Tree of Life (2011) Review

Let me start of by saying this was my first Terence Malick film, for some reason or another I never got down to watching any of his other work. I had read a lot about Tree of Life before hand, so I knew what to expect. To say this film is ambitious does not do it justice. The only thing I’ve ever seen like it is 2001 Space Odyssey. In fact, its probably too ambitious for its own good. The premise of the film is relatively straightforward, but the way it is delivered to us makes the movie a cryptic, challenging, pretentious and bewildering experience.

"So Mr. Pitt, what did you make of Tree of Life?"

Tree of Life tells the story of a Midwestern American family based in the 1950s, focusing on the eldest son Jack. In a time hopping, non linear, haphazard style, Tree of Life unravels Jack’s life to us, beginning at childhood. He has a stereotypical, 50s style overbearing father (Brad Pitt) and a loving mother (Jessica Chastain). The movie follows the life of this family along with flash forwards to an adult Jack working in corporate America and flash backs going all the way back to, what I think was, the beginning of time.

When Stephen Hawking gets too full of himself, his friends show him this film to bring him back down to earth.

Throughout Tree of Life we are treated to random, but nonetheless impressive, sequences involving footage of nature. You got trees, sunsets, the ocean, animals, landscape and a bunch of other awesome looking stuff I couldn't figure out. All of these sequences were beautifully shot and did look very impressive, but I failed to see any significance pertaining to the plot. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who did “get it” and made abstract connections with all the imagery and Jack’s growing up and questioning of faith etc. I however, did not. I fail to see why I have to sit through long sequences of the National Geographic channel while watching a movie. These scenes would come out of nowhere and gave me the impression of a pretentious director trying to be cryptic and abstract just for the sake of it. Whenever the film established any sort of natural rhythm, these sequences would come by and kill any lingering interest. Granted, these sequences are a big part of what makes Tree of Life so ambitious and unique, but frankly, I'm not entirely sure what to make of them. There were times when I didn't mind them, but most of the time I was just waiting for them to end. Whoever claims to understand the exact meaning behind all the sequences (and is not Terence Malick) deserves a high five.

Random image number 242.

Having said that, random imagery aside, there's a pretty good movie in there somewhere. There is no doubting its a very well made film. You're essentially viewing the life of a typical American family in the 50's, but the film manages to make it very watchable. The main two things that make this film standout are the cast and the cinematography. Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain are the standouts and a sure lock for Oscar nominations. The children get a lot of screen time and thankfully they can all act competently. Sean Penn plays the adult version of Jack but barely has any dialogue and spends his limited amount of screen time walking around sad/deep in thought. The cinematography is worth mentioning as the film looks fantastic. There are some great looking shots and scenes. Unfortunately, half of them have absolutely nothing to do with the film.

Tree of Life is overly ambitious, pretentious and quite the challenge to get through. Despite all that, I'm still not sure whether I liked it or not. I felt like an average Joe expected to give his views on a highly regarded piece of abstract art. My immediate reaction to the film was negative. However, the more I think about it, the more I appreciate the sheer scope and sense of time the film managed to portray. It was quite the experience and I always appreciate a film trying to do something radically different. I’m sure it will earn  polarizing opinions, with one half claiming the other isn’t intelligent or arty enough to understand it. Perhaps that’s the case. Perhaps the film resonates more with older generations who experienced firsthand what it was like to grow up in the 50s. My final opinion of Tree of Life is as complicated as the film itself. I found it to be pretentious, dull and needlessly cryptic. But at the same time it was unique, well acted and beautifully shot. Its something I'd encourage everyone to go see and experience for themselves.

Score 6.5/10