The Tree of Life (2011)

We tend not to meditate on the meaning of life and death until death is thrust upon us. Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life begins with such a moment. Two parents get a phone call, and they are told their 19-year-old son has passed away. Immediately the question of “why” comes up. Why did this happen to him, of all kids? Was he bad? Did he really deserve it? Why do such things happen? The questions then shift to the even larger picture. Where have we—as a species and a world—come from? What good/bad are we doing? And where do we go once our lives are complete? Not only do the characters within The Tree of Life ponder these questions, but so does the film itself. On its face, most of the film concerns itself with the O’Brien family, except for an extended sequence which depicts the creation of the universe and Earth itself. The experience of watching The Tree of Life is long, hypnotizing, and ultimately unforgettable.

As much as the film hops around from epoch to epoch, the film is fundamentally about the grown Jack O’Brien, played by Sean Penn. While Penn’s screen time in minutes could likely be counted on two hands, the entire film exists essentially inside his own head. After the film’s introduction—which reveals the loss of his brother—Malick takes us to present day, where Penn lives out a relatively normal existence as an architect. It seems that on this particular day the memory of his brother is haunting him more than usual. He begins to reflect on not only his life, but the life of the planet around him as well. Thus begins the film’s “dramatization” of the universe’s existence. The film shows us the Big Bang, the creation of our planet, and the evolution of life through the billions and billions of years. I described this sequence in one sentence, but Malick takes his sweet, sweet time. Yet the pacing only adds to its ultimate effect. The first half of this film is filmmaking of the highest order; full of ideas and stunning visuals while barely speaking a word.

Then the film settles in to observe the O’Brien family of Waco, Texas. The children: Jack, R.L., and Steve are being raised by their father (Brad Pitt) and their mother (Jessica Chastain). At this point, The Tree of Life becomes a meditation on the lives we live, and how we go about living them. A piece of narration—delivered, I believe, by Chastain—references that there are “two ways through life.” The two O’Brien parents symbolize these two paths. There is “the way of nature,” which is a slightly crueler path, and “the way of grace,” which is far gentler. The father—a staunch disciplinarian—is trying to train his kids to get out in the cruel world. The mother is merely trying to care for them. (The “two ways through life” thesis is also shown in a short sequence featuring dinosaurs. Yes, dinosaurs. Just go with it.)

Once again, Malick looks to make the audience omniscient. While we journey through the memories of Jack O’Brien, we also hear the internal monologue of various characters. We hear their fears, their prayers and their angers. Jack—played as a young man by Hunter McCracken—is the most confused of all. During the Waco sequences, we understand his adolescent confusion. He becomes more violent, he starts to grow interested in the opposite sex, and he feels anger toward his strict father. Yet he loves his family nonetheless, just as his father loves him. Sometimes people get angry, and sometimes hormones get the best of you.

Once the Waco “story” is complete, The Tree of Life begins to think about the possibility of an afterlife. I shan’t say much about it, but without this sequence the film would never come full circle. For much of the film, I was pondering why Malick thought the creation stuff and the Waco stuff belong in the same film. When the movie was over, I understood. Like last year’s Enter the Void, this film reminds you what a thrill it is to watch something that opens itself up to analysis and questioning. The Tree of Life wants the audience to think about the purpose of what they are seeing. There is no real narrative to the film; there are only the memories within Jack’s head. The audience is simply allowed to observe them.

The Tree of Life isn’t merely dreamlike. In all likelihood, it probably is a dream. It has that fractured feel; nothing is all that coherent yet it is never questioned. To quote Leonardo Dicaprio’s character from Inception: dreams feel real while you’re in them. The Tree of Life is a film that feels entirely natural throughout the viewing experience, despite the insanity of what it might be showing us.

This is a film that should be embraced for one reason: its ambition is unmatched. I will not argue that The Tree of Life is perfect, and many people will dismiss it because they feel it is reaching far higher than it can realistically grasp. They are not entirely wrong. However, dismissing The Tree of Life because of its ambition and “weirdness” is among the most misguided things a moviegoer can do. Of course it is a pretentious film, but pretension should not be inherently seen as a vice. Terrence Malick is one of the few filmmakers that look to make a great film each and every time he starts production. He makes no “minor” films, and that is something to be celebrated rather than criticized. I would argue that within 15-20 years, The Tree of Life will become the film for which Malick is most remembered. I do not fully grasp the film at this time—no one can after a first viewing—and that need to experience it again one day will only add to its ultimate longevity. The ambition of The Tree of Life makes other movies look asleep at the wheel.

This is not merely an existential film. Much like Malick’s The Thin Red Line attempted to be the story about war, The Tree of Life wishes to be the film about what we are and where we come from. While many of the film’s characters are religious, the film itself doesn’t necessarily make a pro-religion argument, nor does it dismiss religion. It entertains the idea of a higher power without taking a firm stance about what that higher power might be, and it’s all the greater for it.  The Tree of Life is a film fundamentally about how we all come from the same place, how we all travel essentially the same journey, and how we’re all ultimately going to end up in the same place.

GRADE: A (Which it deserves for effort alone.)