Unbelievably terrible

[azelenkovas-1 · 1/10 · 8 June 2011]

To be honest, I went to watch Midnight in Paris but arrived 10 minutes late, so I went to see The Tree of Life. To be honest again, I don't like Terrence Malick movies that much. However, I convinced myself to sit through it until the end no matter what. It was horrible. I mean, no matter how abstract a movie is, there must be something the viewer can cling to, something the viewer cares about. This movie has nothing like that. The funny thing is, the set-up is fairly quick: in 10 minutes you know what the deal is. Sean Penn is a middle-aged man reflecting on the meaning of life and reminiscing on his somewhat estranged relationship with his father (Brad Pitt) and the loss of his brother in the Vietnam war. After those 10 minutes, nothing that happens in the movie changes that. There's just no development, it s a bunch of short cuts (honestly, the longest cut might be 10 seconds long) showing the family life in the 1950s (very much like home movies) mixed with images of space, Earth in its beginnings, dinosaurs (I'm not kidding) etc. It beggars belief that the crummy hacks out there calling themselves critics say this movie is a "masterpiece" and draws comparison with Kubrick's 2001. Is it because of the slow pace and special effects? Kubrick used those for a reason: to tell a story, to help advance the plot and create a sense of expectation and/or suspense. The Tree of Life is nothing like that, because there's simply no plot. You don't know who to root for or sympathize with. There's no hero, no challenge, no arc. It's just a 2 1/2 hour collage of short scenes. I saw several people leaving the room after just 15 minutes of projection; others kept checking their watches every few minutes (myself included.) It's a pity really, because the performances are quite good, particularly the kids in the 1950s sequence and Brad Pitt as the stern father discharging his career frustrations on the wife and kids. Sean Penn is there too, but he's useless: the director gives him nothing to do, so he just makes ugly faces at the camera as if he's suffering from terrible heartburn. In short: save your money.

The Essence of life

[odevoted · 10/10 · 20 May 2011]

First of all, for those who have not yet read reviews, let me start by saying that this is not your "Brad Pitt/Sean Penn" labeled blockbuster.

Also, I would like to add that, if you really want to take in as much as possible (trust me there is a lot to take in), then you should go see this movie, relaxed, not tired, and in a receiving state of consciousness (I watched it last night at 2200hrs, after a very very long difficult day) and I am seriously considering re-watching it on a Saturday night...

It is practically impossible to summarize this film, in a few words, but what this film does to you, mostly I think, is take you back to your childhood days, and bring back, re-ignite all these long lost first moments/feelings/discoveries/guilts. Do you remember the first time you had a fight with your parents? What crossed your mind? what did you feel?.....apply this to all the first times and you might get something that feels like this film.

This film blends all the above with imaginary scenes from the creation of the cosmos, how all is connected, how did we get here? why? what did God really have to do with this? or is God in other words Love?

You have to see for yourself, and I believe each and every one of us will have his own different experience which is exactly what real Art is.

Bravo, to the Director, Producers and Cast.

either the greatest art or the worst movie

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 18 August 2013]

The movie follows the life of Jack (Sean Penn), the eldest son of his abusive father (Brad Pitt) and loving mother (Jessica Chastain).

It's impressionistic, sometimes incoherent. It is beautifully filmed. Terrence Malick has created either the greatest artistic show or the worst movie of all times. It purports to examine the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. Or is it just a mess that people read too much into? In the end, I can't really tell. In all honesty, I can't recommend it unless you're a Malick fan. I would suggest at least an attempt for the more adventurous movie goer.

Avoid this crap

[Pekman · 1/10 · 4 June 2011]

One of the most pretentious pieces of pseudo-intellectual garbage I have ever seen. The photography is great, however that is not what a film is about. The whole film turns around a guy and his relation with is father and the burden of his brother's death. really simple story, with no need for mental masturbation over two and one half hours. I'm willing to bet that in the near future no one will ever remember this film. This film gathered another award: my life's greatest cinematic disappointment. Cannes' boys are lowering their standards, I think. Instead of this i suggest you guys rent "the fountain" because it has far better photography and a much, much nicer story. Here's the link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414993/

A Bold And Epic Exercise

[CalRhys · 1 July 2014]

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.

I will be true to you. Whatever comes.

