Review: The Tree of Life

poster borrowed from here

We've been pretty excited to see The Tree of Life for several weeks now, but our interest was definitely piqued after writer/director Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line) won the top award at Cannes with it. Mallory's interest was EVEN MORE piqued when she learned that he started making films in '73 but Tree was only his fifth. This is a guy who definitely takes his time and gets his films juuuuust how he wants them. The fact that it starred Brad Pitt didn't hurt much either.

So The Tree of Life tells the story of... well it doesn't tell much of a story. But there are pretty images like this:

and this...

If you're wondering where Brad Pitt and Sean Penn come into the picture, worry not. These stunning images of the universe's creation are intercut with the narrative which jumps from Brad Pitt's overbearing father figure to Sean Penn's (the grown-up son of Brad Pitt) dealing with the death of his brother to Jessica Chastain relying on her faith to overcome the grief of losing a child. That's putting it as simply as possible. It's a complicated and emotional movie and is not for the faint of heart. In fact, we weren't surprised to see more than one couple get up and leave. Oddly enough, we also saw two couples come in for the next showing 30 minutes before our showing was over...

Part of what made this movie so compelling was the amazing acting, and not just on the part of those from whom you'd expect it (we're talking to you Brad and Sean). Jessica Chastain manifested her role so well one would be inclined to believe she WAS her character. The three young boys were just as convincing.  It will be very interesting to see Chastain in Take Shelter, especially since Malick suggested her to Jeff Nichols.

We should probably mention that this is not a summer blockbuster even though it's come out this month.  This is definitely an art film, but it's probably one of the most beautifully shot films in years.  Like we said this film won the top prize at Cannes, but you should know that half the audience booed the film when it premiered there.  It is very slow moving, very contemplative, and there's hardly any diegetic dialogue (Justin is very sorry for using this film geek word, but there's nothing for it in the thesaurus, it means within the reality of the film). It's almost all voice overs.   So if you'd like to decide on whether or not you want to see this, watch his last film The New World and if you like it you'll love this.  Also, here's a link to Christopher Nolan and David Fincher talking about The Tree of Life.

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