Post by Sgt. AWOLaLot on Aug 2, 2017 13:13:59 GMT -5
Well this was a weird viewing experience. This is my, uh, attempt at reviewing Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life.
""Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job 38:4,7. This was the passage shown at the beginning of one of the strangest film experiences I think I've ever had: The Tree of Life. This was a movie I had heard about a while ago and was always intrigued to see it. Opinions on it are usually quite polarized. Some viewers applauded it and described it as a masterpiece; others booed it and thought it nothing more than a pretentious, artsy, pointless film. I find myself a little more in the middle (as I usually seem to on polarizing films), but leaning on the positive. The Tree of Life is probably the most "artsy" film I've ever sat down and watched in my life, and it was a strange experience; but I'm glad I did it. I can't say I loved this movie and wouldn't label it a masterpiece, but it is incredibly fascinating if one watches it with the right frame of mind. It's actually tough for me to really decide how I feel about it, and had to take a day to think. This was made by the same director who did The Thin Red Line, so I knew The Tree of Life would be on the more abstract side.
I am not going to worry about spoilers for this review, because to me there isn't anything that happens in this movie that would classify as a typical spoiler. That might sound strange, but this is a rare film where I don't think spoilers would have any effect on the experience that the viewer has. The Tree of Life is a film with a profound message, and it's more of a visual journey than a verbal one in this film. There is also a possibility that I may ramble a little, and I apologize in advance if that happens.
I doubt if anyone on here has seen or even heard of this movie before. But on the off chance one of you have actually seen this movie, please share your opinion be it positive or negative. Because the reactions to this movie can be as fascinating as the film itself. Anyway, on to reviewing this divisive, fascinating film.
The Tree of Life (2011) is an experimental, existential drama film directed and written by Terrence Malick. It stars Brad Pitt (I'll bet most of you missed this in his filmography), Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, and Hunter McCracken. The film's main goal is to explore the origin and meaning of life by following a family in 1950's Texas, including sequences that display the theorized formation of the universe and the beginning of life on earth (how about that for a quick description. Intrigued yet?) It's also a bit of a coming of age story where we follow Jack (arguably the main character) as he loses his innocence; he notices the flaws and differences between his mother and father's teachings; he questions God on where He is when tragedies occur; and he struggles with being good and doing what he's told or being bad and doing what he wants. It's this part of the film that make it relatable, despite its abstract nature.
The film opens with an image that looks something like a flame (did some research, it's called Opus 161 by Thomas Wilfred), which can be interpreted as representing the Divine Light, referencing creation. Then soon after we see Jessica Chastain's character, Mrs. O'Brien, mourning as it's learned one of her sons and one of Jack's brothers are dead. Later in the film we are taken back to the beginning of Jack's life and we follow him as he makes his way from his mother's womb to birth and into his childhood, while also seeing him interact with his brothers as they join the family. We then follow this family and watch them grow, going through their struggles as well as the happier moments. And it's mainly through narration from Jack, his mother, and his father (Brad Pitt) that the themes and issues the film wants to discuss are handled.
Jack’s are probably the most interesting though, because we follow him as he starts to lose his innocence. Both of his parents are used as physical representations of grace and nature. His mother is grace, as she is the softer, more tender of the parents. She’s also meant to represent the more positive parts of life related to love. We see many scenes of her running and playing with her sons, being more light-hearted. Jack’s father is meant to represent nature, as he prefers to teach and remind his sons of the harder lessons and cruel truths about life. “Your mother's naive. It takes fierce will to get ahead in this world. If you're good, people take advantage of you.” He is strict with his teachings and rules, scolding his sons for things like not sitting up straight at the table or slamming a door. Jack starts to notice the hypocrisy with these teachings though when he sees that his father doesn’t always practice what he preaches so to speak. He even starts to develop a strong distaste towards his father, asking God to take him.
Another important issue that comes up for Jack is questioning God himself, and how he sees us. There is a scene where another boy is drowning at a swimming area, but he doesn’t make it. After attending the funeral, Jack starts question his methods, “Where were You? You let a boy die. You let anything happen. Why should I be good? When You aren't.” These are the kinds of questions that I see adolescents, and often adults, have every day. He also struggles with whether he should be good or bad. There are a few scenes and sequences where we see his friends start to have a negative influence on him, and this even boils over to when he’s spending time with his brothers.
Jack’s parents also have struggles of their own. The family does go through a rough patch as Jack and his brothers become more defiant, and Mr. O’Brien feels they undermine his will and teachings. They do get through it though, and Mr. O’Brien does start to soften up.