[SantiagoDM1 · 10/10 · 17 December 2019]

The Tree of Life presents an impressionist story of an American Midwestern family in the 1950s, which follows the vital course of the eldest son, Jack O'Brien by his formative growing-up period with his parents, and his two younger brothers, R.L. and Steve through the innocence of childhood until the disappointment of his mature years, in his attempt to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself lost in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning faith.

It is a rumination of life itself in the visage of human existence. A filmic discourse through the origin the universe, the birth and grow of life on Earth, in which an eternal flash-forward of the couple's grown-up son infiltrates surreptitiously in a visual and spiritual epic deeply compromised to resonate with pertinent questions full of intricate profundity.

The film is presented into two differentiated parts, the first one begins with journey through the cosmos, where Malick proposes a tour full of opulent images and admirable beauty. It is an introductory part to what comes next, a way to take us and prepare for the history of the family itself, which is already the second part of the film, and in which we can already notice a clear symbolism of what is relevant.

Malick's unconventional storytelling, poetic conception of the story and permanent use of hand held camera breeds special intimacy featured on past contemplative works like The Thin Red Line. As ambitious as it seems, the film succeeds to reach the viewers most profound sensibilities with powerful and etherial imagery of existence.

The Tree of Life is a remarkable and honest experience that subtly asks a lost soul of the modern world for the meaning of life. It's possibly one the best movies ever made, if not the best, as Terrence Malick proves to possess the key of a room few other directors have opened before, the key to the true nature of film.

10/10

Nature and Grace

[ferguson-6 · 9/10 · 9 June 2011]

Greetings again from the darkness. Rare are the times that I find myself lacking words to express my opinion on a movie just watched. But writer/director Terrence Malick does not play fair. First of all, what director makes five films in 40 years? Who makes a film about CREATION, life, evolution, spirituality, death and existence? What director seems to thrive when no real story is needed to make his points? Which director can so mess with the viewer's head through visual artistry never before seen on screen? The answer to these questions, of course, is Terrence Malick. And I hold him responsible the fact that I remain in somewhat of a semi-conscious fog four days after watching his latest masterpiece.

Any attempt to explain this film would be futile. It is so open to interpretation and quite a personal, intimate journey for any viewer who will free themselves for the experience. What I can tell you is that much of the film is focused on a typical family living in small town rural Texas in the early 1950's. Brad Pitt plays Mr. O'Brien, the stern disciplinarian father and husband to Jessica Chastain's much softer Mrs. O'Brien.

Near the beginning of the film, we get Mrs. O'Brien as narrator explaining that when she was a child, the nuns informed that in life one must choose between Nature and Grace. Nature being the real time of real life, whereas Grace is the more spiritual approach. Clearly, Mr. O'Brien has chosen Nature, while his wife embodies Grace. Watching their three boys evolve in this household is quite a treat - and is done with so little dialogue, it's almost shocking to the senses.

One of the many things that jumped out at me was the set and production design of Jack Fisk. Mr. Fisk is a frequent collaborator with Mr. Malick and is also the husband of Sissy Spacek, who starred in Malick's first film Badlands. Unlike many films, I did not have the feeling I was watching a film about the 50's. Instead, the look is directly IN the 50's ... slamming screen doors, tree houses, and family supper time! But don't think for a moment that this is a story about the O'Brien's and their sons. This family is merely Malick's vessel for showing the earthly connections between the universe and each of the particles within. If you think this sounds a bit pretentious, you should know that Mr. Malick graduated from Harvard with a philosophy degree, became a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, and a professor at MIT. This is a thinking man and an artist.

Actually I would describe the experience as viewing an art exhibit and listening to poetry. It really sweeps over and through you, and takes you on a trip of introspection. So many human emotions are touched - the need to be loved, appreciated and respected. We see the oldest O'Brien son later in life. Sean Penn plays him as a very successful middle aged adult who still struggles with the death of a brother and communication skills learned from his childhood. This is an odd sequence but provided to give balance to the flurry of emotions the younger boy survives.

This was the 2011 Cannes Film Festival Palm d'Or winner and that means little if you don't open up as you walk into the theatre. It's a contemplative journey that you can either take part in or fight. My advice is to open up and let this beautiful impression of all life take your mind places it may have never been before.

Ambitious, too ambitious

[mattlee1004 · 7/10 · 24 June 2011]

i thought the movie was exactly what the poster depicted it would be. dozens of very interesting snapshots assembled together.

but it lacked a central theme- correction: a STRONG central theme. the cinematography and musical score were utterly mind-blowing, each scene was immaculately constructed and powerful

...but between each scene, was a lull which left the viewer sighing with frustration. there was never any transition in any suitable form.

