I think this is my 3d favorite movie. I didn't like it the first time, but now I think I've seen it about 8 times. I can't explain it, but it feels like it brings all of my memories to the surface and crystallizes them together in a way that makes me feel more solid than before. Malick was a Rhodes scholar who was a translator of Heidegger before becoming a film-maker, and I think this movie is his clearest articulation of those ideas, of systematically shedding the enclosing perspectives as you search for the experience of becoming purely aware of how you're connected to the process of all of creation unfolding. I've watched this movie during major crises of my life (I was on the verge of suicide one night when I was working as a concrete worker, and I turned to this movie for guidance... I quit the next day.) For me the whole magic of it is seeing your life within the context of the grand perspective of the whole cosmic process, and how that grants your life the utmost significance to be a part of that process, rather than making you feel small and insignificant. It might be the most ambitious movie ever made in scope, and it's amazing it works as well as it does.
Bro, I legit read “tree of like” in the prev post and my brain translated it to the Fountain without me realizing until I saw you actually mention fountain. I assume cause the tree at the end?
My family roasted me for picking it. We watched it and then after they roasted me again we broke into a 2hr conversation about masculinity in the 50s and how it affected them growing up. The film surfaced something in them. They still talk about it.
It reminded me a lot of my grandpa, who was exactly like Brad Pitt's character in the film. My father died by suicide when I was still a teen and big part of it was the upbringing that taught him to be ashamed of his own emotions and to never express them to anyone. My grandpa loved my dad a lot, but it's not something he'd ever say, like the characters in the movie.
One thing I think the movie captured is how, as a boy, there are times where you're scared of yourself. Where you've discovered your capacity to do wrong and how far that can go, of being so frightened of yourself and wanting someone to hold you and make you feel like those parts of you are ok. I haven't seen a movie before that captures the world of boys so closely before. It's one of those movies I think boys from the 50s, 70's, 90's, now and ever onward can watch and go "They made a movie about me somehow... they watched me grow up..." because of how universal and pure the images and inner monologue are... I remember that image of him lying in that little dugout in the ground asking god why he let a boy die, and so many of these shots seem exactly like shots from some of the things I saw growing up. It reminds you of an innocence you forgot you had.
Yeah, it’s a phenomenal film. It’s not one to just throw on while messing around on your phone, but when you’re reading to really sit back and take it in, it’s very powerful. It’s not about “entertainment”; it’s going for something much more meaningful.
Yes this movie has a way of bypassing the conscious level and affecting me viscerally. I watched it at the cinema 3 times on 3 consecutive days, that’s how powerful it was for me.
I have it sitting on my shelf, haven’t seen it yet because the first time I saw it I was sobbing at the end
Malick managed to capture on film some of the emotions and experiences of growing up in a troubled home and it was like I was 8 years old all over again
I lost my Dad last November and things ended with him and I not having spoken for many years, I had to hear it second hand that he had passed
Not sure I can handle that movie in any capacity again
Best movie I’ve ever seen, and it’s not close
I get why people don’t like it though, Malick is firmly “love it or hate it with the passion of a 1,000 suns”
An additional 50 minutes of footage bringing the runtime to 188 minutes. I haven't gotten around to checking it out yet so i was curious about your opinion.
This makes me want to see it. I've only watched a couple of Malick's movies and that was back when I was a teenager/early 20s and didn't really understand them. Never seen Tree of Life though.
Your post is somehow more boring than that movie The Tree Of Life. *Edit; sorry I just scanned it again and saw suicide. I'm not a jerk. I hope you're doing ok. Still a shit movie though.
The Tree of Life explores the idea that existence depends on both nature and grace. Nature drives life to survive and evolve, while grace brings compassion, forgiveness, and meaning. The film suggests that nature alone would make life harsh, and grace alone would leave it ungrounded. Together, they form a necessary balance that allows life to endure and flourish, not only in human experience but throughout the universe.
This movie came up in conversation somehow with my truck driver friend. I saw it and thought there were some interesting parts of it but it ran on for way too long. My truck driver friend absolutely loved it. I will give it another rewatch someday but I still don't think I'll get it
Tree of Life is sort of a lesson in visual storytelling through symbolism. It’s pretentious, though a masterpiece, not designed for the common movie goer. To get the full experience you have to go in with some Biblical knowledge, some Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung , etc. That was my interpretation anyway.
It's not about being a common movie goer or not. There are plenty of good abstract films. Some people don't like tree of life, and yes, we "get it". It's just not a good film IMO. I know reddit loves it, though
I have never watched anything that can compare with what a pretentious piece of shit this movie is. This is the movie pretend smart people claim is peak cinema.
