Anyone who's talked to me over the last nine months or so probably knew that The Tree of Life was going to be at the top of this list. While I went back and forth on which movies should appear on the list and in what order, this one was never really in doubt.
That said, as I've gone through these blog posts, I've been looking forward to this particular review with equal parts dread and anticipation. I saw this movie back in May, just a couple weeks after my son was born -- something that gave this movie added significance for me -- and I've been wanting to write about it ever since. But, quite honestly, I haven't been able to figure out what I want to say. On a few occasions, I actually sat down to write blog posts about the movie only to give up after being unable to figure out how to begin. In fact, now that I think about it, I haven't any in-depth conversations about this movie with anyone. I recounted a few details and my general impressions to some friends in person and in email, but that's about it.
Long story short, I hope you'll bear with me if this seems a little convoluted and disjointed...because, at this point, I don't know where I'm going with this post.
The Tree of Life was directed by Terrence Malick. It is only the fifth movie he's made in forty years. So, for film geeks, each of his movies is kind of an event. I remember reading about this movie two or three years ago. It was supposed to come out in 2010, but Malick wasn't done tinkering with it. If you saw Malick's most recent movies prior to this one, The Thin Red Line and The New World, you have an idea what to expect here. Those movies are told more with imagery than dialog and are more about emotions and ideas than typical narratives.
With The Tree of Life, Malick goes to all new levels. It is not a movie for everyone. The story isn't remotely linear and it doesn't resemble a typical movie in any real way. But, I will say that, if you're willing to accept that up front and let go of your conditioned expectations as to how a movie is supposed to move and feel, it'd be hard not to be impacted by this film.
I suppose it would be best to begin by giving a general outline what the movie is about. That's difficult because, ultimately, the movie is about everything...but it's also very specific and personal. Yeesh, this is getting messy already.
The movie opens by showing us a passage of scripture -- Job 38:4,7: "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" These words are uttered by God after Job asks for an explanation for all his suffering. The significance of this passage becomes obvious as the film wears on.
Next, we are introduced to Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien, played by Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain. The O'Briens are a middle aged, middle class couple living in what appears to be the 1960s. Shortly after the initial introduction, they receive a telegram informing them that their son has died. It is unclear how he died -- most have concluded that, because the news came by telegram, he was in Vietnam -- but it is not important that we know.
The O'Brien's mourn their son, they have a funeral and are consoled by friends and family. Mrs. O'Brien's mother tries to remind them that they still have a lot to live for. A priest tells them that their son is in God's hands now, to which Mrs. O'Brien replies "He was in God's hands the whole time." In just a heart-wrenching scene, Mr. O'Brien recounts times that he was unkind to his dead son and regrets not apologizing. They are inconsolable.
The movie then flashes forward to what appears to be the present day. Sean Penn plays the O'Brien's oldest son, now grown. He is also reflecting on the loss of his brother, apparently because of an anniversary or some other occasion.
At some point during these sequences, both Penn and Chastain's characters -- in voice-over -- turn God's question to Job against Him: "Where were you?" Essentially, this is the most common question mortals venture to ask of the divine: Why do you let bad things happen?
Then begins the most talked about portion of The Tree of Life: a sequence of more than 20 minutes depicting the creation of the universe and the Earth itself. It begins with the big bang, the expansion of light, gas, and other matter and minuscule spheres of rock -- planets -- appear. Lava spurts out and is cooled in the oceans. Microbes begin to form, then we see plants and small fish. A sea-bound dinosaur flails on the beach, staring a wound in its side that was apparently inflicted by school of hammerhead sharks.
Eventually, we see another dinosaur lying wounded in a shallow river. A larger predator appears and stares and the injured creature. The larger animal lifts its foot and presses down on the wounded dinosaurs head, apparently intent on killing it. But, after a few seconds, the larger animal reconsiders, takes its foot off and walks away, leaving the wounded dinosaur to die in peace. This profound act of grace and compassion is soon rendered moot because, in the very next sequence, we see an asteroid hurdling toward the Earth.
After this incredible sequence, we are brought back to the O'Brien family. We see circumstances surrounding the birth of the oldest son Jack (Sean Penn's character), and, later, two more sons.
