A break from mindlessness
Tree of Life reminds me of a high school teacher I once had who would constantly extol the virtues of a curious mind: 'Arrival at more questions is just as valuable a conclusion as the arrival at answers,' he'd say.
That's exactly what you get with this film. The questions it poses, directly or indirectly, only give rise to more questions.
The film is a loose family drama that centres around Jack (Hunter McCracken; adult version Sean Penn), the eldest of three children, who's torn between his father's (Brad Pitt) and mother's (Jessica Chastain) opposing methods of rearing a child.
Writer/director Terrence Malick's latest work is as dense a movie as you're likely to come across. You will be baffled at the fragmented, non-linear bits that probe philosophical questions about our existence, religion, life and everything in between. It's a thinking person's film from a deeply intellectual filmmaker who once taught philosophy.
Very little dialogue is spoken throughout the film, which has four narrators. Often, the dialogue is inaudible and fades out, a comment on the insignificance of humans in the grand scheme of the galaxy.
It's not a Friday night date movie or a flick for you and a couple of buddies to passively sit through. But as lacking in entertainment as the film is, there's no denying Malick's genius. The film is a masterfully crafted work of art from one of the few auteurs still alive today.
