I have not drank the Flavor Aid and joined up on the Malick cult. I've seen only one Terrence Malick feature before, his 2005 release THE NEW WORLD. Though I respect the realistic look and direction at the history of Jamestown, I couldn't help noticing the giant sign in the background of all of the shots with the word "Pretentious" printed in bold letters. For you see, one of biggest problems of film production I loathe considerably is the immense desire of fantastical yet fanatical people to create a "spotfest" movie. The term refers to a work where every frame, every scene, every sequence, every cut must be breathtaking and symbolic to the point of exhaustion and derision. This pompous elitist expression is not suited for Malick, it is Malick.
So why is it that I thoroughly enjoyed THE TREE OF LIFE, his newest polarizing film? Malick has seemingly made it easy to master the escape quotient of the viewer-film relationship, causing myself to float out of my local art cinema on to the hot mean streets without any thought of what I should do next in my life. But once the euphoria evaporated and my adrenaline crashed, I was left with a major headache and no one to cure it with some ideal film chat. THE TREE OF LIFE is a near-masterpiece, a visual explosion to the cerebral cortex but you will notice that some of your brain matter is rotting from its gross excessiveness.
The film is all about memory, how it controls us, haunts us, unable to die due to it being shared by people, places, Earth and the universe. In an explicit non-linear storyline, we largely embark with the camera as hovering gazes into the lives of a 1950's family in Waco, Texas. The focus stays often on the creation and aging of a boy named Jack, who's later adult life is played by Sean Penn. Each frame, each cut in a spectacular montage of his early childhood years brings beautiful optimism until the slowly rising dread of real life warps his feelings and view. The abuses and failed dreams of his father (Brad Pitt) destroy his social well-being and his mother (Jessica Chastain) is mentally unable to heal his anger and puberty problems with her whimsy free spirit nature. All of this is tied with the birth of the planet Earth, the prehistoric era of dinosaurs, and our current metropolitan existence for a meaning of life you the viewer must figure out for yourself.
Even if you think the answer is that this film is complete hogwash, I can perfectly understand. The extended pre-human Earth scenes are largely pointless unless the viewer needs additional Cliff notes to what Malick is trying to say. The finale is also very tedious with its multiple false endings and it strictly being yet another Malick patented rhythmic dance of emotions but with no real purpose for the viewer to care. Most importantly, as stated above, the adoption of it intentionally being a "spotfest" movie will drain your energy and attention profusely unless you are willing to go again after hopefully getting some rest first.
Still, the majesty of capturing such uniqueness in this compliation of wonders is too hard to write off cynically. Malick and his cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki are willing to greatly experiment with composition, such as the multiple uses of low angles, and make even a nice little pat on a baby's back look like child endangerment. The slew of editors on this project, like Jack's toy block of a kangaroo, love to jump, jump, jump, jump through history while ever-expanding the characterization of all of its characters. Both Pitt and Chastain do excellent work, able to handle a vast range of psychological responses and emotional energies. The music is intoxicating and the whispering, weak narration is believable as the expressive pains and thoughts of a struggling human being.
THE TREE OF LIFE is more of an event than simply being a movie. I suggest, not urge, that you go see it for yourselves in theaters before it arrives on video. You can still have your popcorn or soda with you to appease the experience. After all this really is the blockbuster of art films this year. Just let yourself go, whether in joy or anger or neutral, and let the world of cinema enrapture you.
FINAL REVIEW: 4 / 5
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