Tree of Life Review

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

Martha Marcy May Marlene Review

Martha Marcy May Marlene is an intriguing look at the life of a woman who has just escaped a pretty bizarre and dangerous commune of people. The very start of the film she decides to leave and from there we see her interactions with her sister and fiancee. The story is consistently switching back between Martha's life on the commune and life as it is now. This style of film making can get very confusing but the audience is very politely eased in to the past as well as the present from visual or audio cues and occasionally a slow fade out. It is a simple story and a very simple way of making a film but yet it is very effective and the 70s style tint over the film is a pretty cool touch. The acting is great, the story is shocking yet very believable, and the interactions between characters add to the alarm of the film. The ending many people feel leave you wanting more but to me it ends at a great point where you could decide to debate as to what would happen or accept the fact that this is where the film ends.

As great as the story and film itself are again I am going to harp on the sound design which is very lacking. At points during the film I would have to turn the volume up insanely high then instants later turn it back down because everything would get ear piercingly loud. Many of the shots are long takes but it seems like they didn't even boom because the things closer to the camera are really loud and the things further away are very quiet which hints at the fact that they may have used an on camera microphone. I pray this is not the case but the way everything sounds certainly suggests that. Other than that though everything else is a solid package. I say it is worth a watch if you can deal with a slow paced dramatic film. Otherwise it is not really for you.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess