Putting Things in Perspective

The Tree of Life (dir. Malick, 2011)

Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” plays like a nature documentary that observes all types of life with the same curiosity. It follows a family living in Waco, Texas, in the 1950s, as well as the first organisms that crawled out of the sea at the dawn of our planet. It considers an animal taking a drink from a riverbed with the same specificity as a father instructing his son on pulling weeds from the yard. The camera dances like a will-o-wisp, tracking rising oceans, laughing children sprinting across a yard and maybe the utter breaking of the universe before the movie is over. It’s an ambitious film that is probably better approached as an expanded version of “Planet Earth” instead of a family drama with existential footnotes. Viewers will not find easily identifiable character arcs here or a satisfying resolution. As an impassioned assessment of nature, the film rightly falls short of answers.

The movie has a plot, thin as it is. A mother and father (Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt) receive word that one of their sons has been killed. As they begin the grieving process, the movie flashes forward to view their eldest son, Jack, still mourning as an adult (Sean Penn). The characters weigh the importance of one individual’s life and death against the movements of the universe, prompting a sequencing showing the birth of the cosmos and the formation of Earth. The film tracks the progression of life and finally centers on humankind, and more specifically, Jack’s birth in Texas. He grows into an uncertain boy (Hunter McCraken), emotionally torn between his free-spirited mother and disciplinarian father. As he feels their influences tugging him, adult Jack similarly considers the apparent conflict of order and chaos in nature.

The scenes set in the 50s barely feel scripted, as they offer suggestions of a way of life rather than a narrative. Still, the family is well developed, suggesting that smaller details like slammed screen doors can do as much as monologues for suburban discontent. The relationships are easy to quantify, but they are not naive or simplistic. Take, for example, a scene where the father apologizes for being so hard on the boys, and young Jack responds, “It’s your house. You can kick me out whenever you want.” Is it a rebuff or a plea for sympathy? It’s likely Malick sees both in the exchange.

The visuals in “The Tree of Life” likely will be appreciated for years to come. Malick, not known for using special effects, uses both optical techniques and CGI to recreate the Big Bang in one of the most awesome cinematic spectacles since “2001: A Space Odyssey” went beyond the infinite. The beauty sustains for the rest of the film as Malick and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki find unfamiliar angles to shoot commonplace objects, turning trees and skyscrapers into towering monoliths and open kitchen windows into gaping portals. What will be harder for audiences to embrace is the film’s ambitious reach, which seeks to unify smaller moments like Jack’s first steps with presentations of Earth’s Late Cretaceous Period. But it works. The journey is focused, and the tone is consistent. It might be a bit overlong for story without much closure, but how often will we have an experience like this in our short lifetimes?

Grade: A-

Watch the trailer here:

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