The Tree of Life (2011)
Starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, and Hunter McCracken
Directed by Terrence Malick
Right off the bat, let me just say that I don't think I'm smart enough to watch The Tree of Life and fully understand it. It's a movie that is in need of Cliff's Notes in order to fully get what director-writer Terrence Malick was trying to get across in his dream-like visual style. In that respect, does anyone really want to go to a movie and feel like they're back in high school reading things like Shakespeare or Chaucer where you can't help but think you learn more by reading the notes that accompany the main works than the actual work itself? I'm sure were I to watch the movie again, more details that seemed like they were throwaways in the initial viewing would take on more meaning. Of course, any second viewing of a film reveals things that weren't noticed the first time, but I'm not sure where I stand on the notion that you should have to watch a film a second time in order to understand it's overarching themes.
It's not that I came away from The Tree of Life completely lost...I get that it's a film about grief, about relationships between children and their parents, and about faith. I understand that at its core is the notion that death is simply a part of life that shouldn't be feared, but rather accepted. And as I sit here typing out this review, I'm actually growing more and more appreciative of the film and the rather beautiful way it tackles these issues. [I'm particularly impressed at the way it doesn't shy away from this notion of an all-powerful being (ie. God) and his role in Life.]
However, despite all this, I did find a major problem with the actual plot of the film -- yes, there is a plot, if you can find it amidst the interesting camerawork and incessant (though rather eloquent) voiceovers. At its heart, The Tree of Life looks at the relationship between father and son and, in this film, we are supposed to take away that Mr. O'Brien (Brad Pitt) is much too harsh to his three boys, including Jack (Hunter McCracken) whom the film tends to focus on. However -- and this is the major issue I have with the movie -- I never got the sense that Brad Pitt's character was a bad guy...in fact, there were moments where I felt he was oddly affectionate for what the viewing audience stereotypically thinks of when it comes to a 1950s father. He wanted what was best for his sons and tried to show them how to be the best boys they could be. Ultimately, this "tumultuous" relationship proved problematic for me because I never really got a sense as to why Jack was so angry with his father (and, in turn, his mother [played by Jessica Chastain] for putting up with what he felt were his father's faults). The scars that the father left on his sons didn't seem legitimate.
I simply don't think this is a flaw that I'd be able to overcome on repeated viewings, but I can see myself taking on repeated viewings of this nonetheless. I'm over a day removed from my initial watch and I still find myself thinking about the movie certainly because of the very vagueness that I critiqued in the opening paragraph. I found much of the film beautiful to look at and I found the highly spiritual content welcoming and rather thought-provoking...SPOILER...the final scenes in which an adult Jack (Sean Penn) wanders around a heaven-like environment in which he learns that his family is still living on a different spiritual plane were particularly spiritually invigorating. END SPOILER However, in a film dealing with grief and the pain that comes along with that emotion, there is an odd detachment from the characters here. I was never really moved by what I saw onscreen via the characters themselves, but the visual images were oftentimes quite thought-provoking.
Acting is decent overall with Brad Pitt continuing his rather positive year thanks to this and Moneyball. Jessica Chastain is seemingly in everything this year, but this is the first movie I've seen of hers and while she was perfectly adequate as the mother, I'll have to refrain from saying that she's the new "It Girl" as she is called in some parts. Hunter McCracken was fine in his first acting role, but as I've mentioned before, I find the character a flawed one insomuch as I couldn't quite figure out why he despised his parents as much as he did.
Still, The Tree of Life is an interesting watch. Kudos to Terrance Malick for creating a dream-like atmosphere containing minimal dialog and interesting camera cuts and movements. It's for the visuals and the spirituality angle that would cause me to watch this again...and I just might in the near future. I'll end with a rather simplistic, but beautiful quote from the flick that stuck with me for some reason post-viewing:
Misfortune befalls the good...not just the bad...We are often uprooted like a tree...But we must go on.
It's not that I came away from The Tree of Life completely lost...I get that it's a film about grief, about relationships between children and their parents, and about faith. I understand that at its core is the notion that death is simply a part of life that shouldn't be feared, but rather accepted. And as I sit here typing out this review, I'm actually growing more and more appreciative of the film and the rather beautiful way it tackles these issues. [I'm particularly impressed at the way it doesn't shy away from this notion of an all-powerful being (ie. God) and his role in Life.]
However, despite all this, I did find a major problem with the actual plot of the film -- yes, there is a plot, if you can find it amidst the interesting camerawork and incessant (though rather eloquent) voiceovers. At its heart, The Tree of Life looks at the relationship between father and son and, in this film, we are supposed to take away that Mr. O'Brien (Brad Pitt) is much too harsh to his three boys, including Jack (Hunter McCracken) whom the film tends to focus on. However -- and this is the major issue I have with the movie -- I never got the sense that Brad Pitt's character was a bad guy...in fact, there were moments where I felt he was oddly affectionate for what the viewing audience stereotypically thinks of when it comes to a 1950s father. He wanted what was best for his sons and tried to show them how to be the best boys they could be. Ultimately, this "tumultuous" relationship proved problematic for me because I never really got a sense as to why Jack was so angry with his father (and, in turn, his mother [played by Jessica Chastain] for putting up with what he felt were his father's faults). The scars that the father left on his sons didn't seem legitimate.
I simply don't think this is a flaw that I'd be able to overcome on repeated viewings, but I can see myself taking on repeated viewings of this nonetheless. I'm over a day removed from my initial watch and I still find myself thinking about the movie certainly because of the very vagueness that I critiqued in the opening paragraph. I found much of the film beautiful to look at and I found the highly spiritual content welcoming and rather thought-provoking...SPOILER...the final scenes in which an adult Jack (Sean Penn) wanders around a heaven-like environment in which he learns that his family is still living on a different spiritual plane were particularly spiritually invigorating. END SPOILER However, in a film dealing with grief and the pain that comes along with that emotion, there is an odd detachment from the characters here. I was never really moved by what I saw onscreen via the characters themselves, but the visual images were oftentimes quite thought-provoking.
Acting is decent overall with Brad Pitt continuing his rather positive year thanks to this and Moneyball. Jessica Chastain is seemingly in everything this year, but this is the first movie I've seen of hers and while she was perfectly adequate as the mother, I'll have to refrain from saying that she's the new "It Girl" as she is called in some parts. Hunter McCracken was fine in his first acting role, but as I've mentioned before, I find the character a flawed one insomuch as I couldn't quite figure out why he despised his parents as much as he did.
Still, The Tree of Life is an interesting watch. Kudos to Terrance Malick for creating a dream-like atmosphere containing minimal dialog and interesting camera cuts and movements. It's for the visuals and the spirituality angle that would cause me to watch this again...and I just might in the near future. I'll end with a rather simplistic, but beautiful quote from the flick that stuck with me for some reason post-viewing:
The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love your life will flash by.
The RyMickey Rating: B
No comments:
Post a Comment