+6
The Tree of Life
What a unique film! The way it’s filmed, with unconventional angles and sparse dialogue. Malick lets his actors do most of their acting not though words by by actions. Gestures. They emote with their body and often say more then they ever could with words.
And that’s the point. The film starts off with loss. And that loss will effect the main characters throughout this film. But I’ll get to that in a moment.
The films veers into what seemed to me existentialism, and looks almost like a documentary about time, space and nature. I am reminded, for some reason, of the beginning to 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the beginning to The Exorcist during the dig.
We are then taken on a ride through the history of the world, through the first life forms, to the dinosaurs and finally, their extinction. Only then do we return to the family.
Unfortunately it is during that time before we return to the family where the film suffers from a lack of any real narrative. It focuses heavily on images that perhaps linger a little long, trying to convey a message that borders on pretentiousness.
It is only when we return to the family where we finally get back on track. If only for a little while.
We’re witness to a family before the aforementioned loss, and how Pitts son views him, and how he in turn is treated by his father. We sense something more to the family, an unspoken level of a kind of resentment that eventually comes to a head. We hear Penn apologizing to Pitt, presumably. But I feel we never really get to actually connect with this family.
After watching this film, I am impressed with its technique more then the story. The acting is good, as noted before. But in the end, I’m feeling like I’m not sure what to make of this film. I definitely think it deserves a rewatch. But I don’t see all the acclaim being tossed its way. At times it gets too sidetracked with it’s beautiful visuals. It’s gets in its own way.
And I enjoyed 2001.
Definitely a polarizing film. And one I need to rewatch one day, for sure.
Tough to really put into proper words. Even tougher to properly place on my eventual ballot.
Last edited by Wyldesyde19; 02-15-20 at 04:14 AM.