Warning: all blog entries may contain “mild” spoilers. If you want to remain blissfully unaware of all content for a movie you intend to see, do not read on. But, if you want to be thoroughly engaged in a thought-provoking article, and don’t mind knowing a little bit about the movie content you are going to see, read on!

THE TREE OF LIFE: MASTERPIECE OR MESS?

Cinema has a long tradition of producing films that polarize audiences. Detractors and fans both plant their flags to defend their positions and anyone who has yet to experience the film must sort through the rubble to decide whether or not the film is worthy of their time and money. Terrence Malick’s latest film, ‘The Tree of Life’ has inspired exactly that kind of reaction. [Trailer]

Terrence Malick, is one of the most celebrated directors to come out of the golden age of America’s late 60′s/early 70′s film renaissance. He is revered in the industry, attracting big name stars and critical praise despite a reputation for a long post production process, unconventional lighting techniques and a history of leaving scenes and characters on the cutting room floor even with marquee actors in the mix. He is an auteur in the classic sense as there is no denying his personal stamp and anticipation for his films continues to remain high because of the small number of films he has created; five films in four decades seems almost purposefully suppressive. By comparison, his contemporary Martin Scorsese , has had more than four times as many films produced thus far. Scorsese has dabbled with different genres, styles, etc. with varying degrees of success which has lifted, for better or worse, the weight of a ‘Scorsese film’; a luxury not afforded a ‘Malick film’ which is nothing if not weighty both in content and expectation.

One of the indisputable pleasures of a Terrence Malick film is the photography and ‘The Tree Of Life’ is no exception. Malick is well-known as a perfectionist and tinkerer who overshoots and spends years editing footage but even after accepting that history, the ‘The Tree Of Life’ may earn a special place in his canon. Apparently, the concept for the film is several decades old, with his “origin of life” story reaching back to the period around his 1973 debut, ‘Badlands’. Jack Fisk, Malick’s longtime production designer and collaborator had this to say: “Terry had been collecting footage for decades…things like eclipses and other natural wonders, just for this film.”

Read the full article by Steven Zeitchik in the Cannes blog for the LA Times.

In addition to years of preparation, Malick sought the guidance of NASA scientists to authenticate the images created by visual effects artist  Douglas Trumbull to illustrate the dawn of time. Speaking with Wired magazine, Trumball noted, “we worked with chemicals, paint, fluorescent dyes, smoke, liquids, CO2, flares, spin dishes, fluid dynamics, lighting and high speed photography to see how effective they might be. It was a free-wheeling opportunity to explore, something that I have found extraordinarily hard to get in the movie business. Terry didn’t have any preconceived ideas of what something should look like. We did things like pour milk through a funnel into a narrow trough and shoot it with a high-speed camera and folded lens, lighting it carefully and using a frame rate that would give the right kind of flow characteristics to look cosmic, galactic, huge and epic.” Here’s video footage of a few effects: http://bcove.me/et19wmz7

Whatever your expectation going into ‘The Tree Of Life’ there’s no denying that it is a unique cinematic experience and whether you find that confounding or transformative is up to you.

Critical Response:

Negative review by Robert Koehler, film critic/programmer for indieWIRE

“Insufferable masterpiece” review by The New Yorker’s, David Denby

Glowing review from the Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy

submitted by Jonathan Frankenberg, Hiway Theatre board member

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