By Sean Frank
I knew I needed to see The Tree of Life after viewing the trailer. A tour de force of imagery and sound, it grabbed me. I replayed it over and over, overwhelmed with the emotional impact of a seemingly unrelated series of images channeled through the furious grace of classical music. The funny thing is the film is actually represented very well from the trailer. Sure, the pace may slow down to almost a standstill at times but the grand movements of our known universe and seemingly lost moments of life are what define this film.
Films are usually easy to define. This one is not, nor is it easy to recommend. There’s no real plot to speak of. Characters don’t have true arcs. They exist, ponder existence, and sometimes stare it down, hoping for something to break. When they exist it is absolutely beautiful. A free flowing camera makes every moment feel extremely authentic. One scene of kids carelessly playing with sparklers brought me back to my own youth. To countless Fourth of July’s and the awe of carrying sparks of light as smoke trailed into the comfort of darkness.
This film is full of every shade of life. The main character, Jack is shown as a baby and then grows into an older child. Sequences use music and mesmerizing camera work to observe the transition from awe to abandon to rebellion. Jack grows to resent his father whose authority seems to stem from his own regret as a failed musician. This relationship sounds simple in some ways, but it isn’t. There are always other forces at play and their effect can send shockwaves that reverberate for a lifetime.
It’s easy to say that this film affected me. Walking out of the theatre I felt it creep up on me and after a few minutes everything seemed different. It was a feeling similar to the sensation I got after taking a small amount of mushrooms once in college. It wasn’t enough to hallucinate but everything seemed suddenly vibrant and vital. The streetlamps and treetops weren’t just there. They were present and existing second to second along with me and my own life. One full of memories. Some half-remembered, some abstracted into surreal dreams, and others that sneak up on the occasional hot summer day. These usually resurface when I notice a small detail. Details found in countless shots of The Tree of Life. It could be a curtain blowing peacefully as sunlight pierces through or crystal clear water trickling from a hose.
These details contrast nicely with the scope of a portion of the film that examines life from before it even existed. CGI is used for once, to create something complete rather than complete something half created. It is a beautiful sequence full of lonely stars flickering against blackness and single cell organisms struggling and thriving. One shot in particular focuses on one organism. I’m not sure if it was single cell or not. But it’s seen swimming up the water, towards the surface and for some reason hit me as hugely dramatic. This is all before the dinosaurs show up, which are filmed with the same delicate touch as the humans.
Although this film could be seen on a religious level, I saw it on a completely humanistic one. The actors, particularly Brad Pitt, display a naturalistic presence that may surprise and even confuse most moviegoers. They aren’t playing a part; they are living through moments of someone’s life. This gives scenes emotional layers that will take multiple viewings to peel away and may differ depending on the viewers own life experience.
Make no mistake this film is an experience. It is not an easy one though. It’ll test your patience and your very definition of what a film is. But I would say it is a test worth taking. The more that I think about it director Terrence Malick pulled off something very impressive in that he created a film both extremely personal and endlessly universal. A piece of art that finds true beauty and perhaps even enlightenment in the struggle to put the pieces together.