Every year I am faced with a slew of award-winning movies to wade through. I might not like all of them, but I can generally appreciate why other people did. Oscar favorites by and large tend to be depressing or "highly meaningful," which is the fancy way of saying depressing, so they aren't the easiest bunch of films to watch. Regardless, they usually have compelling stories, great acting, snappy dialogue, something. Which brings me to The Tree of Life. A movie that won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, it was lauded by critics, but I kept putting off watching it until now. And I sincerely wish I had just put it off forever.
I do not get this movie. At all. Or at least, I get it, and I do not understand why other people seem to think it is fantastic. Ostensibly a movie that attempts to portray life, the universe, and everything in its 2-hour running time, it certainly accomplishes that goal, but to what end? The infamous 20-minute montage at the beginning of the movie, the one that portrays the origins of the universe from the Big Bang and evolves along with single-celled organisms and wandering dinosaurs, was every bit as weird as I imagined it would be. But by the time I was finished with the movie, I think I would have preferred it if that montage was expanded to include the entire film, because watching dinosaurs run around in that beautiful landscape would have been far more interesting.
The characters at the heart of this tale are the O'Brien family. Mother and Father are Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt, who do everything they're supposed to, which is not a whole lot. Pitt's role seems to mainly be that of a strict disciplinarian, who makes mealtimes awfully awkward and then shows his affection for his three sons by alternately teaching them to fight and then preaching to them about the virtues of Toscanini. Do you know a man like this? Because I certainly don't. Chastain is the typical ethereal 50's housewife, kind, pretty, and loving. But there never seems to be much dialogue in this movie. Instead we must be content to gaze at long scenes scored with mournful arias interspersed with breathy phrases from the characters as they contemplate life and say deeply meaningful things like "Where were you?" and ruminate on God, morality, and their mortality. It's enough to set your teeth on edge.
I can't deny the beauty of this film and its production value. As far as I know it's a perfectly accurate depiction of 1950s small town America, filled with wide open spaces, trees, rivers, and birds aplenty, and lots of religious contemplation. The aforementioned 20-minute montage was spectacular, though the dinosaurs were a little too anthropomorphized for my liking. However, the rest of this film is just an angsty mess, trying so hard to be a masterpiece. Critics adore it and this is why I am probably not made of the right stuff to be a critic. I found nothing compelling, not a single second that redeemed the two hours and eighteen minutes I had to slog through.
This is only Terrence Malick's fifth film in four decades so it got a great deal of attention. Malick studied and taught philosophy before turning to directing, which seems very apt for such a weird and rambling movie. I haven't seen his previous work and maybe those films are worth it. But if The Tree of Life is an example of the kind of movies he prefers to make, I will be perfectly happy if it takes him another decade to release another one.
I do not get this movie. At all. Or at least, I get it, and I do not understand why other people seem to think it is fantastic. Ostensibly a movie that attempts to portray life, the universe, and everything in its 2-hour running time, it certainly accomplishes that goal, but to what end? The infamous 20-minute montage at the beginning of the movie, the one that portrays the origins of the universe from the Big Bang and evolves along with single-celled organisms and wandering dinosaurs, was every bit as weird as I imagined it would be. But by the time I was finished with the movie, I think I would have preferred it if that montage was expanded to include the entire film, because watching dinosaurs run around in that beautiful landscape would have been far more interesting.
The characters at the heart of this tale are the O'Brien family. Mother and Father are Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt, who do everything they're supposed to, which is not a whole lot. Pitt's role seems to mainly be that of a strict disciplinarian, who makes mealtimes awfully awkward and then shows his affection for his three sons by alternately teaching them to fight and then preaching to them about the virtues of Toscanini. Do you know a man like this? Because I certainly don't. Chastain is the typical ethereal 50's housewife, kind, pretty, and loving. But there never seems to be much dialogue in this movie. Instead we must be content to gaze at long scenes scored with mournful arias interspersed with breathy phrases from the characters as they contemplate life and say deeply meaningful things like "Where were you?" and ruminate on God, morality, and their mortality. It's enough to set your teeth on edge.
I can't deny the beauty of this film and its production value. As far as I know it's a perfectly accurate depiction of 1950s small town America, filled with wide open spaces, trees, rivers, and birds aplenty, and lots of religious contemplation. The aforementioned 20-minute montage was spectacular, though the dinosaurs were a little too anthropomorphized for my liking. However, the rest of this film is just an angsty mess, trying so hard to be a masterpiece. Critics adore it and this is why I am probably not made of the right stuff to be a critic. I found nothing compelling, not a single second that redeemed the two hours and eighteen minutes I had to slog through.
This is only Terrence Malick's fifth film in four decades so it got a great deal of attention. Malick studied and taught philosophy before turning to directing, which seems very apt for such a weird and rambling movie. I haven't seen his previous work and maybe those films are worth it. But if The Tree of Life is an example of the kind of movies he prefers to make, I will be perfectly happy if it takes him another decade to release another one.
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| The Tree of Life in Bahrain, where I grew up. This image speaks more to me than anything in the movie. Maybe I would have appreciated it more if I grew up in 50's Texas? |
NICE picture... I approve.
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