Review of The Tree of Life (2011) by Margarita S — 22 Mar 2014

This is an ambitious, artistic and philosophically dense film. There are some really breathtaking shots and it is distinctive stylistically. That said, it is very heavy handed with the visual metaphors - And another shot of a tree.

.. What's the name of the film again? Oh, shit, what does the tree represent again? Eyes roll. It flirts with pretension with the soft whispery, poetically styled voices and at times, preachy dialogue.

True brilliance, to me, is taking complicated concepts and presenting them as cleanly and simply as possible. Allow the audience to think. This film takes complicated ideas and complicates them further with a cacophony of visual and aural threads.

The film ends up losing itself and its audience in a chaotic mess.