MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

The Tree of Life   Rated PG-13

Directed by Terrence Malick.  Starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn.

Photo © Fox Searchlight
Movie Review by Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

The Tree of Life is a hard film to find in an age where the multiplexes are full of talking animals, aliens and explosions; it is not showing on many screens.  I hope that you will find the time to either seek it out or make time for it when it comes out on Blu-ray and DVD.  And make time for it you will; it’s 2 hours and 17 minutes long.  But it’s also one of the best films of this decade and one that I look forward to viewing again.

The Tree of Life lets us know from the beginning that it will be about big things.  The film begins with the words of God, as recorded in the story of Job 38:4,7: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”  And then we hear a whisper of a voice say: “Nature only wants to please itself. Get others to please it too. Likes to lord it over them. To have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it. And love is smiling through all things.” And then, “Grace doesn't try to please itself. Accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked. Accepts insults and injuries.”  If you are a person of faith, these words should grab your attention.

And then we are on a bit of a cosmic journey, with pictures of nature, the stars and microscopic life, including a brief scene with CGI dinosaurs.  There are scenes of a man in the city and scenes of children at play in a small Texas town.  Just when you think the film is going to stay in the cosmos forever, it settles down in Texas in the 1950s and becomes a memory piece about growing up in a family that will know joy and sorrow.  Like all families, perhaps yours.

The Tree of Life is primarily observational. There are no big speeches, no epic human events.  The strongest performance is by a child actor (Hunter McCracken) who conveys most of his feelings through body language and facial expressions, rather than words.  There is a loving stay-at-home mother and a somewhat distant father.  And there is the desire for reconciliation for the sins of the past.  An early scene in the film depicting the father’s sense of grief and loss makes him a sympathetic character as we experience his missteps in parenting. 

Most of all, this movie holds out not only the possibilities of reconciliation, but reminds us that it often takes decades for us to make sense out of life during our brief moment in eternity.  While Jesus is not mentioned, there is a pivotal scene of infant baptism that is depicted with quiet grace and solemnity.  And – let’s face it – the greatest gifts of Jesus Christ are the gifts of sacrificial love, forgiveness, and grace itself.

The Tree of Life is not perfect.  Because it chooses Texas in the 1950’s to tell its story (this is where writer-director Malick grew up), it seems to be yet another occasion (such as 1994’s Forrest Gump) for a baby boomer to act as if human history revolves around their own experiences.  And it tends to resemble 1968’s 2001: A Space Odyssey in its slow pace, use of classical music, and visual beauty.  (Malick hired Douglas Trumbull, who did visual effects for 2001, to work on this film.)

This is a beautiful film, with dozens of lovely images.  You may grumble a bit afterwards about how slow the movie was, and how it didn’t seem to be about very much.  But, if your experience is anything like mine, you will find this film staying with you for weeks later, as you think about your life in the midst of all life.

Note: Although this film is rated a soft PG-13, don’t take your children or teenagers to it unless they are the contemplative, philosophical types.  They will be bored out of their skulls and make your own film experience quite painful.  And kids, if you want to bore your parents at a PG-13 movie, take them to Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Pitchfork/Halo Ratings:

Five halos: A contemplative film about humanity’s place in eternity, our own personal histories in the Grand Scheme of Things, and the persistence of grace.

One pitchfork: Symbolic depictions of sin, including scenes of emotional abuse.

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