Earlier the movie, we heard Mrs. O'Brien explain the general theme of the film. She says there are two paths through life, the way of nature and the way of grace. The bulk of the movie takes place during Jack's early adolescence as he struggles between the two paths.
Eventually, it becomes clear that each parent is a representation of one of these paths. Mr. O'Brien is stern, angry, bitter and resentful. He orders his sons around and demands unconditional respect and refuses to overlook any failure or shortcoming. Mrs. O'Brien is kind, optimistic, and nurturing, almost to a fault.
The way this metaphor plays out is a little on the nose -- but I don't think these depictions are meant to be literal. These are the memories of older Jack. Indeed, this entire section of the movie plays out like a stream of consciousness through Jack's memories. They aren't in any discernible order or narrative. It's not about telling a specific story as much as is about conveying feelings and emotions.
This movie had a profound impact on me for a number of reasons. The most obvious reason is that, unlike almost any other movie I can think of, the emotions and experiences depicted in the movie paralleled many of my own.
I have a memory from when I was about ten years old that I have never been able to shake. I was walking across the street near my house when I heard some people yelling and saw a car pull to a sudden stop in the middle of the road. I didn't see it happen, but the car had just run over a dog. As I walked further down the street, I saw the dog flailing in the middle of the street, its face smashed against pavement. It didn't yelp...it wasn't able to make any noise at all. The dog just jerked and struggled as blood started to poor out of its nose. I didn't stick around to see what happened -- I just walked away. The last thing I remember seeing was the dog's angry owner coming over to pick it up and a mother on the opposite side of the street trying to keep her young children from seeing it.
I'm bringing up this gross memory for a reason. I had no connection to this dying dog. I didn't even know the owner...I don't think I did, anyway. But, not a week goes by that I don't recall that image and the horror I felt at that precise moment.
Now, nothing like that happens in this movie. But, there are several moments in the film depicting similar memories of Jack's lost innocence. He sees a friend drown in a swimming pool and another friend is burned in a fire and Jack can't stop staring at the boy's scarred head. A man has a seizure on the O'Brien's front lawn as Mrs. O'Brien tries shield Jack and his brother from seeing it. The boys see a man with a palsy limp through a parking lot and wonder whether he did something to bring the affliction upon himself.
I can't really explain it, but these moments in the movie seemed so real to me. They don't play like depictions of childhood memories, but like actual memories. In the case of my dying dog memory, I don't know what came before or what happened after. And, that's the same here -- we see the most visceral and disturbing moments, usually only a few seconds, and then the movie moves on. The way this film moved from image to image, memory to memory, was so like my own thought and memory process that it was just uncanny.
And, it isn't just the moments of brutal realizations and lost innocence. I have similar memories of my parents that, when I recount them out of the context of my whole life, they can, for a time, turn my parents into metaphorical caricatures. More significantly, there are times I remember when they "broke character," so to speak, and those moments are even more prevalent in my memory.
There's a moment near the end of the movie where, after a professional setback makes Mr. O'Brien reflect on how he's treated his sons, he apologizes to Jack for being so strict and angry. His sorrow and forced humility are just heartbreaking and, once again, it so resembled a specific moment I'll always remember from my own life that I wept openly in the theater when I first saw the movie...and again when I was trying to explain it to my mom and my wife. The fact that I was a brand new father with a son of my own obviously had something to to do with that as well.
Finally, this movie impacted me because, in addition to the way the images and memories are depicted, Malick's view of the world closely resembled my own. I'm not overly philosophical and I have only a pedestrian knowledge of physics, biology, and evolution. But, still, I have always tended to fixate on the vastness of the universe and the seemingly insignificant span of a single human life. And, while I am a religious person, reconciling that fixation with the religious notion that every person -- myself in particular -- is of great worth and that God is interested in the day to day decisions that I make is probably my greatest spiritual and intellectual struggle.
The Tree of Life speaks directly to that dilemma. Indeed, it is probably the main focus of the movie. And, while it doesn't try to spell out an intellectual answer to the dilemma, it attempts to give an emotional one.
The ending sequence has been criticized by film critics and intellectuals for being too overtly spiritual and being too up front with its symbolism. I won't spoil the ending here. I'll just say that the natural ending of this movie would have been to depict the end of life on our planet and the destruction of our solar system billions of years from now, showing that, while they were interesting for a time, the sorrows of this little family are ultimately meaningless. But, that's not the direction Malick chooses to go.