Emmanuel Lubezki has done some seriously jaw-dropping work for this film.

all in all, i don't regret seeing this movie. in fact i even think this is a must-see for anybody interested in photography or cinematography.

7 out of 10.

One of the most pointless movies I've ever seen

[nema_jhurry · 1/10 · 13 June 2011]

After seeing this movie, I sincerely cannot comprehend all the hype and the excellent reviews that it has attracted. The only way I can explain such good reviews is that whoever wrote them have either been generously paid to do so or were high on dope while doing so. This was the first time ever I have felt so angry about wasting my time and money watching a bad movie. The only reason the movie may have attracted so much attention is the fact that Brad Pitt and Sean Penn were acting in it. However, I felt that their talents were completely wasted on one of the most pointless and most boring movies I've ever seen.

Usually, I can sit through a bad movie, but this one bored me immensely within the first 10 min. I still do not understand what the director was trying to portray with the shots of volcanoes, planets, dinosaurs (terrible animation versions) and jellyfish (??). Half of those shots appeared to be borrowed from the Planet Earth series, except portrayed in an incomprehensible and boring manner. There was not a single instance that kept my attention and interest. I was especially irritated by the fact that the movie had a very strong religious streak, which the "good" reviews did not mention. The entire movie was a bunch of disconnected, pointless scenes thrown together, and the ending was especially annoying, with everybody in the family ending up in 'heaven'. I would compare the movie to those useless pieces of contemporary art that depict a monochromatic shape in the middle of a canvas, and attempt to convince us that there is some deeper bullshit meaning to it. I am particularly angry at all the reviewers that rated this movie so well. This movie is a total rip-off!

Haunting

[zadkine · 10/10 · 19 May 2011]

Unlike a novel the stories in this movie do not unfold, revelation following revelation, culminating in a definable message or theme. There is no moral, no hero, no emotional epiphanies. What it presents is an extraordinarily haunting vision of childhood, how the things we love the most are as fragile as morning dew yet immensely powerful. The things that connect us, separate us, and bewilder us - again and again and again throughout our lives. The saddest, most insightful, most poignant portrayal of a family I have ever seen. Genius. How can this film achieve commercial success? it seems impossible. How did a film so ambitious get made when everything that makes money today is everything this film isn't? Bravo to the producers, bravo to the early critics who are stepping up and speaking out for this deeply moving masterpiece.

Earth and the elements, God, grace and family

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 1 July 2017]

Writer-director Terrence Malick's mostly-visual scrapbook of a man's life, from his formative years in suburban Texas in the 1950s to the present day, where he works as a businessman in the city. Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and his camera takes us on a journey as well, swimming, coasting, gliding and swooping across the landscapes and seashores of this country with dizzying artistic flourish. This is a handsome piece of goods, and the prime reason why the best actors working today want to work with Malick--he assures quality. Malick also does something unexpected: he gives actor and co-producer Brad Pitt one of the most revealing roles of his career. As the overly-critical father of three boys (ordinary kids, not troublemakers), he has a hard, unsentimental core, demanding though not altogether heartless. It's an amazing transformation for Pitt, who performs without any movie star allure (when he tells one boy to sit up straight at the dinner table, they all sit up--and maybe his spouse, too). The casting of Sean Penn as Pitt's now-grown son doesn't work as well; Penn's slack face and haunted eyes are so familiar to us that, by now, his features don't reveal anything unique. The film has an uncanny grasp of childhood, yet is essentially no more profound than a series of recognizable quirks, traits, situations and memories. It will touch some viewers deeply, others not so much. It is certainly a work of great expression, one with a quiet, subtle personality--tinged with sadness and regret. **1/2 from ****

Who Knows?

[Schlobotnick · 1/10 · 7 June 2011]

Is this a movie about a hard-working 1950's father who, ground down by the greed of the rich and the machinations of the patent court, and mooning over having to give up a promising musical career as a young man, takes out his frustrations on his rebellious eldest son? And those hundreds of hammerhead sharks, are they supposed to represent the greedy rich?

WHO KNOWS?

Or, is this a movie about a lovely, loving, and beloved mother who, mourning over the loss of her eldest (or is it 2nd eldest?) son, questions the benevolence and even the existence of God until, with the aid of two beauteous angelic sylphs, she finally gives up her son to God? And what's with all those swirly astronomical scenes, billowing explosive clouds of gas, and pulsing glowing.... things? Are they supposed to represent her internal struggles with God?

