SATURDAY, JUNE 04, 2011
"The Tree of Life": a metaphor, and a
meditation. Fractals rule the universe, including the before-and-afterlife
I guess Terrence Malick's
new metaphysical meditation ( 138 minutes) from Fox
searchlight and Riverroad, The Tree of Life, is a
conservative, pro-life, pro-faith (even if it presents evolution) film. The
As for storytelling, I'm not sure that the visual show
(just in 1:85:1), sometimes recalling Stanley Kubrick's '2001', presents a
compelling layered narrative. In 2010 or so, Sean Penn plays Jack, an aging
architect or mechanical engineer, apparently working in a skyscraper of a modern
city which looks like Minneapolis (the IDS Tower and a few other landmark
Minneapolis buildings are shown from chopper shots) sometimes, and Dallas at
other times (the Antares Hotel). Apparently he faces his own end, and looks back on his 50s
boyhood in Waco, Texas, when he alone (played by Hunter McCracken as a kid)
survived his family, as he loses two younger brothers to tragedies (a drowning
and then apparently military service) as well as eventually his parents. (Much of the backstory of the film was shot
in the Austin to Waco area; a little was shot in Italy.)
(Caption: Tyler Mowery analyzes 'Tree of Life' philosophical dilemma: way of nature or way of grace)
Brad Pitt plays a curious father Mr. O'Brien, an
invention and engineer who doubles as a church organist (Irish Catholic) and
even pianist. The movie, in fact, has a
wide range of classical music (outside the score by Desplat),
especially the Berlioz Requiem, Brahms's Fourth Symphony, Semtana�s
Moldau, Bach, and some Mozart (the Andante of the
15th Sonata). The Berlioz was a favorite
of mine as a young adult. ('Harold in Italy' is also excerpted.) Pitt is a hardnosed pop (especially for a [heterosexual]
classical musician, who in today's world would be more like to fulfill an
academic role model for his kids, not a macho one); Pitt-O'Brien interacts with his kids as father and not
just dad, as he puts it, insisting that they learn to take care of themselves
physically. In one scene, Pitt tells
Jack that the only point of all this is so that as a man he can become his own
boss and call his own shots (develop 'personal agency'). Socially, we suspect this isn't quite true. He may
be more concerned that Jack will carry on the Family as a social unit with a
sustainable future after their passing that doesn't comport with
hyperindividualism, and I suspect Malick wants us to
think about this.
Jessica Chastain plays the mom, whom Mr. O�Brien
accuses at one point of turning his kids against him.
In Malick's Afterlife,
however, it seems multiple places from Earth (especially seashores) are
available, and it seems that the characters in the extended family can time
travel at will and appear at various ages. That is an interesting concept, even
for theoretical physics as well as faith. The film also suggests that one's own
"soul" or thread of individual consciousness has a continuity that
goes back to the beginning of time and perhaps extends forever. Is the
Christianity, Islam, Rosiscrucianism, or New Age
faith? It is all of these.
I saw this Friday night June 3 at the Uptown (Landmark
owned) in Minneapolis. This grand old
theater needs renovation (I took taxis there when I had a broken hip in 1998).
The crows was moderate and mostly young adult. The theater management warned the audience
about sound oddities in the film (which I didn't pick up -- but I think Imax
would do it good.) There may well have
been a celebrity who attended and snuck up to the balcony; most of us were too
sinful to notice that the world will end anyway. (Picture above: The Lagoon, nearby, also
belongs to Landmark.)
Posted by Bill Boushka at 7:35 AM
Labels: angel concept, family issues, indie sci-fi, Malick, spirituality, Tree of Life issues