The Tree of Life (2011)

Genres

Drama, Fantasy

Director

Terrence Malick

Country

USA

Cast

Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken, Finnegan Williams, Michael Koeth, Laramie Eppler, John Howell, Tye Sheridan, Kari Matchett, Joanna Going, Michael Showers, Kimberly Whalen, Jackson Hurst, Fiona Shaw, Crystal Mantecon, Tamara Jolaine, Dustin Allen

Storyline

It follows middle-aged Jack O'Brien (Sean Penn) as he recalls his life as a young boy, particularly his demanding and overly strict father (Brad Pitt).

Opinion

Will I ever be fully satisfied with a Terrence Malick film? The answer is pretty simple, no, it will never happen. I guess I just fail to understand his cinema because The Tree of Life was pretty much just another of his boring yet visually stunning films.

Once again Terrence Malick tries to tell a story without actually telling a story since this film basically has no plot - I'm not even sure if what I just wrote makes any sense. Anyway, it's just a series of sequences most of which are incredibly tedious and made quite annoying by the voice overs he loves so much. I have to admit though, that at some point when the film is finally focused on the love-hate relationship between father and son the film actually gets interesting and engaging.

Through that relationship, Malick tries to explore the meaning of life, he talks about evolution and spirituality, and questions the existence and benevolence of God. But like I said before, he does that in a very boring way, and with some sequences that are completely pointless and feel irrelevant to the meaning of the film. I'm talking about all that prehistoric thing.

Another problem I had with The Tree of Life was the difficulty, inability almost, to connect with the characters or care for them. I felt that especially with Sean Penn's character, a depressed and lost man who just seems detached from his younger self, like he doesn't care, so I ended up not giving a damn as well. But it's not Penn's fault, Malick is the one to be blamed.

Like I mentioned earlier, there's something that really amazed me about this film, the visuals. Mostly because of the astonishing cinematography by Lubezki, this is one of those films that are very beautiful to look at, and that has some very memorable scenes, like the flock of birds flying effortlessly.