Review of The Tree of Life (2011) by Mohamed A — 03 Oct 2012

American screenwriter, producer and director Terrence Malick's fifth feature film which he wrote, is an American production which was shot on locations in USA, Chile, Italy and Iceland. It premiered In competition at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in 2011 and was produced by Dede Gardner, Bill Pohlad, Brad Pitt, Grant Hill and Sarah Green. It tells the story of the American family O'Brien who's good and quiet life in a Texas suburb during the 1950s, is disrupted by the eldest son's confrontation with his own adolescence. The similarities between Sean Penn's character in "The Thin Red Line" (1998) and the one he plays here is comparative to the extent that they can be seen as more or less identical characters placed in different time periods. In "The Thin Red Line", Sean Penn's character consults God through a monologue where he utters "If I don't see you in this life, let me feel the lack". This line is further explored in "The Tree Of Life", where the monologues with God are more frequent and there is a parallel between Sean Penn's line "You're still believing in the great light" and the opening scene.This philosophical, religious and scientific journey through time and mind is a surreal and evangelical allegory, a family portrayal, a depiction of childhood, a period piece, an existentialistic drama, an all-embracing and retrospective study of character or as an atypical science-fiction film which renders an extensive and vivid exploration of our existence. Merging various voice-over narrations with ethereal music from French composer Alexandre Desplat, a fragmented narrative structure and versatile camera movements, this nuanced, experimental and symbolic piece of modern cinema is notable for it's fine editing, production design by American production designer, art director and director Jack Fisk and cinematography by Mexican cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. This character-driven epic about the loss of innocence, the past, the present, the future, grief, faith and family relations, is a profoundly moving fictional tale vision from a visionary and impressionistic filmmaker who correlates and marks the differences between human kind and nature in his particular way.

American actor and producer Brad Pitt, in yet another unconventional role and one of his greatest acting performances, and Jessica Chastain who expresses more with her body language than with words, is notable in the unorthodox role as Mrs. O'Brien. A role certainly as enigmatic and somewhat similar to Australian actress Miranda Otto's character in "The Thin Red Line". At the center of the story is Jack who is played by American actor, screenwriter and director Sean Penn as an adult and as the young Jack by Hunter McCracken in his debut feature film role, an impressive acting performance in the demanding role as the eldest son who is torn between a father and mother who has very different ways of showing their affection.