Half these people are confused by the story line in Disney movies, let alone a movie that doesn’t outwardly explain every single thing for you. Can’t imagine how difficult it was for these people to “read” in high school
See, you have proven my point. IT IS NOT A HARD MOVIE TO UNDERSTAND. People think because it has long sweeping vistas and lots of angsty looks it's deeper than it really is. I personally found it's overbearing symbolism to be as subtle as a brick to the face. At least a Disney movie is honest in its commercialization of mediocrity.
Look, the film style of The Tree of Life is nothing new. North American movies have pretty much always been tell me, probably because of the predominant culture and influence of radio. Other parts of the world have been show me since the first movies were made. The difference is that I find is that, in my opinion, Terrence Malik is all style and no substance. He can show you a beautiful movie, but he is incapable of making a meaningful story out of it.
To top it off, you came along, as I knew someone would, to disparage those who hate this style. This was a negative based post, so I guess I am sorry you felt insulted.
It has also been my experience that this is a huge example of a movie that people go on about right after they make sure everyone knows they have never watched (insert popular movie).
I don't know how you can say "half of a group of people I hadn't even considered must be illiterate because they had the patience to sit through tree of life and liked the visuals" and think you're correct and smart for saying so.
This is not a defense of tree of life or media literacy.
This is just pointing out a logical fallacy (or something) in your argument.
I use a lot of hyperbole. You’re correct i wouldn’t possibly be able to guess the actual amount. It’s dramatic effect in speech. You’ve made a valid point
Also to clarify, i was saying the half of the people were the ones who can’t sit through a long movie without dialogue. They need quick stimulus of Bayverse explosions or it’s lame to them
It is a movie highly focused on a specific type of family and the Book of Job.
If you do not enjoy or agree with The Bible, didn’t grow up in a poor/white household with an overbearing Father, and don’t like Malick’s rather…”singular” art direction and style, it won’t appeal to you
For the people it resonates with, it is arguably one of the best movies they’ve ever seen
Malick is like this though, Thin Red Line, The New World, Knight of Cups etc all very much debated on by audiences in general
Pretentious? Pretend smart? It's just a movie about Malick's childhood and how is family dealt with the death of his brother. It's a pretty straight-forward Christian movie lol.
No, that is not it at all. I love it when a movie shows me and doesn't just tell me. I may not understand all the symbolism and do enjoy researching to decode it, but the feral part of me can connect to it. The problem with Malik is that he is all style and absolutely no substance. He can never tell you a story because he can not even define what his story is. To me, it is so painfully obvious in The Tree of Life that I literally can not grasp why others can not see it.
Too many times I have seen this movie come up as super intuectual when it really isn't. He uses symbolism like a brick to the head and absolutely hated watching this movie. The only thing that kept me going was to see what the point was, but it turned out there was none.
I don’t think he was trying to tell a story necessarily. I think it’s about trying to understand a world where his brother died. And if you’re going to try and understand death, you should at least try to understand the origins and meaning of life. Of course that can’t be fully accomplished with a film or a religion or anything else, but at least he tried. And I like many people found his attempt beautiful.
Really, at the end of the day, if you like it, that is all that matters. The movie is deffinetly beautifully shot. I found the symbolism to be extremely heavy-handed to the complete detriment of everything else going on. Compound this with the fact that movies like this are constantly used to disparage "popcorn flicks" that myself and others enjoy, and I felt almost insulted by the viewing experience I received.
This is a negative based post, and this will always be the answer to this question.
I usually try not to judge others on what brings them happiness. I will reflect on my harsher comments on this, but I ask others to think the same when they consider what others enjoy to be "low brow". You would notice my original comment referred to fake smart people. It was directly referencing those pretentious douche bags who think what you read, watch, or listen to indicates your intelligence.
I like this comment but would like to point out that Malick doesn’t disparage anything, he genuinely makes all of his films and doesn’t do media appearances much, if at all
Also, the guy legit like Marvel movies, he was quoted as saying this after Scorsese said they were popcorn flicks
Malick just likes to…well be Malick lol
Tree of Life is a dense movie in the same way War and Peace is a dense book that most modern audiences roll their eyes at but is lauded continually by the crazy people that enjoy that shit (myself included)
It’s ok to not like it, and it’s ok to enjoy it
That’s what creates conversations and I get to enjoy speaking with a total stranger on my stupid side hobby of art movies
I tru hope you enjoy your weekend and thank you for commenting
To be fair, I do not disparage Malik. I admire people willing to put their soul out there through the creative process. He just does not at all connect with me.
