The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life
PG-13, for some thematic material 
OOOO out of 4

As I walked out of the theater, after seeing director Terrence  Malick's new film The Tree of Life, I trailed behind an elderly couple who were clearly confused.  The woman grumbled that she "didn't know what they were trying to say, but it was so depressing!"  And I was tempted to butt in and say, "Depressing? The creation of the cosmos, depressing? The emergence of life from the primordial waters, depressing? The struggle between Nature and Grace, depressing?  The final reconciliation of creation in the age to come, depressing? Oh woman, we were clearly watching two different movies!" But, I kept my mouth shut since the lady seemed truly agitated and capable of flooring me with her handbag.  No, mutely I kept on going, hitting the street, breathing in the deliciously cool fresh air, a great relief after these days of heavy humidity, joyful that there is a God.

Part of the problem in viewing The Tree of Life is that it does not follow a strict linear narrative.   And oh yeah, there is very little dialogue to boot. The other problem is that the story encompasses no less than the history of creation from the Big Bang through to the End Times, a tough trick to pull off in less than two and a half hours.  A project this ambitious is going to have holes in places, and indeed I was left wanting more of those highly impressionistic, almost surreal episodes that depict creation and the evolution of life on earth.  Another problem is that if you arrive late, even if it's only by two minutes like my confounded couple, you might as well walk out and wait for the next showing.  If the movie is going to make any sense to you every frame must me seen. 

While the large backdrop of the movie is creation and its meaning, the "micro" story, if you will, focuses on a family in Waco, Texas in the 1950's.  We see an overbearing, but loving, father (Brad Pitt) who represents Nature; the world is a tough, dog eat dog place and he wants to make sure his boys are ready for it.  His counter part is the caring and affectionate mother (played by the transcendentally beautiful Jessica Chastain), who represents Grace; the need to give of one's self to the other, loving and forgiving unconditionally.  Why someone might find the movie depressing is that much of the movie's middle section is handed over to chronicling the struggle between these forces as it is played out in the life of this family. The center of this struggle is their young son (Hunter McCracken plays the boy, Sean Penn plays him as an adult), who clearly loves and is drawn to his mother, but struggles with his father.  And if I have one criticism, it's that it might linger on this part of the story a little too long.  Malick more than makes his point clear, and while I admit that an unconventional film of this kind needs time to spread out and unfold its mysteries, less would have been more here.

Hovering over all this is the Book of Job, and a quote given at the beginning which informs everything that follows (a key that my latecomers missed).  In a way The Tree of Life is a modern retelling of that story.  There are questions about the meaning of life and death, good and evil, and there are no neat answers to any of them.  Only that, yes Virginia, there is a God, and His plan is bigger than the details of our lives, yet intimately wrapped up in them at the same time.

A small detail that I picked up on was that the family is a church going bunch, a rarity in movies these days.  When institutional religion is depicted in contemporary cinema it's often presented as being in conflict with the "true faith" of the individual as opposed to being a help and support.  Here one of the more profound statements is made during a Sunday sermon, and sacramental images are used quite beautifully and effectively.  I'm not suggesting that Malick is promoting religious practice per say, only that when it is shown it's a positive thing rather than in the usual ironic or derogitory way I've grown accustomed to.


This was one of those movies like Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves (1996) that underwhelmed, and even kind of bored me, as I was watching it, but blew my mind once I left the theater and really reflected on what I had just seen.  At a time when the "New Atheism" is on the march, and organized religion is put down in many Hollywood movies, it's refreshing to see an intelligent movie that acknowleges the Creator and, in a quiet way, treats faith respectfully.