In honor of the 84th Academy Awards, The Feather will be reviewing each of the Best Picture nominees, excluding The Descendants, due to its rating. Although the films were all released in 2011, the reviews serve to refresh viewers’ memories before the Oscars, Feb. 26.
Before seeing The Tree of Life, I was warned that it would be unlike any movie I’ve ever seen, and to just stay in the room to finish it. I thought to myself, “I’ve seen lots of creative movies; how could a Brad Pitt movie be any different?”
139 minutes of spectacular nature, classical music, symbolism and whispery voiceovers later, I was speechless. There was no doubt in my mind that this film is deserving of its Best Picture nomination. Director Terrence Malick released this movie after over six years of work, May 27, 2011. His work paid off.
The film weaves between the reflections of a modern man, paradise, a 1950s family and extensive shots of nature depicting the universe’s formation. The man, Jack O’Brien (Sean Penn) considers his past on the anniversary of the death of his younger brother, R.L. (Laramie Eppler).
His mind wanders back to his childhood in Texas. At the head of the O’Brien family is the strict Mr. O’Brien (Pitt), and his quiet but graceful wife, Mrs. O’Brien (Jessica Chastain). A beautiful life between the couple begins, and they adore baby sons Jack (Hunter McCracken), R.L. and Steve (Tye Sheridan). As they grow, the life is displayed through nature and the boys, who progress from stage to stage. Jack soon loses innocence when he encounters situations of death and loss.
The tense life sways back and forth between a controlling father and the blissful moments of family fun. As he understands more about life, Jack meets the world of morals and ethics. In the end, he faces the ultimate peaks of forgiveness and hope in faith.
My synopsis, highly condensed, almost makes too much sense for the actual film. Looking back, it surely was not as simple as described here. Switching back and forth between points in time, abandoning direct conversation and spending long lengths of time without any human life added up to an incredibly confusing, yet deeply meaningful movie. I would need to watch it about 10 more times to catch everything — maybe even more times.
Since Malick took so much time piecing The Tree of Life together, nothing could have slipped by the filmmakers. Each component is there for a specific reason; each shot has some sort of voice. This made the movie infinitely more valuable than other movies filled with fluff, but also made it nearly stressful. It is hard to watch without trying to grasp every detail then getting lost in the dust.
Beyond profound theological themes, the movie is just flat out stunning. The nature is beautiful, from plants to birds to deep space to dinosaurs. The Tree of Life is visually appealing right down to the costumes. To accompany the visuals, a bold score is presented by Alexandre Desplat, who captures the tone with ranges from delicacy to intensity.
Now, I owe Pitt an apology for doubting his abilities. This movie proved me wrong in my expectations of him. I was absolutely captivated by his performance since every ounce of him embodied his powerful role. He proved himself to be a truly powerful actor.
Pitt, however, was not what caught my eye. The most striking actor was his young son, R.L. I absolutely could not get over the striking resemblance between him and Pitt. For all I know, it could have been Pitt’s own son, or even him as a child. Every time he was onscreen, I found myself distracted trying to decipher exactly which features they share.
Even though the young actors were in a very serious, weighty movie, they did excellent portrayals of life’s progression. I was impressed with the film’s youth in their abilities to convey such emotion and meaning. They handled the situations with great maturity.
The Oscar material is obvious in this spectacular movie. It has everything that a Best Picture film could ask for, but I can’t see the Academy selecting such an understated, drawn-out film to win the award. This does not make The Tree of Life any less valuable, though. Every component makes it an extremely impressive film, well worth Malick’s years of production.
The Tree of Life runs for 139 minutes and is rated PG-13 for some thematic material. The film is available to purchase on Amazon, iTunes and in most stores.
For more Best Picture nomination reviews, read the Feb. 8 article, ‘War Horse’ tainted by weak, laughable plot (VIDEO).