Sure, that stuff is in there. But, at the same time, in the midst of all the vastness and chaos, at the end, there is reconciliation. It doesn't define the exact nature of that reconciliation, and it's not even clear that it's actually taking place outside of Jack O'Brien's mind. But, like the rest of the movie, it is depicted with grace and empathy. And, even if, at that point the movie, Malick is using a heavy hand, he's not being preachy. Ultimately, his sincerity makes what might be an artistic flaw more than forgivable. Indeed, his decision to take a more spiritual and emotional route when the more cerebral path was so wide open is one of The Tree of Life's most admirable qualities.
I can go on forever about the individual moments of the movie, the symbolism and the beauty. But, frankly, I've gone on for long enough and I'm not even sure any of you will ever watch this movie.
So, to sum up, I'll just say that The Tree of Life is a masterpiece. It is, in my view, easily one of the best films of the last several years. You're free to think that I'm just a pretentious movie snob, I don't care. I just can't get this movie out of my head.
I really wanted to see this movie. I just kept hearing good things...the kind of things I like about movies. And I missed it. I'll have to watch it at home now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. I like when movies affect people this much. It's what makes good movies.
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ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this review, because it made me recall how I felt when I saw it. I have enjoyed all of Terrence Malick's films, for a number of reasons: his impeccable attention to detail regarding the look and assembly of his films, the quality of the performances he gets from his actors, the believability of the dialogue. But the greatest thing I enjoy about his films is that he manages to convey in film the essence of what it feels like to be a human being. While his films do have plots, Malick's films aren't simply content to tell a story. He wants to say something about life, to pose questions about it, and to stop and smell the roses in the worlds that his films depict. The fact that he is able to pull this off in a film is admirable, but moreover, he manages to find success and acclaim in an industry that is driven by profits and a continual need to appeal to the intellectual lowest common denominator. The American film culture is continually pitched in a battle between those who value storytelling and artistic integrity, and those who value more sensual, superficial pleasure. If you haven't noticed this, spend some time eavesdropping on other people's conversations the next time you go to the movie theater. There are those whose fulfillment in the movie-going experience depends solely on the quantity of explosions, stunts, action, CGI and 3D special effects, cleavage shown, hotness of the leads, hipness of the soundtrack, and so forth. In short, they want quick, easy, digestible entertainment. They don't want to have to think or feel anything other than pleasure when they go to the movies. They don't want to feel sad, angry, confused, disgusted or challenged. They want escapism. And that's all fine and dandy. But we're not all that way. Some of us demand more. We want from a movie the same range of emotions we get from the greatest of literature or great theatrical works.
ReplyDeleteMalick's films fall into the second category. But what Malick excels at is an ability to imbue spirituality into his films without the reproach of a society (Hollywood) which generally frowns upon the mention of God. "The Tree of Life" takes on a monumental task: attempting to encapsulate the human experience in 2 and 1/2 hours. As Bryan said, the film poses questions that we all must address in life, unless we choose to live life with blinders on. Why are we here? Why do we suffer? Why do people seem to die despite having not done anything "wrong"? These questions have no easy answers. Often they are mercurial, and the answers change in our minds as we navigate our lives. The film takes this same approach, and smartly so.
For me, the most captivating thing about "The Tree of Life" was how it beautifully captured the amazing sensual experiences of being alive. Despite the travails and challenges life gives us, there is so much that we experience that is pleasurable. The power of imagination, when we played as children on warm summer nights out in the yard and the streets of our neighborhoods. Bubble baths, the beauty of a breeze blowing through the windows of our houses causing the drapes and curtains over our windows to billow. The beauty of a newborn child, admiring its tiny hands and feet, its sweet innocence. The film also explores the sensuality of the less pleasurable human emotions. Fear of an intimidating father. The sting of the loss of a friend or loved one. The confusion as we try to sort this all out. "The Tree of Life" captures this all.
For me, "The Tree of Life" made me realize how grateful I am for my life, that I have been given this gift to experience both pain and pleasure, the ability to grow and improve, and that every day will bring new experiences and memories. The film achieves things that no blockbuster will ever be able to do. The challenge lies with helping the audience prepare to experience it.