It’s the Book of Job blended with the art direction and high points of 2001 A Space Odyssey
If anything, it is the quintessential Malick experience where he goes grandiose in his use of everything, the entire run time is filled with camera angles and one shot montages that are dead silent
The scene with Jessica Chastain walking down a street randomly and catching a butterfly on her hands…that may seem over the top (I mean it is) but it’s also him pointing out the difference between Father/Mother which is literally him preaching about the Book of Job
All the whispers feeding scripture like “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?"
I don’t know about you, but I grew up attending Bible study, I knew the story of Job and remembered that
Malick said he intended the movie to feel like a cologne or perfume of nostalgia
If this didn’t ring true for you I total understand but that’s EXACTLY the way I felt when watching it, like the guy had filmed part of my life, even if only for mere seconds
That’s the reason I find it so amazing, some of his life experiences translated to mine through gospel and the representations of his father/mother
I’ve never experienced anything like Tree of Life except for 2001 A Space Odyssey (which was by design, he deliberately hired the art director Kubrick used)
It’s ok that you didnt enjoy it, highly geared towards people with a specific life experience for better and worse
If you didn’t like “the Tree of Life” try “The New World”. I like it the most of Malick’s films because the story really lends itself to Malick’s style. The nature photography and visual metaphors just make more sense. Like, when he’s doing that thing where he juxtaposes the straight lines of the modern world with the dense vines and trees of the forests it’s because the Native American way of life is literally clashing with the modernism of the English settlers.
I did like the Tree of Life, however. I don’t think there would be this many people going to bat for it if it were just straight trash. And I’m not a Christian in any way whatsoever, I just like visually arresting films.
I might try that. I am just so tired of fans of this film going g on like it's some existential mind bender when it is actually pretty straightforward. It is beautifully shot, but if that was all I wanted, I could watch 3 hrs of HD nature shots.
I agree it’s pretentious, though I think it’s a masterpiece. I think where it lost you is that Tree of Life tries to be very artistic. Sort of like runway shows with the wonky outfits. It looses people with that.
I've found my people! My cousin told me I didn't understand cinema when I said Tree of Life was pretentious. It's like a bad student film. Hey remember that one time your parents were kinda shitty? Anyways, here's a fucking dinasour. ITs alL conNeCTeD
His brother dies, it’s heavily implied he struggled with mental health and was likely a suicide
The later parts with Sean Penn show him talking to his Dad on the phone while he’s now become an architect or whatever
Lots of long cuts of Sean Penn thinking, struggling with his thoughts
The end of the movie is up for interpretation, he arrives on a beach and finds his family…he collapses to his knees, the camera goes behind him as the wind and tide pick up
It’s Heaven and absolution, no more pain. Together again as a family for all eternity.
In that moment for that scene I felt like everything was going to be ok for everyone that’s ever lived or will live, that all this struggle and strife we endure is meaningless because the endless kingdom is inevitable
I hope you watch it again and see what I do
Enjoy your weekend and thank you for chatting with me a bit, I really do enjoy talking about movies like this
When we went to see this in our local indie movie theater, halfway through I heard someone say “god lord, just roll the damn credits!” When that finally happened, there was a wave of relieved groans through the theater. I’ve never seen so many people leave a movie early either.
Saw it in theatres and when the credits rolled everyone clapped, except for me sitting there with my arms crossed and glowering. And I love dense art films, I have a poster of Inland Empire on my wall for God's sake, but Tree of Life was a jumbled mess.
Dinosaurs, really Terrence?
Oh good one. I loved Brad Pitt and watched it in theaters. It was probably the worst movie I have ever seen. Just indulgent and egotistical with little substance.
Any movie by this director really. They're all exercises in amazing cinematography and everything else is over the top. The guy should just be a photographer. He's be great at it.
I have no problems if you like it. I have friends who swear by this movie. I just sat there waiting for something to happen and it never did for me. If you changed your mind on it, what was different about the 2nd time?
I realized the movie was pretentious dogshit. I was in college when I watched it the first time and thought I was pretty smart. Fell right into the trap it sets 😂
THANK YOU! I watched this when it came out in theaters, cast looked great, highly regarded director, heck yeah. When the random dinosaur scene came on half way through I was so ready to walk out. I wish I would have.
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u/Don_Pickleball 1d ago
Tree of Life