Review of The Tree of Life (2011) by Sean K — 05 Nov 2012

Terrence Malick returns to the screen after his somberly mediocre film of 06, The New World, to deliver a poetic, artistic, and overall jumpy film about the beauty of life and the wonders which inhabit each and every one of us. Now most audiences will come out of this film finding the message to be too caught up or non existent as Malick tends to let his soft whisper narration dribble at times. With The Tree of Life though, Malick seems to have found his stepping again, delivering a masterful yet flawed film that has a defining vision for film goers. It is a visual wonder, a powerfully pieced film that will surely stick in one's mind.

The film centers around a young boy named Jack (Sean Penn gets little screen time as the adult Jack), growing up in the fifties with a loving mother who shows that even the little things in life are worth the care. Then there's Brad Pitt, the militant father who only want to set his three children along the proper path. It is in Pitt's performance that I find the most breath, his stern father like image a portrayal that we can all draw relation to. Pitt carries himself throughout the film in great bravado, his quiet nature a testament to his inner workings. As Jack goes through life's experiences with his brothers and friends of the neighborhood, we see the inner struggles that everyone inevitably meets in their own life. Often during the film, these illustrious moments are presented in a soft grandeur of images that are shot beautifully and pieced together by a score that is in it's own terms, masterful. Whilst travelling through young Jack's childhood, we are forced into a rather clunky narrative that strays from it's main subjects by crafting grande images of life's creation in a presentation that Kubrick would undoubtedly approve. True, the cycles of life are a great mystery and as pointless as some moments may seem, it's all apart of Malicks greater inner buildings that in the end present a powerful film with a message as thick as the meaning of life itself.

Overall, The Tree of Life is a beautiful journey full of surreal images, gratifying performances, nuanced meanings, and a heartbeat that throbs strongly throughout the film. My only complaint is for the typical Malick flair, his lyricism and erratic narration sometimes a disconnection from a film that seems truly "connected" with the mysteries of life...