Trailer Trash (Terrence Malick Makes a Movie Edition)

In the last 40 years, director Terrence Malick has made five movies, mostly due to his twenty year break in between 1978's Days of Heaven and 1998's The Thin Red Line. Since his return, his output has been more steady, though that's only going by his standards. His latest movie, The Tree of Life, is set to be released in late May 2011. Before this new trailer, we had heard only rumors and murmurings on what, exactly, The Tree of Life is about. This trailer clears that up, only not at all.





What we know: Brad Pitt gives birth to a boy that eventually becomes Sean Penn. Other then that, well, there's not a whole lot to say except that The Tree of Life doesn't seem content with just being a movie. As with many of Malick's projects, it wants to become the greatest movie of all time. Will it succeed? Probably not, but that doesn't mean the trailer doesn't look awesome.

As for plot, that still remains shrouded in mystery. Only this synopsis can be found on Wikipedia, apparently "from the desk of Terrence Malick":

We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, Jack, one of three brothers. At first all seems marvelous to the child. He sees as his mother does with the eyes of his soul. She represents the way of love and mercy, where the father tries to teach his son the world’s way of putting oneself first. Each parent contends for his allegiance, and Jack must reconcile their claims. The picture darkens as he has his first glimpses of sickness, suffering and death. The world, once a thing of glory, becomes a labyrinth.

From this story is that of adult Jack, a lost soul in a modern world, seeking to discover amid the changing scenes of time that which does not change: the eternal scheme of which we are a part. When he sees all that has gone into our world’s preparation, each thing appears a miracle—precious, incomparable. Jack, with his new understanding, is able to forgive his father and take his first steps on the path of life.

The story ends in hope, acknowledging the beauty and joy in all things, in the everyday and above all in the family—our first school—the only place that most of us learn the truth about the world and ourselves, or discover life’s single most important lesson, of unselfish love.

So yeah. Simple, really.