The Tree of Life

Beautiful images, perhaps even some poetry at times, but the emotions are fleeting. Brad Pitt's performance is phenomenal, and overall the film is more than controversial in terms of what it represents, how it speaks to the audience, and what it is actually about. One big unknown, and Terrence Malick aspires to be one of the greatest eccentrics in Hollywood. (2012-04-15)

While The New World finally suited me in its poetics, in its spiritualism, I perceive The Tree of Life differently. It's really odd to watch it for Sean Penn or Brad Pitt, as they are definitely not the lead actors. The main protagonist is Malick's vision and the main attraction is the editing. (2022-03-01)

This film is only missing a robot prostitute from the future, otherwise it has everything. It’s very hard to digest, maybe it has a satisfactory answer to the question of life, the universe and everything, but I was unable to find it. Yet it has quite a few moments that I liked that were either though-provoking or just visually beautiful, so in the end I was less bored than I’d expected. That said, at home on the computer, with a plethora of things to distract me, I wouldn’t manage it. (2011-08-08)

Malick’s piece tells a lot about a life of the dominant species on earth, and amazing space and earth-shaping interludes shows its futility in the overall context. That entire trivial part with the family and typical problems fades away in the void of creation. We have our own unique place in space, that is important for us, the most important, but we should never forget that we are mere dust. Sometimes it’s good to just stop for a while and ponder a little. This is a visual masterpiece and the music is a chapter on its own. And Brad Pitt as a fatherly figure surpasses himself. (2011-07-24)

The first twenty minutes are breathtaking in terms of camera work and editing, and the narrative segments are pleasantly ambiguous. But then we look into space, into prehistory, and back again, and nothing changes. The main story just stays in one place with the unwavering Pit at the forefront the whole time. I don't share Malick's personal remorse, and so I find it very difficult to forgive the spiritual subtext (which quite openly transitions into religious propaganda). It's like a dream, like a memory. But it's foreign, and therefore, no accompanying emotions are evoked. (2012-01-26)