The Tree Of Life

Mention Terrence Malick to any film fan over the age of 30 and there’s a good chance they’ll get all misty eyed over the auteur, despite the fact the first film they would have seen at the cinema of Malick’s would have been 1998’s The Thin Red Line. It appears his reclusive nature and slow output (now 6 films in 40+ years) have elevated him to a position where his films appear to be untouched by criticism. Mentioned Malik’s name to anyone else and you’ll more than likely get “Who?” as a response. Malick’s films reflect the pace he gets round to picking up the megaphone and The Tree Of Life is a sure test of the patience of both fan and average movie goer alike. Firstly, how on earth to describe not only what this film is about, but how to describe how it is presented. Your first clues that something isn’t normal here came within the first few weeks of its cinema release in the US with punters leaving the film in droves and asking for their money back. In the end certain cinema chains were having to put up signs warning people buying tickets not to expect a standard film starring Brad Pitt. OK, so let’s have a bash at explaining this. The film begins with a couple (Pitt and Jessica Chastain) finding out about the death of their teenage son. The film then becomes a study of the dawn of creation, the evolution of man and then settles into a middle section of reflecting back on the son’s upbringing with his brothers and parents. Well I say settled, but there is nothing settled about this at all in terms of it having any narrative structure. Dialogue is sparse and most of it spoken as a voiceover. Throw in constant editing and non-sequential cuts and already you begin to understand how people were dumbfounded by what they were watching. The dawn of creation segment (or whatever you want to label it as) is easily the moment when most people have decided whether they are staying for another 2 hours or not. Though there are some spectacular images here, you’re basically watching the Discovery channel for a good amount of screen time, including a bizarre dinosaur sequence. Yes, you’re not mis-reading any of this. On the plus side this is one of the most beautifully shot films you’ll ever see. Every image is crisp and pure. A flock of bats sweeping over a sun drenched sky is mesmerising. Skyscrapers become things of cold steel beauty. Close ups of the protagonists faces reveal more than dialogue ever could. Talking of the actors, it’s the middle section of the film where things really start to pick up as one of the son’s (played by Hunter McCracken) starts to discover sexual feelings for women for the first time and unhidden violent tendencies. Some of the scenes of potential violence are actually highly disturbing and reminiscent of Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon. A lot of this is down to McCracken himself. The acting may be minimal, but he says all you need to know with his eyes and expressions. If you found out he went on to be a serial killer you wouldn’t be surprised. In addition, though the structure of the film makes it tricky for a proper analysis, Pitt gives a strong performance as the loving, but overly strict father. So, just as you’ve got used to the more standard (in comparative terms) middle section of the film, it all goes badly wrong at the end though with some of the most pretentious dross ever committed to celluloid. Come on Terrence, we’ve sat through 2 hours already and that’s how you repay us? So to the crux of the matter. Is this worth 2 hours and 20 minutes of your time? If you know what you’re letting yourself in for, and you appreciate what Malick is trying to do, then, on balance, I’d say yes. Having said that it could all just be a load of balls. It’s hard to recommend a film to people where you already know a high proportion of the population are going to hate it, so I’ll say see it for two reasons. The spectacular images can only really be truly appreciated on the big screen and that this really is as far away from standard movie making as you can get without totally falling over the cliff.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict

Art or Arse? Who knows. Doubtful you would ever watch it a second time though. Rating: 6/10 (though I understand anyone who would rate it much lower)