Besides the scenes with the O’Brien family, we are also shown several other scenes in space, which are meant to showcase the beginning of the universe. There is also a sequence on Earth itself where we watch life on Earth move from the sea to land, which then leads to the dinosaurs. The most important scene here is when one dinosaur is laying down injured next to a river. Another dinosaur, which appeared to be a predator, walks up and inspects the injured dinosaur. It chooses not to eat it. The most likely point of this scene is to show when a creature first developed the idea of what’s right and wrong. It's a strange idea, especially since most creatures in nature don’t really have a notion of that concept. While it was…. Interesting, I’d say it was also unnecessary.
I think this is where I’ll start getting into the technical side of this film, particularly the directing. The Thin Red Line was certainly more on the artsy side, but for The Tree of Life Malick went even more abstract. He had a lot of scenes where the camera would follow the characters from behind as they were running or playing. I also noticed he had a lot of scenes that where shot at an upward angle; and I mean a lot. I’m not sure what the purpose was for shooting like that, but can respect it for being something different.
The acting seemed good to me. Even the child actors seemed convincing to me. But because of the abnormal structure of the film, there weren’t any scenes where I can point to and say it was fantastic acting. Not that I’m the best judge of that anyway. There were also a lot of close-up shots though, and those can be tough to stay convincing when you have a camera in your face.
The music for the film is an interesting topic. Alexandre Desplat was hired to compose the music for the film, but in the end only a few minutes of the music he wrote was even used. Malick is notorious for cutting and messing with the original soundtracks written for his movies. He instead used a lot of classical music, along with a small passage from The Thin Red Line. It’s kind of a shame though because like the film, Desplat’s music has a strange, alluring quality to it. The cue Circles in particular is one that I liked.
Well, I think this is where I’ll end the review. The Tree of Life was one of the strangest film experiences I’ve had, but I’m glad to have seen it. It’s a tough movie to recommend though. I’ll put it this way. If you’re just a casual movie-goer that sticks with watching crowd pleasing, accessible blockbusters and maybe watches a drama that interests you, you’ll probably not like this movie. Maybe even hate it. However, if you like the idea of watching a very different, existential, and artsy film you might find something here you like. And while it’s difficult to pinpoint how I feel about it, the fact that it’s stuck in my head and made me think about it should be noted. And I would watch it again. It’s a special film because it challenges you to become existential and think about our place in life. It’s a film that is trying to chronicle life as a whole, and in it’s strange way I feel like it actually does."
""Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job 38:4,7. This was the passage shown at the beginning of one of the strangest film experiences I think I've ever had: The Tree of Life. This was a movie I had heard about a while ago and was always intrigued to see it. Opinions on it are usually quite polarized. Some viewers applauded it and described it as a masterpiece; others booed it and thought it nothing more than a pretentious, artsy, pointless film. I find myself a little more in the middle (as I usually seem to on polarizing films), but leaning on the positive. The Tree of Life is probably the most "artsy" film I've ever sat down and watched in my life, and it was a strange experience; but I'm glad I did it. I can't say I loved this movie and wouldn't label it a masterpiece, but it is incredibly fascinating if one watches it with the right frame of mind. It's actually tough for me to really decide how I feel about it, and had to take a day to think. This was made by the same director who did The Thin Red Line, so I knew The Tree of Life would be on the more abstract side.
I am not going to worry about spoilers for this review, because to me there isn't anything that happens in this movie that would classify as a typical spoiler. That might sound strange, but this is a rare film where I don't think spoilers would have any effect on the experience that the viewer has. The Tree of Life is a film with a profound message, and it's more of a visual journey than a verbal one in this film. There is also a possibility that I may ramble a little, and I apologize in advance if that happens.
I doubt if anyone on here has seen or even heard of this movie before. But on the off chance one of you have actually seen this movie, please share your opinion be it positive or negative. Because the reactions to this movie can be as fascinating as the film itself. Anyway, on to reviewing this divisive, fascinating film.
The Tree of Life (2011) is an experimental, existential drama film directed and written by Terrence Malick. It stars Brad Pitt (I'll bet most of you missed this in his filmography), Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, and Hunter McCracken. The film's main goal is to explore the origin and meaning of life by following a family in 1950's Texas, including sequences that display the theorized formation of the universe and the beginning of life on earth (how about that for a quick description. Intrigued yet?) It's also a bit of a coming of age story where we follow Jack (arguably the main character) as he loses his innocence; he notices the flaws and differences between his mother and father's teachings; he questions God on where He is when tragedies occur; and he struggles with being good and doing what he's told or being bad and doing what he wants. It's this part of the film that make it relatable, despite its abstract nature.
