The Tree of Life

Now we're talking. A film I have had countless conversations about. A film so intriguing yet so dividing, i simply have to talk about it. The only film with Malicks sheer bravery is 2001: A Space Odyssey, and even that lacked the emotional, human heart that TTOL has.
I first saw this film at the Gate cinema in Notting hill, a truly underrated cinema and one of the only showing decent independent films in London. I had been awaiting its release for many months, pestering my parents that i had to see this film. I was setting myself in dissapointment mode, a good technique so you are happy when it turns out to be really good. Well, in the first 20 minutes, half of the packed cinema had walked out in a strop of diminished expectations of what the critics were calling "a masterpiece". My mother turned to me after i had quizzed her on the verdict of the film when it was over. "I don't know yet" she replied. Over the next few days, at whatever opportunities we got, we would discuss the film. Why? I will tell you. Warning, however it will involve spoilers. And dinosaurs...
We open with a Job quote and a mysterious orange mesh of light in a black background, a concept repeated again and again during the film. We cut to angelic Jessica Chastain recieving a telegram. It is told later that the second of her three sons have died. At 19. Judging by the time and the telegram, he probably died in Vietnam. This tragedy will taint the future scenes with a touch of melancholy. Suddenly the scenes drastically alter, showing the formation of planets, stars and space in general. Some have accused legendary director Malick of being pretentious. I disagree. He is simply showing what has and will happen in space. The thing I stress about this film is that it isn't only a warm and interesting family drama, but a representation of life, hence the title. These scenes are accompanied by some beautiful classical music. The images change back to a part of the film featuring Sean Penn as the older version of one of the sons,Jack , seeming to be sleepwalking through every scene. A brilliant shot involves him and his supposed partner walk through their beautiful apartment, uttering not but a word between the two. At work he daydreams of his childhood. Some have accused Penn's character as being underdeveloped. Again, I disagree. i think he lives his life through his memories, perhaps rose-tinting them slightly to escape his hollow existence as an adult. There is a change back to his childhood, Brad Pitt at his very, very best. (Saying a lot considering what he's done.) Many scenes occur during this period. Hunter McCracken plays his role especially well, capturing all the pre-teen angst so well. The parents' names are never referred to by name. They are simply Mr and Mrs O'Brien. Because in those days, parents were Mother, Father or Sir. The boys' stern father, a failed musician is sharp but you get a true sense that he loves his children. The mother is the complete opposite, loving them at every turn, being playful and rarely telling them off. At one point, she is portrayed to be floating, angelic and heavenly. We often see the young Jack go into the attic, meeting a tall man, symbolising the fathers emotional absence. Mr O'Brien goes away on a business trip, the boys get rowdy and troublesome. Mr O'Brien returns. Soon, his employers are shutting down the plant he works in. The family decide to sell the house and start a new life somewhere else. Suddenly the tone drastically changes, showing Sean Penn wandering round a desert in his battered Armani suit, gingerly walking through doorways and chasing his childhood self through the rocks. We cut to a house on a salt flat, of Mrs O'Brien offering up her son and being carried by other women. Sean Penn again wanders, but this time through a beach full with all the people from his life and carrying the child form of his dead brother to his family. This represents his hopeful idea of Heaven, a place where all the people in his life can meet again. Mrs O'Brien is overjoyed, raising her son up to the sky. As we return to Jack doing his job leaving a building, he looks up at the sun and smiles. We get the orange light again and it fades to black with no music.
Well, it must be seen to be believed. There is simply nothing life it and it's an experience everyone must go through. The best film of the year, the decade and most decades to come.