The Tree of Life

Incredible sensorial journey by Malick, featuring the most ambitious film of his brief, intimate and intense career, an invitation to let yourself go with every connection that everybody has with its environment and the universe. Amazing.

'The Tree of Life' takes us back to the early 50's, to a quiet American town to show us Jack's childhood (played mostly by Hunter McCracken). It also takes us to the present day, with Jack (Sean Penn) who becomes a successful architect. And most amazingly, it takes us to the creation of the universe, the planet earth and of the earliest forms of life.

All this through fascinating images and exquisite music (photography by Emmanuel Lubezki, music by Alexandre Desplat). It is an intense journey that forces you to reflect on various aspects and leaves you wanting more, despite lasting about 138 minutes.

The centerpiece of 'The Tree of Life' is Jack, the eldest son of a Christian family living in Texas in the 50s. Decades later, between the skyscrapers that dominate his daily lives, Jack recalls his childhood, with a mixture of happiness and bitterness, doubt and certainty, seeking the meaning to everything that happened, everything that happens, trying to understand what vision was most accurate, the most successful, his mother's or his father's one, the way of grace or the one of nature.

The father (Brad Pitt) is an authoritarian man, tough, demanding disciplin, courage, strength and success to his children: his desire is for their kids to not be trampled by others or to commit the same mistakes he made. The mother (Jessica Chastain) is kind, generous, innocent and loving, she loves her children deeply, represents the opposite view of the life of her husband, with whom he has strong arguments. Their beliefs and ways of seeing life will be tested by a tragedy.

But like I said, the film is not limited to Jack: we do also see experiences from the point of view of their parents and siblings (played by Laramie Eppler and Tye Sheridan) and all the way back to nothing else but the origin of our world, from the creation of the cosmos to the dinosaurs.

The idea that links everything seems to be Jack's effort to find a meaning to exist and a connection with everything that has existed from the beginning till the end. Indeed, the end of “The Tree of Life” is the part that generates controversy in the film; I suppose this is one of the points that strongly will divide supporters and opponents of this ambitious and daring work.

At least this must be recognized to Terrence Malick, that he risks it all, he does not settle for the requirements or guidelines the market sets ( while big ones like Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese have done so). And you cannot discuss the formidable aesthetic finish, a beautiful and poetic mosaic of scenes that feel authentic, taken directly from reality, never forced or mandated to impress the viewer, who is sure to see, reflected on the screen, experiences very similar to his owns.

Terrence Malick returns to appeal to a highly fragmented narrative that blurs the barriers of space and time seeking sensations and emotions, more than the actual progress of a story.

 

Finally, I want to point out the inspired direction of the actors, especially the children, stars of insurmountable scenes

Director: Terrence Malick

Writer: Terrence Malick

Stars: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain