The Tree of Life Review: Pretension Rising

And so it continues. It seems my relationship with the films of director Terrence Malick will never be a harmonious one. Every time he releases a new film I want to absolutely love it, but each and every single time I walk away feeling empty and uninspired. The films he creates are so beautifully shot and edited together that you can’t help but admire them, but its in the meaning behind the images where things start to break down and The Tree of Life is no different.

Like all Malick films, The Tree of Life actually deserves two different kinds of movie reviews; one to look at the pure entertainment factor of the film asking questions like: Will average audiences want to sit through it? Is it moving/enjoyable/worth my hard-earned money? The other review would take a look at the film a bit more artistically and put aside enjoyment in favor of weighing its merits as a purely interesting film. Will film buffs be able to write papers of analysis of it? Are the messages being conveyed well-crafted and fascinating enough to consider beyond the time you spend watching the movie? With most movies I could tackle all of the above questions in one succinct review but this is a special beast so let’s dig in.

First off, from an audience enjoyment perspective The Tree of Life is a total loser. Your average moviegoer who laughs heartily at The Hangover Part II and thrills at the adventures of Kung Fu Panda 2 would likely want to gauge his or her eyes out during The Tree of Life. This is not to say that those moviegoers are dumb or unworthy of viewing an “art film”, they just straight up won’t enjoy it and will rue the day they spent $12 to see it. There’s nothing wrong with that. We all know what we like and what makes us happy so why not stick with that?

Most people go to the movies to be entertained and escape our daily lives. We like seeing stories of extraordinary (or comically un-extraordinary) people doing things in visually stimulating ways. We want to see them overcoming obstacles, defeating evil, falling in love, and making friends. These kinds of things get our hearts pounding and emotions flowing, but The Tree of Life has none of that. Instead, The Tree of Life presents to us…well…just life.

Life as a whole has always been an elusive topic for filmmakers and authors. The concept itself is so huge and unwieldy that almost no work can properly contain it without biting off more than it can chew. In The Tree of Life Malick attempts to present life in two ways. One way is the very streamlined story of Jack O’Brien played by Hunter McCracken as a child and Sean Penn as an adult. We see Jack from the moment he is born and all the way through childhood as he develops relationships with his parents (Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain) and two brothers. We witness everything from boyhood mischief to first attractions to a first encounter with death and finally life as a confused and seemingly lost adult. Dialogue is sparse throughout the film with very few characters getting a word in edgewise. Instead, things are given to the viewer mostly visually and while there is nothing wrong with that, fans of snappy dialogue and exposition will find themselves scratching their heads.

The other way in which Malick presents life to us is through a series of scenes literally depicting the creation of the universe. What starts off as bits of matter in the darkness eventually comes together with a bunch of matter to form the sun, moon, stars, and planets. We then get volcanoes forming land and atmosphere followed by water followed by creatures in the water followed by dinosaurs on the land followed by an asteroid killing all of said dinosaurs. And of course this is all set to a rousing score of classical music that will make you think you’re watching a live action remake of Fantasia. I must say these scenes are absolutely stunning to behold and should give the big blockbusters a run for their money when it comes time to hand out the Best Visual Effects Oscar next year. I’d also be willing to bet that countless middle school Earth Science teachers will be clamoring to get their hands on this footage to show their students. Who needs textbooks about the formation of the universe when you can show it!?

But what does it all mean, you might ask? Well, that’s kind of what leads into the second kind of review – the analysis. Its no small task to write a complete analysis of a film like this after only one viewing so I won’t attempt it here but the film clearly tries to show us two ways of living life. We can live it through grace, like Jack’s mother, and just love and accept the world around you to be happy OR we can live through nature, like Jack’s father, and occasionally be harsh and cruel to make yourself happy even at the detriment of others.

The film contains literally hundreds of different images to form Malick’s message and if anyone tells you that they understand them all they have lost their marbles. There were moments that almost sang to me and made me reflect on my own life but they were often followed quickly by scenes so bombastically full of music and imagery that it toppled over into a mess of pretentiousness too heavy-handed to enjoy. The final scene in particular where everyone meets in heaven and embraces was so over the top that I couldn’t help but roll my eyes in disgust.

Despite the frequently overblown visual poetry, The Tree of Life still manages to stand out as one of those rare films that demands to be thought about and discussed. You may very well walk away from a discussion of this film fuming and cussing Malick’s name while someone else weeps at its simple beauty, but maybe that’s what a great movie should do. We’re so accustomed to films that are like candy. They uniformly taste sweet and amazing to as many people as possible but as soon as you’re done pleasurably chewing or sucking, there is absolutely no value in them. In that light, The Tree of Life is like big stick of raw asparagus. It won’t taste extremely great and will probably take a while to chew, but it just might do your body some good… even if it makes your pee stink.

What I’m trying to say in a roundabout way is that most moviegoers will simply HATE The Tree of Life and should avoid it like the plague but it is also a film with a lot to admire. For those film buffs who desire a little challenge, or some fodder to argue with fellow film nerds over, this is the movie for you. I personally find perfection in a film that can be both entertaining AND thought-provoking but perhaps in the midst of the summer movie season, this is as good as its going to get. Either way, it is a worthy effort of a film that will not be forgotten any time soon. Just don’t ask me to watch it again soon.

Grade: B

Images courtesy of Fox Searchlight and IMDbPro.