The Tree of Life is directed by Terrence Malick and stars Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and Sean Penn.
Apart from that, I knew nothing about the film nor anything about Terrence Malick before watching it. All I had been told was, intriguingly, that it purported to be something "quite special".
With just this one nugget to go by, I was determined to be positive and let the film flow over me. As it turned out, this approach worked well with this long and, at times, slightly confusing film.
A strong, loving bond
The film is about a fairly average family (mother a fragile beauty played by Jennifer Chastain; father a gruffly affectionate Brad Pitt; and their three sons). Disturbingly, we learn early on in the film that one of the sons dies unexpectedly in young adulthood. We are then transported back in time to the boys' childhood (set seemingly in the 50s/60s) with much emphasis on the youngsters' shared experences and what is at times a strained relationship with their father. Clearly, however, there is a strong loving bond between all members of the family holding them together and this is the most powerful element of the film.
The unpredictabiIity of life
I found Sean Penn's character difficult to recognise as the grown up eldest son. As someone trying to come to terms with his brother's unbidden death his actual and imagined struggle included (for me) some confusing sequences. The unpredictability of life is an important and unmistakable theme. The lack of emphasis on the characters' names might be a ploy to make the family somehow universal, people any of us could relate to.
The many long sequences of the boys playing together appear wholly natural, giving the film a strong sense of reality. A voiceover speaks of "nature and grace", setting the film's religious overtone and suggesting that although we appear helpless in the face of nature, grace or love is the one thing that provides ultimate hope. The screen father's love of music - a poignant reminder of his unfulfilled ambition - is evident in the classical music heard throughout much of the film and adds grandeur to the nature sequences. The storyline is frequently interspersed with extensive sequences showing the boundless energy and power of nature on every scale - lava flowing, meteorites crashing into planets, much-magnified cells engulfing microbes, and suchlike. In the face of this, our own vulnerability is all too evident.
In one scene a dinosaur is about to kill a wounded fellow creature but by chance hesitates to do so at the last moment, showing the fickleness and randomness of nature; but these computer-generated creatures jar badly with the "truthfulness" of the rest of the film. Real footage of, say, lions, might have been a better choice.
Can we come to terms with death?
The unexpected death that we learn about near the beginning of the film is therefore explored at great length and fairly deeply but remains unresolved unless one can accept grace and the enduring power of love.
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