The film opens with an image that looks something like a flame (did some research, it's called Opus 161 by Thomas Wilfred), which can be interpreted as representing the Divine Light, referencing creation. Then soon after we see Jessica Chastain's character, Mrs. O'Brien, mourning as it's learned one of her sons and one of Jack's brothers are dead. Later in the film we are taken back to the beginning of Jack's life and we follow him as he makes his way from his mother's womb to birth and into his childhood, while also seeing him interact with his brothers as they join the family. We then follow this family and watch them grow, going through their struggles as well as the happier moments. And it's mainly through narration from Jack, his mother, and his father (Brad Pitt) that the themes and issues the film wants to discuss are handled.
Jack’s are probably the most interesting though, because we follow him as he starts to lose his innocence. Both of his parents are used as physical representations of grace and nature. His mother is grace, as she is the softer, more tender of the parents. She’s also meant to represent the more positive parts of life related to love. We see many scenes of her running and playing with her sons, being more light-hearted. Jack’s father is meant to represent nature, as he prefers to teach and remind his sons of the harder lessons and cruel truths about life. “Your mother's naive. It takes fierce will to get ahead in this world. If you're good, people take advantage of you.” He is strict with his teachings and rules, scolding his sons for things like not sitting up straight at the table or slamming a door. Jack starts to notice the hypocrisy with these teachings though when he sees that his father doesn’t always practice what he preaches so to speak. He even starts to develop a strong distaste towards his father, asking God to take him.
Another important issue that comes up for Jack is questioning God himself, and how he sees us. There is a scene where another boy is drowning at a swimming area, but he doesn’t make it. After attending the funeral, Jack starts question his methods, “Where were You? You let a boy die. You let anything happen. Why should I be good? When You aren't.” These are the kinds of questions that I see adolescents, and often adults, have every day. He also struggles with whether he should be good or bad. There are a few scenes and sequences where we see his friends start to have a negative influence on him, and this even boils over to when he’s spending time with his brothers.
Jack’s parents also have struggles of their own. The family does go through a rough patch as Jack and his brothers become more defiant, and Mr. O’Brien feels they undermine his will and teachings. They do get through it though, and Mr. O’Brien does start to soften up.
Besides the scenes with the O’Brien family, we are also shown several other scenes in space, which are meant to showcase the beginning of the universe. There is also a sequence on Earth itself where we watch life on Earth move from the sea to land, which then leads to the dinosaurs. The most important scene here is when one dinosaur is laying down injured next to a river. Another dinosaur, which appeared to be a predator, walks up and inspects the injured dinosaur. It chooses not to eat it. The most likely point of this scene is to show when a creature first developed the idea of what’s right and wrong. It's a strange idea, especially since most creatures in nature don’t really have a notion of that concept. While it was…. Interesting, I’d say it was also unnecessary.
I think this is where I’ll start getting into the technical side of this film, particularly the directing. The Thin Red Line was certainly more on the artsy side, but for The Tree of Life Malick went even more abstract. He had a lot of scenes where the camera would follow the characters from behind as they were running or playing. I also noticed he had a lot of scenes that where shot at an upward angle; and I mean a lot. I’m not sure what the purpose was for shooting like that, but can respect it for being something different.
The acting seemed good to me. Even the child actors seemed convincing to me. But because of the abnormal structure of the film, there weren’t any scenes where I can point to and say it was fantastic acting. Not that I’m the best judge of that anyway. There were also a lot of close-up shots though, and those can be tough to stay convincing when you have a camera in your face.
The music for the film is an interesting topic. Alexandre Desplat was hired to compose the music for the film, but in the end only a few minutes of the music he wrote was even used. Malick is notorious for cutting and messing with the original soundtracks written for his movies. He instead used a lot of classical music, along with a small passage from The Thin Red Line. It’s kind of a shame though because like the film, Desplat’s music has a strange, alluring quality to it. The cue Circles in particular is one that I liked.
Well, I think this is where I’ll end the review. The Tree of Life was one of the strangest film experiences I’ve had, but I’m glad to have seen it. It’s a tough movie to recommend though. I’ll put it this way. If you’re just a casual movie-goer that sticks with watching crowd pleasing, accessible blockbusters and maybe watches a drama that interests you, you’ll probably not like this movie. Maybe even hate it. However, if you like the idea of watching a very different, existential, and artsy film you might find something here you like. And while it’s difficult to pinpoint how I feel about it, the fact that it’s stuck in my head and made me think about it should be noted. And I would watch it again. It’s a special film because it challenges you to become existential and think about our place in life. It’s a film that is trying to chronicle life as a whole, and in it’s strange way I feel like it actually does."