Where to start… Bucket loads of clamour; the proverbial case of mixed reviews, revulsion to adulation from all kinds of critics, whether it’s professionals or popcorn munchers, and now, the proclaimed winner of the Palme D’Or. Probably an accolade that will, on past experiences, only serve to create an even greater chasm of opinion. That’s the general talk so far for the Tree Of Life. Now that I’ve seen it, I feel I can wade through the muddle and offer a slightly more decisive verdict on my own behalf. Yes, its big, its ambitious, its slightly bloated, unorthodox, its lengthy, perhaps flawed in parts, but above all, it’s a spectacular achievement in filmmaking. One that has pushed boundaries in every level, whether you like it or not.

Hype was always going to be a factor too. I’ll be honest, I had an alien feeling of apprehension and struggling to acclimatise for the first five minutes. But as soon as I acknowledged that the obnoxiously large Flemish and French subtitles stacked on top each other weren’t part of Malick’s beatific vision, I eased in and started to get to grips with it. You had to, as it all began at a little bit of a flurry.

Kicking off with some biblical quotes courtesy of Job, alongside shots of pre big bang cosmic visions, a contemplative Sean Penn gazing around gleaming corporate lustre, and the first images of his 1950’s classic, American suburban childhood were all relayed out in the first few minutes. This laid a foundation for a three pronged approach that provides the premise for the ambitious exploration of life, love, loss, existence and so much more. Much of the film’s derision seemingly comes from those who can’t piece together these core aspects together, yet Malick clearly envisaged this approach as a template for his exploration of life as a whole. The parallel of the world through its inception and evolution, and an average life lived through its own inception and evolution, and all the existential questions that apply to both in between.

Penn’s character, Jack, is seemingly disillusioned and searching for answers in his modern day guise as a successful architect/corporate executive. (Although materially, he seems to be doing alright…) Recalling the cataclysmic moment of his mother receiving the drastic news of his 19 year old brother’s death on military duty, this serves to bring everything back to its very basis and formation, from his own birth and development through childhood, learning what is first wondrous in the world, right and wrong, and then discovering what darker elements lie in wait. His guidance is led by the autocratic leanings of his churchgoing, ambitious but ultimately bitter father (Brad Pitt) and more tender and loving mother (Jessica Chastain), along with the cameraderie he experiences alongside his two brothers. Before Jack’s exploration of his own life begins, the parallel of the earth’s evolution is shown in full, from galaxies forming, prehistoric flora and fauna growing, landscapes and organisms developing, dinosaurs roaming and what essentially is, a visually spectacular brief history of time. On paper, its hard to piece together, but once the parallel of evolution and development is assumed between the earth and this man, and everything they both experience through development, the possibilities of where Malick was going with his ideas suddenly became infinite.

On a purely visual scale, Malick, even by his own standards, has broached new unforeseen territory with the grandiose (and CGI enabled) scenes of the earth’s geological growth. It was nature at its most resplendent, making Badlands and Days of Heaven seem almost archaic and amateur in comparison (I know, total anathema). A mesmerising sequence that is seemingly endless (in the best possible way), it was a bit like watching the most wondrous version of Planet Earth conceivable, with a consistently breathtaking capacity to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. Utterly spectacular, and even though you got the impression you were getting sidetracked, you become so immersed you almost didn’t want it to end. But of course, once the voyage of space through time reached modernity, it turned into something we the viewers, as humans, could relate to, which was Jack’s own evolution, development and life.

As Jack the child grows more, he experiences more, just as the earth did. At first, all is innocent and wondrous. The initial stages are all a discovery of beauty, fascination and learning. But with the advent of time, more influences come to bear, he learns the more difficult truths. He wonders who he respects more, and his basic concepts of love, fear and alienation are constantly tested, his father being more dominant and disciplined, and his mother the more gentle and weaker. With each day he learns and experience more, and life and the world become to possess more challenges and harsh realities. We begin to realise that this our life as well as Jack’s represented on the screen, and that we grew and developed in much the same way. The infinite possibilities Malick built the film from stems from the fact that as we follow Jack, we seamlessly follow the growth and learning in our own lives too.  The effect is that we are immersed in a richly thought provoking take on how we’ve come to be also, and it is augmented and driven by the stunning visionary tour de force.

This is exactly what makes the Tree of Life such a different and original cinematic achievement, the fact that it is so stirring and thought provoking throughout, It is essentially a spiritual experience. There are plenty of questions to God, and asking him to explain things, but the answers never come, they only create further wonder. Here, the brother’s death is the definitive catalyst for all of this.

In a sense, death and bereavement is the most affective and earth-shattering experience a person can go through in life. Suffering such a loss triggers of a range of responses, and a multitude of desperate questions on existentialism, love and loss, that all end up simply wondering ‘why?’. Here, Jack had never really got over his brother’s loss, and it still affects him now, more than ever. All his questions remain unanswered, and simply become more and more searching and inquisitive.

The narrative provided by his mother’s voice, posing breathy, wondrous questions, which on the surface, seem pretty simplistic and the ones that would be put forward by child philosophers (more ammunition for the cynics) However, there is a point behind this.

I had jokingly suggested before that Malick might go so far as finding the meaning of life in this film. Here, you realise that finding a definitive answer or meaning isn’t the point of all of this. The simple questions are the ones that always remain, because there are no answers to them at all. The whole point is the process of the soul searching, and ending up being more at ease and accepting of what you have at the end. This is what leads to the self-actualisation, acceptance and coming to terms with everything. Not a simple definitive and concrete answer to everything. It’s the voyage of discovery that Jack undergoes, and that we will all undergo.

In fairness, that’s probably why so many people are going to dislike it. For people who want answers to questions instantly, and want some sort of stable ‘plot’ to cling onto, perhaps they won’t be latch on to this. It’s not a Maths equation with a concrete solution, It’s a much more intangible experience than that.

The same people who won’t like it for lack of clarity will also probably be the same who feel its too long,  and too epic in its aims. And they may have a point. Perhaps there are segments that drag on, and some ground of Jack’s learning curve begins to repeat itself. Penn’s wandering around could almost be deemed gratuitous, as he really has very little to do (and even less to say) He certainly won’t find a less taxing role for a while.

Pitt has a lot of screen time, and is rock solid, but its not one of the most stellar performances that he’ll be remembered for. All are quietly impressive, but the premise and backdrop carry this film so much so, that performances were always going to rank on a slightly lesser scale. Although to be honest, if anyone is going to get praise, it should probably be newcomer Hunter McCracken as the young Jack, who carried most of the scenes and looked every inch a young boy discovering a tumultuous learning curve, and more.

Others may find it all a bit too grandiose and bloated, particularly with the Earth scenes, Penn’s muted soul searching, or even just the manoeuvring around pristine skyscrapers or tranquil rivers. Whatever is deemed gratuitous, or Malick mastery, the key point for the Tree of Life is that once the parallel has been understood between man and earth, everything comes together; this picture can potentially take you anywhere. I haven’t even scratched the surface in terms of how it affected me. At the very least, I found it extremely reflective, pondered over and over it again; in a manner I can’t recall a motion picture doing for a long, long time. New filmmaking ground has been broken in terms of visual empowerment, and exploring who we are, why we are, how we love, and how we exist. There is no concrete answer, but that’s not the point, or the aim. It was extremely beautiful, powerful, evocative, and evaluating, and that was the point. The point was also that Malick has now firmly etched his credentials as a bona fide genius, Palme d’Or or no Palme d’Or.

1. 528491ismyphonenumber liked this
2. eclecticpicnic posted this