He laments his decision to work in a power plant instead of pursuing his passion for music, and tries to get ahead by filing patents for various inventions. O'Brien, the embodiment of nature, easily loses his temper as he struggles to reconcile his love for his sons, wanting to prepare them for a world he sees as corrupt and exploitative. O'Brien, the embodiment of grace, presents the world to her sons as a place of wonder. When Jack reaches adolescence, he is faced with the conflict of accepting the way of grace or nature, as embodied by his parents. The young couple is enthralled by their new baby Jack and, later, his two brothers R.L. In a suburban neighborhood in Waco, Texas, live the O'Briens. A dinosaur chooses not to kill another dinosaur that is injured and lying on the side of a river bed. Sea life is born, then plants on land, then dinosaurs. This is then followed by visuals depict the birth of the universe, later the Earth, where volcanoes erupt and microbes begin to form and replicate. Circa 2010, the O'Briens' eldest son, Jack, is adrift in his modern life as an architect, though disillusioned by his youth. O'Brien are informed of the death of their 19-year-old son, R.L., throwing the family into turmoil. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Then, a mysterious, flame-like light flickers in the darkness.Īround the 1960s, Mrs. The film begins with a quotation from the Book of Job 38:4-7: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?. The Tree of Life received three Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography.
In December 2019, The Tree of Life topped The Associated Press' list of the best films of the 2010s. The film was also later named the seventh-greatest film since 2000 in a BBC poll of 177 critics. It appeared in the 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll of the world's top 250 films as well as BBC's poll of the greatest American films, one of the few 21st-century works to be included in either. It ranked number one on review aggregator Metacritic's "Top Ten List of 2011", and made more critics' year-end lists for 2011 than any other film. The film chronicles the origins and meaning of life by way of a middle-aged man's childhood memories of his family living in 1950s Texas, interspersed with imagery of the origins of the known universe and the inception of life on Earth.Īfter several years in development and missing its planned 20 release dates, The Tree of Life premiered in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Palme d'Or.
#Tree of life movie movie
The movie ends in hope, conveying the message of finding beauty and jubilancy in all things - big or small.The Tree of Life is a 2011 American art film written and directed by Terrence Malick and featuring a cast of Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Hunter McCracken, Laramie Eppler, Jessica Chastain, and Tye Sheridan in his debut feature film role. For many, it is either you enjoy the fruits of life, or you pessimistically view it as something deceiving. Terrence Malick created the Tree of Life in order to illustrate the polarization of views that people have about life. The mother’s love for her children in the movie likely spawned the idealist approach while the harshness of the father may have indirectly created a longing for the seemingly-distant truth hidden behind the facades. The idealist parallels people that look for happiness, and are optimistic despite how repugnant life may sometimes be, whereas the analyst only looks for concrete truth without any flowery language or abstractness. For the idealist, the elements such as love, hope, and grace are present, while the analyst feels that he/she must reject the pathos that covers up the world of reason. Jack struggles to find the meaning and origins of life while simultaneously being skeptical about the idea of faith.Īccording to the article, “Either and Or: On Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life”, the writer polarizes the perspectives of the movie into the categories of “idealist” and “analyst”. The mother was caring, and always linked wonderment to the world to her children whereas the father was strict, vowing to prepare his kids for the hard life. He has two parents, yet their parenting styles are extremely dissimilar. The life story of the family’s eldest son, Jack, is put into perspective, from his childhood to adulthood.
In the movie, the Tree of Life, a Texas family of the 1950s is placed in the spotlight.