The Tree of Life

So I know I haven't posted in some time. I apologize. However, I am back, and I'm back with a real mind-bender of a film. The Tree of Life is the latest movie by Terrence Malick and stars Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Sean Penn. It is an Oscar nominee for Best Picture, and, quite frankly, if it wins, I will lose a lot of faith in the Academy.

Don't get me wrong. It's a wonderfully acted and a visually beautiful movie. Pitt and Chastain play Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien, a suburban couple in 1950's Waco that are raising three sons. The chief protagonist of the movie is their eldest son, Jack. Jack's memories comprise the majority of the movie, and it is through his eyes that we understand how his relationship with his parents define the person that he is in the present. The visuals are amazing. Malick incorporates a lot of surreal imagery into the movie, spanning from a montage illustrating the beginning of life on Earth, to a dream image of Jack's mother floating above the ground while dancing, and beyond. They were very instrumental in illustrating the main character's thoughts.

My chief complaint with this movie is the storytelling. Malick uses a very non-linear approach to the story, but that's not the problem. The problems I had dealt primarily with the way information was delivered. He didn't want to just spell everything out for the viewer, but what he opted for instead was a very roundabout way of conveying ideas that just felt like more trouble than it was worth. Also, there are a LOT of montages in this movie. I would say that a good third of the movie is made out of various montages, something that grated on my nerves after the fifth or sixth montage.

Also, just a word of caution for anyone that is planning on seeing the movie: if you bear through the weird intergalactic montage thing close to the beginning, it WILL make sense. I was very confused at first, but it makes more sense as the scene goes on.

In short, the movie was well-acted and visually stunning, but the storytelling is disjointed and unique to a fault, making the movie too much work to actually enjoy. I give it four high-minded visual metaphors out of ten.