WHO KNOWS?

Or, is it a movie about a boy on the cusp of sexual maturity, confused about the feelings evoked by fleeting glimpses of scantily clad neighborhood women in the heat of the summer, goaded by his neighborhood buddies into acts of cruelty and theft, resentful over the way in which his father treats his mother, his brothers, and himself, resentful of the pressure of guilt and remonstrance from his angelic mother, grows up to be, um, either dead or Sean Penn?

WHO KNOWS?

And why did that fleet carnivorous dinosaur, with his paw on the head of the abandoned baby herbivore, decide to saunter away, leaving his putative prey lying there still alive? Wasn't he hungry?

WHO KNOWS?

And about that gigantic, beached, prehistoric sea monster with the deep bloody gash in his side --- was that his head at the end of a huge neck twisting around to view the damage? Or was that the head of some other gigantic prehistoric beast who happened to be wandering by?

WHO KNOWS?

And what were all those slowly twisting spirally thingies? Were they spirochetes?

And was that the birth and death of the universe?

And why did they plant that tree? To memorialize the person who had crashed his bike and was flopping in death throes on the grass?

WHO KNOWS?

And was that the Horsehead Nebula? YES IT WAS!

a masterpiece - and easy to understand

[Iwould · 10/10 · 19 May 2011]

I saw The Tree Of Life last night. Just like Sean Penn, who spends the day in the office remembering about his brothers and family, the most urgent thing I feel I have to do this morning is to write about the movie. I haven't be so much impressed by a story, a song or a a film from a very long time.

It should go without saying, but let me tell you that this is not a film you should see if you just want to stop thinking about your life for a couple of hours. This should be kind of automatic, i know: but it's worth mentioning, as it would be really a pity to see flourishing such comments or opinions like "i was expecting something else" or "it's very slow paced" or "i didn't really understand that part of the story". Go watch this movie if you want (or: if you NEED) to think about yourself and your life and your story and your future MORE than you usually do, not less. Go watch this movie if you want to find a companion voice wondering together with you about what kind of relationship can be found between our personal stories and the story of the universe, between the quickness of a lizard running across a summer cornfield in Texas and the infinite spaces dividing the countless stars of the universe, between the tenderness of the love that you felt for your parents as a child and the plain fact that in order to grow up, to reproduce that love, you had to leave that child and that love behind you. The voice will help you to realize that the missing links are actually there, in front of your eyes; that in order to see them, your eyes must be open; and that regaining the innocence that seemed lost forever is the key, and the result, of understanding and accepting the presence of those links, opening your eyes.

Tree of Life is not a lecture, it's not a sermon: it's an honest flow of memories, meshed with inventions and dreams. It's a masterpiece. I don't feel like making technical remarks here, with this lone exception: everybody will talk about the magnificence of the images of the universe, the ones about the story of the world. I was struck, instead, by the way children were depicted in this movie: the camera is always at the same level of their eyes and after a while you really feel a kid yourself, a friend of them, a member of the pack, playing with them, one of them, again.

Strongly suggested to anybody, as long as you are looking for relax through relief, not relief through relax. But, in the end, The Tree Of Life it's a work easy to understand for anybody who's in the proper mindset - and yes, "everybody" includes even your children: in the worst case they will sleep through it, but hopefully they will stay awake, as they will feel perfectly comfortable with the family stories (since they are told with an honesty they will recognize as very close to their own). Eventually, maybe, they will wonder together with you about the meaning and the magnificence of the images retelling the story of the universe and time. Otherwise, as I said, they will sleep - but peacefully.

Flawed, but not lacking in Merit

[souplipton · 6/10 · 12 July 2015]

After watching this film, I found it difficult to rate (something I do with every film I watch). Unlike most films, I did not love it or like it or dislike it or hate it. I could not place it in any of those categories because I found myself thinking that within the film that I watched was a masterpiece, but that masterpiece wasn't the final product that was shown on the screen. The film is a grand meditation on the meaning of life and the essence of morality, framed within the existential crisis of a middle aged man remembering his childhood, but touching on the creation of the world, the start of life on our planet, and the progression of life from that point until the birth of our protagonist. The core of the story is the main character's struggles with his parents competing influences. This story, the one of the man's childhood and it's effect on the adult he grows to be, has the potential to be a masterpiece of cinema. It makes up the bulk of the film and it is absolutely great. However, I found the grander parts of the film which gave the film its epic scope detracted from the effect of this primary narrative. I found that even when I was immensely enjoying the film, I myself being bothered by the inclusion of those extraneous parts. I found myself frustrated by this, as I saw a landmark film detracted from in such a major way, and wished that the director would have gone smaller and more focused in scope, and given us the touching human story that makes up the real narrative of the film. I would recommend the viewing of this film to cinephiles, but I would caution that many may find the experience frustrating, a feeling to which I can relate.

