TREE OF LIFE is a cinematic, breath of fresh air

      Auteur director, Terrance Malick, certainly lives up to his reputation as a masterful artist; painting bold and picturesque images, rich in metaphors and thought-provoking in context. What starts out as a genuine observation of a traditional family in the 1950s and early 60s, develops into a spiritual and philosophical understanding of life, and what it means to appreciate life in all of its marvels. These underlying themes and messages are not spelled out onto the screen, but if you’re familiar with Malick’s work,  than you can see how his artsy, image conception leaves the viewer plenty of room to make their own interpretation.

            My first impression of Tree of Life concerns the director’s awareness and appreciation for human growth and development; a spiritual connection with our environment. An innocent boy from a small Texas town grows up to be a man, he then finds his niche in a bustling, modern society, and without any dialogue or a detailed explanation,  the film subtlety expresses a man’s loss of appreciation for life’s organic surroundings. I always thought that Malick's work was primarily about how the industrial revolution tainted our natural landscape, and disturbed a once, peaceful society. Both Badlands (1973) and Days of Heaven (1978) are terrific examples of the filmmaker’s dichotomy between a rural and an industrialized society, and how each environment directly affects civilization.

             The characters in Malick’s films include lovers on the run in Badlands, the farming community in Days of Heaven, and the WW II combat soldiers in the Thin Red Line (1998). However,  “nature” is the most important character in all of his work. Malick and his film crew want the audience to really look and appreciate gods gift to man; rows of giant sunflowers erected high above the soil, waves crashing and rolling above the ocean floor, oak trees towering the sky, and the summer breeze mildly blowing against the weeds.

            Tree of Life spontaneously cuts between the past and the future, and for the most daring and awe-struck sequence, Earth’s beginning of time. The calendar-like images evoke a sense of childhood innocence. Malick looks through the camera as if he’s imagining a child seeing the ocean for the very first time. He embodies a childlike perception; always looking up at the trees, gazing at the other neighborhood families, twirling around the house, and gliding close to the ground.

            The main character is an angry adolescent boy, taking the responsibility of the oldest son. I loved how the film cuts to the boy’s face—there are jarring jump cuts of his pondering expressions. However, the camera isn’t just showing the boy’s face, it captures an adolescent’s implosive emotions, shifting from carefree to frustrated and lost. His father, played by Brad Pitt, plays an earnest and tough-as-nails man, but a great provider for his family. The boy and his father are distant in emotions, yet ironically, we sense the boy turning out to be just like his father. Some might view Brad Pitt’s character as harsh and insensitive. I like to think otherwise. I believe that Brad Pitt is portraying a realistic and common father figure; a fair depiction of the norm of parenting during that generation.

             The film unexpectedly cuts back and forth in time, from the boy to the grown man, played with a quiet sensibility by Sean Penn. The audience can sense his longing for the old suburban landscape he grew up in. He’s lost in a world of tall skyscrapers, nonstop traffic, and business suites. The way Malick captures a modern society is thoughtfully juxtaposed with the pleasant imagery of the 1950s era.

            Tree of Life isn’t a plot-driven drama. The wild juxtaposition of natural images, childhood memories, minimal dialogue, and spontaneous jumps in time seems like the overall narrative is disjointed, but at a closer look, you’ll find that Tree of Life is surprisingly well-structured. There are bold, imaginative sequences that seem like they are part of a completely different movie. Similar to Fellini’s 8 ½ (1963), Tree of Life is a cinematic exploration. I felt as if midway through filming, the director decided to take certain ideas concerning life, death, and the heavens above, and propel his keen, visual aesthetics into uncharted territories.

This is a down-to-earth film with sincere observations and nature-like cinematography, yet there are fantastical scenes that make great use of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) and sound editing, which shows that Terrance Malick stands next to the great wizards of Hollywood, which include, firstly, Stanley Kubrick, (2001: A Sapce Odyssey) then Steven Spielberg (Close Encounter of the Third Kind), and more recent, Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings).  Tree of Life contains spectacular and jaw-dropping visuals that compete with the skills of Hollywood's powerhouse players, yet it’s epic in a much different way; a wholly and groundbreaking piece of cinema. It’s the antidote to formulaic, Hollywood blockbusters.
**** (out of four stars)