Festival de Cannes Review: The Tree of Life (2011)

It is impossible for me to keep from bringing a spiritual mindset to the movie watching experience. I echo Roger Ebert in seeing films as mechanisms for generating empathy. And so, every film has an opportunity to give us a new perspective – which I consider to be a very spiritual endeavor, indeed. 

However, there are certainly some films that bring out the spiritual in more overt ways than others. I can think of no other film that has done this for me than Terrance Malick’s The Tree of Life. 

The film begins with a passage from the Biblical book of Job. I’ll spare you the theology, but if you’re unfamiliar with the story – it tells of a man who lived a righteous life but was faced with tragedy after tragedy. When he can confront God about the seeming injustice, God asks him questions that no human being could answer. He asserts His sovereignty. 

We then see an impressionistic movement of light. No matter how you interpret it, the image is clearly ethereal. From the very beginning, this film asserts its uniqueness.

Cannes Review: The Tree of Life (2011)

Since its release, The Tree of Life has been a polarizing film. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground. You either find it to be pretentious and beneath its outsized ambitions or you find it to be a masterpiece of visual art from one of cinema’s most unique directors. Yes, it has a lot of whispered voiceover. Yes, it has many profound shots of nature. Yes, it attempts to connect a 50’s Texas family life with prehistoric dinosaurs.

And, yes, it succeeds.

That may be the most amazing thing about this film – it delivers on its incredible ambitions. There aren’t many directors these days looking to make films about the universe and the meaning of life. If they do, they come at the topics from the side. They don’t meet them head on. Here, Malick makes no qualms about attempting to use the visual art form of cinema to take us to places we’ve never been before. 

Much of the film’s plot revolves around the O’Brien family. Mr. O’Brien (Brad Pitt) is a hard father who demands much of his boys. He also loves them. Mrs. O’Brien (Jessica Chastain) is a loving mother who plays with her children and showers affection on them. They are both pictures of the competing forces which Malick sets up in the film. Mr. O’Brien represents the way of nature, and Mrs. O’brien represents the way of grace. One is the survival of the fittest, one demands the preeminence of love.

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There are three boys – Jack (Hunter McCracken), R.L. (Laramie Eppler), and Steve (Tye Sheridan). We also see Jack in flash forwards as an older man (played by Sean Penn). He has grown into a businessman disillusioned with his life. 

Early in the film, we learn that one of the boys has died. This is where the context of Job comes in. The film is wrestling with the notion that horrible things still happen to good people. What does that say about God? Where are we to find answers? 

If you’re familiar at all with the work of Malick, he often looks to nature in his films. Nature is almost another character, and the same is true here. Whether it is the domestic life of 50’s Texas or modern-day Dallas, Malick finds beautiful images and lets his camera luxuriate in them. 

The cinematography of this film is other-worldly. No matter how many times I see the film, I’m wowed by the images every time. This is thanks to the collaboration between Malick and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. This film came before Lubezki won three Oscars in a row, but you can see his immense talents on full display here. These artists are attempting to paint the universe with every frame.

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One of the film’s more famous sequences comes when it jumps as far back in time as you can go – to the beginning of all things. Visuals are created using astounding digital effects as well as some impressive creativity using paint and oil droplets. What we’re given is a picture of the beginning of light and the order of the universe. We jump through time and space (and, yes, dinosaurs do make an appearance). This is Malick’s attempt to show us what Job experienced – the awe and wonder of coming face to face with God’s immense creative power. 

I must comment on the music, as well. As I write this piece, I’m listening to the film’s soundtrack. Much of the music in the film are classical compositions. They are used as instruments to accompany the cathedral-like feeling the images evoke. When a score is needed, it comes from master composer Alexandre Desplat. The music, too, is another character in Malick’s creation. 

Speaking of characters, you may wonder at the fact that I haven’t called out the acting in the film yet. That’s not because it is subpar – much to the contrary, in fact. Chastain, especially, is her usual incredible self. Pitt is fantastic, and the child actors steal the show at points. All of the acting talent involved are to be commended, as Malick is famously not easy to work with from an actor’s perspective. While his tendency to let the camera move to catch the slightest jump of light or a flying butterfly can yield unbelievable images, you can imagine how frustrating it might be for an actor. It would be easy to lose one’s place amid the free-flowing creative process. But these actors hold their own and deliver fine performances across the board.

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I’ve told multiple people that you cannot approach this like you approach any other narrative film. To me, this film is a prayer committed to the screen. It is an incredibly spiritual experience. Maybe that is not why many people come to see a film. I can understand that. But what do we ask of film? I think we ask to be taken to new places. I think we ask to be given new perspectives. I think we often ask for visual splendor. Very few films have accomplished these as well as The Tree of Life. 

The film ends on a visual of a bridge. As it does throughout its runtime, this is the film telling a story through visuals alone. It is cinematic mastery of a high order. With all the wonders we’ve been shown, we must also hold together the doubts and the deep despair that have been shown on screen. We’ve seen the darkness of human hearts even in the slightest form of childhood mischief. How are we to connect the two elements? Can we bridge that gap? 

I believe the film asks us to try. To reach out and love one another as we have first been loved. I don’t think we are given answers, and the film certainly does not provide easy answers. But we must try to bridge those gaps we find in our lives. 

We must choose the way of grace.