Film Review: "The Tree of Life"

Spring 2012

By Lauren Painter

           Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life is strange, exhilarating, exasperating, gorgeous, ponderous, insightful, epic, and beautiful, attempting nothing more than to ponder existence and view it through the eyes of a few human beings. The basic plot circles around the O’Brien family--the husband-wife pair (Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain) and three sons in the mid-1950s in Waco, Texas. The audience is simultaneously introduced to the eldest son, Jack, as a child (Hunter McCracken) and as an adult (Sean Penn). The film deals with religious matters as well, inquiring about God, birth, evolution of life, Earth, and asking various head-tilting questions. While there are jumps in time, writer/director Malick is successfully able to tell the story through a different kind of development. But that is precisely why everyone should see this movie at least once, because it is a developmental film that includes beautiful nature and fantastic space imagery during what would regularly be a conservative family drama.

            Similar to all of Malick’s films, The Tree of Life is more like a poem than a film with the use of beautiful imagery and cinematography. The cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki, brings his most phenomenal work to the table in this flick. His choice of natural lightning, the beautiful, vibrant, eye-catching colors, and his framing is breathtaking because every second of this film recites a story. Shots of hot geysers, planetary movements, bacteria, cells, molecules, jellyfish, beach shores and flowing oceans lead into a dinosaur touching another injured beast – a scene of prehistoric grace and compassion. These aren't special effects, but ideas. They are risky but perplexing, beautiful images. What Malick presents in this film is the evolution of the universe as well as the evolution of human beings; both are represented through nature, space, and time. Malick places these images of nature in contrast with one another. He uses the cosmic events that were the pillars of evolution to describe life on Earth, and he sends a message about our insignificance in the grand scale of things, such as: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?” But the cinematography does not cease there. Meteor collision and volcanic eruptions lead into bodies in the universe and the cellular lives on earth. Malick makes use of the ocean and water to display the stages of birth, which is truly a masterpiece. The camera in The Tree of Life floats like an angel, the images and scenes gliding us along and washing us in the ways of nature and the ways of grace.

            As well as the outstanding cinematography, the most distinguished aspect of The Tree of Life is the acting. All of the acting seemed genuine and unforced. With this film, Brad Pitt reminded the audience that he is a phenomenally talented actor. He completely grasps the role of the father – from a young man, to an older man, to a graying man – whose sensitive sense-of-self relies on the consistent respect of his family. Although Pitt is a celebrity, he was still able to personify his character to such an extent that the audience could overlook his real-life reputation. The most memorable scene was also the most complex one, where the family is eating dinner and from the other side of the table, the fragile youngest son speaks impulsively to Pitt in a blunt voice, “Be quiet.” Pitt’s astonishment at his sons’ disrespect and his response, “What did you say?” is more hurt than anger. After processing this, he releases his rage on the son. But the surprise was that it was not about destroying anything but containing it and being able to have control of it all: shoving Jack into a room when he tried to defend himself, blocking out the rejection by making his back-talking son sit outside, then returning to the dinner table to finish his meal in embarrassment. Another actor worth recognizing is Hunter McCracken as the child version of Jack, whose acting abilities had the elusive maturity of an actor beyond his years. He plays his character very real, complete with all the limitations and uncertainties of childhood and youth. The mother, Jessica Chastain, was also spot-on, because the characters in The Tree of Life seem to be more than what they appear on the surface. She is angelic yet weak. It is also worth mentioning how little dialogue there is in this film. All the actors often had to communicate with expressions, actions, body language, and behaviors rather than verbal words.

            The Tree of Life is definitely an adult movie with regards to the ideas, themes, and content. It’s also a movie to reflect upon, to try and piece together in recall. Watching the movie is an experience in itself it is not a feasible task to comprehend it right away, which is why it is not recommended to see it only once. It is more than likely a viewer will get more from this film after seeing three or more times. But that is the joy and fun of watching mind-boggling films like this one. The Tree of Life is a phenomenal movie and should be seen by all types of audiences because of its new approach to the industry. It grasps concepts and displays them through the use of the amazing cinematography and acting. Malick encounters notions about what it means to create a movie by delivering something that is diverse and abnormal, yet entirely successful. During a time where remakes and sequels are trending and popular, originality will always stand out, and that is why The Tree of Life will not be a movie easily forgotten.