written and directed by Terrence Malick. Running time: 2hrs 18 mins. Rated PG-13
"The Tree of Life" is Terrance Malick's sixth film in his 42 year career. It’s a meditation on everything from the origin of life, death, and questioning the existence of god. The film follows the story of one family in the 1950’s. The death of their middle son makes the family focus and question everything about life. The film has little dialogue which is narrated through the characters in forms of questions, which sound very philosophical. The film jumps back and forth from the present to the 50’s, and even to the beginning of the universe. There are beautiful and surreal images in this film. It plays very much like a dream with no beginning and no end...a lot of it is open to interpretation. I commend the film for its grace and beauty and attempt to capture something so intangible and elusive..."a lifetime in a blink of an eye." I am all about these types of movies, but they have to be entertaining at a certain level. Whether it moves you intellectuality or emotionally, shows like "Lost" and films like "The Man from Earth" (if you haven't seen the latter, I highly recommend it.) "The Tree of Life" is somewhat lacking in that department. I couldn't help comparing this to Kubricks masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey". Although this isn't a sci-fi film, it unfolds similarly, and there are long musical sequences (I don’t mean the musical theatre kind). All the performances are really wonderful, and Jessica Chastain is a revelation. There are some things I didn’t get though, like the ending! I like to think they were in heaven, but I'm not to sure of that, it contradicted the whole beginning. It might require a second viewing to fully understand the whole film. although I don't think I could sit through it again. I suggest anyone who is interested in philosophy, religion, meaning of life, etc…to give it a try. It's worth watching at least once...everyone else can wait for the DVD.
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