The Tree of Life is one of those films that comes along and it is made out of pure love by the director. In this case it feels as though every shot in this film was thought of for hours before it was filmed, and Terrence Malick perfectly crafts them together. The film to me only really loses the audience is when we are sent to Sean Penn's character, all grown up and lost in a modern world. I understand the concept of having a character lost in the world but we get it, after 20 minutes of flashing into his world I found myself very bored and wanting to go back to the world of his childhood. This innocent town takes place around the time of WWII and is magical with the people and the kids that occupy it. The strongest character in the whole film is Brad Pitt as a patriarch struggling with the decisions he made in youth and how to raise his own kids. Early in the film I had a lot of respect for him but the film very smartly shows that it is not just a case of bad kids but rather a case of bad fathering by Pitts character. The inclusion of space as well as even dinosaurs adds a huge space to this film but all the different metaphors are just too much for even me to catch. This film is like the closest thing you can get to watching a novel...it is like a smart book that you love even though you don't always understand it.
I found this movie visually amazing and the non conventional editing was pretty amazing. This is a special film but it is a shame that it is so hard to pry into. I want to say so much but I find myself at a loss for words because of the sheer epic scale of this film. It is a movie that will challenge you and if you don't mind a long film that seems to be constantly hiding something from you then check it out. If smart dramas just aren't your thing then this won't be for you. Give it a chance though, I did and didn't regret it one bit.
Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess
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