The Tree of Life (2011)

When a Terrence Malick film comes out you know its going to be visually amazing, and The Tree of Life does not disappoint. It's a tapestry of visuals and story, particularly so around the beginning and the end of the film. It's a reflection on life, its meaning, its beginning, and its ending. There are impressive sequences of the cosmos, the formation of our solar system, the rise of life on Earth, and a much commented on sequence involving dinosaurs and mercy. The framing of the story, or one of them because the birth and death of the universe is also a frame, involves a middle aged architect (Sean Penn, who's not in the movie that much) reflecting on his childhood in Waco, Texas. You get see his birth, toddler hood, birth of his siblings ect. and then it all slows down considerably to focuses on the events of one summer, when he is about 13 years of age (this sequence being set in the 1950's or maybe early 60's).  The boy Jack (Hunter McCracken) has a complicated relationship with his father, who he loves, but also fears. What's interesting about the father (Brad Pitt) is how complicated he is, ostensibly an engineer obsessed with getting ahead, he is also a frustrated classical pianist, heartbroken that he didn't get the career that he really wanted. This frustration is a major factor in his anger, but he's really not abusive, well not in a physical way, psychologically a bit, but not intentionally.

Jake's mother and father are presented as a duality, one that's made pretty explicate at the beginning of the film if you pay attention. Jack's father's way is the way of nature, the hard grueling struggle, while his mothers (Jessica Chastain, again in house dresses) is the way of grace, nurture, unconditional love. The film juxtaposes what can be called religious imagery (I'm thinking particularly of the heavenisque gathering at the beach near the end of the film) with colder, scientific imagery, volcano's erupting, microbes evolving. The film doesn't give you an answer, or at least it doesn't hit you over the head with one, you have to work it out and interpret it yourself.

If the cosmological aspect of the film is not your cup of tea, its still worth seeing for that whole middle sequence, which is a beautifully done, loosely structured, collage of childhood. Long summer nights, testing your brother, choirs, punishments, discoverers, fears. Though it may not get as much attention as some of the more showy aspects of the film, this stretch of childhood is among the most innovative, well realize, and fresh seeming pieces of film making I've seen in some time. The Tree of Life is an experiential film worthy of your attention, and on as big a screen as you can get ahold of. ****