J-Fun Fun

The Tree of Life has divided film critics and it certainly has been polarizing in my household. My roommates thought it was heavy-handed, boring, pretentious, and I’m pretty sure they wanted to gouge their eyes out. I, on the other hand, thought it was a lovely, impressionistic film about ordinary moments in the context of all existence. I left the movie feeling better about how our “nothingness” compares to the grandiosity of the universe. Other than the BBC television series Planet Earth, I don’t think a movie has ever made me feel that way before.

The story ultimately follows the universe from its creation to its destruction. The central plot focuses on a man, Sean Penn, who reflects upon his upbringing. In regards to this upbringing his father, Brad Pitt, represents nature and his mother, Jessica Chastain (who I love), represents grace. The flow of the story is vague, dark, and at times confusing, but you’re never totally lost. Cinematographically, this movie is very beautiful. It feels like “stock photography” sometimes, but it is still lovely.

Now I totally understand how this movie rubs people the wrong way, and on a different day it might have done the same to me. But the more I was able to remove myself from a typical moviegoing experience, the more I was able to feel like I was watching a work of art unfold. A lot of this movie didn’t make much sense. One doesn’t see all of the details or hear all of the words of the story. In many ways it is like watching a Renoir on screen, faces disappearing, voices whispering, colors blending into the landscape, and all that you’re really left with is an impression of what happened. When I think of The Tree of Life in that sense, then I think it is a beautiful and successful film.

I imagine there will come a time to watch and appreciate this movie. It may not be today, but one day when you really feel like it, check it out.

I thought this short-animated film was pretty cute.

Check it out.