One of the biggest cinematic wastes of time ever

[janeweed717 · 1/10 · 20 June 2011]

I truly don't understand how so many reviewers found meaning to this lengthy, boring, pointless film. "We've been stepping on each other's necks since we were dinosaurs." Big deal! Large swaths of this movie are like watching a stranger's home movies. This is about a family who can't get past their own pain, whether it's large or small. It suggests that there really is no meaning to our suffering though we think there is. But I don't need a 2.5 hour movie with pretensions of grandeur to tell me this. Sean Penn stepping through a door frame in the desert. Gee, that's deep. Spend time with your actual family rather than watch this film.

Rayuela

[RResende · 7 June 2011]

How do you watch such a film? You've got to lower any defenses you have. You've got to not allow yourself to try to make a sense out of everything you see. You've got to take it all, and let it enter you, just as smoothly as the film enters dinosaurs, cells, planetary evolution, or a simple living room of a troubled family. Make no judgements, consider nothing except the pure experience of being there, wherever the film takes you. Search no explanation, for there was no real rational reason other than intuition for images to be as they are.

Imagine a film about everything, with a remote storyline that talks about every theme, in every possible time of the world.

Imagine a film without a beginning or an ending. Circular meta-narratives, where you can pick up on any spot (i mean any) and you can create whatever inner narrative you want. A sky of images (like the mosaic poster of the film) where you can pick your own choices, and create whatever story you like. Or you can choose to frame the more palpable story visible in the film in whatever fashion you want. Up to you. The challenge is that you have to test the limits of your own imagination to live the film in its full extent. Nothing is predefined. Go wherever you want.

Now imagine all that delivered by someone who spent his entire film life trying to walk around the idea of plain old narrative layering. The absolute master of unrelated narratives, of off-screen details. The man who films hands and corn fields when he wants to say love; Who shoots the universe to build one of the most powerful expressions of intimacy, of mind's solitude in the film world. Contrast.

I don't know if this is the best film ever made. It probably is the strongest experience in film world that i got first hand, while it was coming out, new.

What is it? a film inside Sean Penn's head? a Story framed in the universe? part of it? metaphor for it?

I've heard a lot about how this film is a kind of 2001. I don't think so. Kubrick and Malick are 2 different kinds, 2 different approaches, purposes, different process, and different outcomes. Kubrick bends narratives to a point of perfection. Obsessive. Chess leaked all over filmmaking. Malick is the other end of the stick. Pure visual intuition, enhanced by Malick's intellectual background. Just because both directors are little fond of public appearances, and because both this and 2001 feature planets, that doesn't bring the films closer.

In 1963, Cortázar published one of the most important books of the last century, Hopscotch. The title of this comment is related to its original title, in Spanish. I think this film and that book have similar aspirations. Trace your path, you have the chapters, but you have to make an order out of them.

How this is done is in pure mastery of every tool of film conception. Every image counts, each shot was taken care with competence and passion, each frame, each camera move - Lubezki has worked with Malick, Iñarritu, Cuarón. Each collaboration adds a lot to what is being done. He really can read the director's aspirations, and deliver nothing short of mastery. At this time he has entered enough important projects to be considered one of the best cinematographers ever.The editing is world class. Every cut, whether the space virtual shots or the family scenes, matter to the narrative, whatever that is. What takes this to a whole new level is how, in this film, Malick tops his already incredible leverage of music. Editing has always equally present the visual as well as the sound scapes. Watch it, let it get absorbed.

This film demands an incredible lot from you, as viewer. It demands that you be a different person after watching you, that indeed you may change your generic approach to film- watching, or at least that you accommodate in you a new way to watch films. On a basic level it's about Malick's intuitions. On another level, it's about what you get on screen. But ultimately it's all about how you place yourself in the universe proposed.

My opinion: 5/5

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