As I’m still on holidays I decided to grab a screening of The Tree Of Life at the Gate cinema in Cork city. Now before anybody goes “Sure, that movie has been out for a lifetime” hold onto your ponies. It has had an extremely limited run in Irish cinemas and it’s been showing all week at one time only, so this isn’t a review exactly, but a few thoughts.
Firstly, don’t ask me what it’s about. It could be about anything. You see, The Tree Of Life is a bit of a trip. It’s got Brad Pitt as an almost tyrannical dad and speaking of tyrannical, it’s got dinosaurs in it too. But not Jurassic Park style dino’s. Nope, just something lifted straight out of Walking with Dinosaurs (the TV show). There’s other stuff too, like lots of waves and slow, flashing lights mashed up with glass shattering choirs. It’s full of symbolism too. Plenty of scenes with feet washing / cleansing, meeting of the waters and being in the middle of the road. I went into Terrence Malick’s first film in 1000 years expecting something that would bring epiphany after epiphany. Alas, it hasn’t. That said, it made me want to try and be a better person. A better Dad. A better husband. You get the drift. Why did it invoke that? Well, if it does convey a message (and I’m sure it’s trying) it’s that life can disappear in an instant.
I’m a believer that you shouldn’t have to be a genius to appreciate a work of genius. Your average Honda civic, tracksuit clad youth should be able to appreciate some of the most genius creations known to man. You know the ones. Planes, Trains, Automobiles or even the Millennium Falcon. I don’t think they’d appreciate this. In the same breath I wonder would the more quantum physicist’s of you out there appreciate The Tree Of Life either. It’s a bloody tough one to call. It’s a movie that is very outside the box and doesn’t really conform to the usual beginning, middle and end stuff that Hollywood trundles out time after time. Nothing wrong with that conformity, it’s a necessity if you ask me. When you take, let’s call them, more complicated movies, say like Inception, there is still an entertainment value even though your brain has to be in gear from the get go. There is nothing entertaining about Malick’s latest offering. Is it junk? In one word yes. In another, no it’s not. It depends on what you take out of it. That is, if you can find something to take out of it.
Going to the movies is all about the experience. The big screen, the popcorn, the Coke etc. I’m just not sure The Tree Of Life is the movie going experience for the masses. You’ll have to make up your own mind on that.
Finally, if you have read the above, you’ll kinda think “Fuck, this article is a bit all over the place. The writing doesn’t really flow together. I’ve learned nothing much about The Tree Of Life at all. I won’t remember this in 10 minutes”. And that my friends is how you’ll feel after The Tree Of Life. But you know what, you’ll still have an opinion! And If a movie invokes an opinion or conversation, that’s a good thing…isn’t it?
