The Tree of Life (2011)

"The Tree of Life," Terrence Malick's 1950s-set drama that ruminates on questions of family, faith and the universe, was named best picture of the year last Monday by the African-American Film Critics Assn. Roger Ebert thought it was the autobiography he would do in film if he were as talented as Terrence Malick. One thing we know is that the director is more about quality than quantity--this is only his fifth film in 38 years. The film takes place largely in the past--Sean Penn does a brief but interesting job as a grown up son, Jack, in the present, but that is it for current events. The rest of the film takes place in small town Texas of the nineteen-fifties. That is almost the only traffic; children play, on tranquil streets, under skies of perpetual fluffy clouds. Among the kids is Jack (played by the excellent Hunter McCracken), a boy growing up with his younger brothers, R.L. (Laramie Eppler) and Steve (Tye Sheridan), under the wing of their parents, Mr. O’Brien (Brad Pitt) and his wife (Jessica Chastain). The parents are of contrast--Pitt is stern, rigid, quick to anger, and frustrated. His wife is ethereal, serene, and in the absence of her husband, quite playful and child-like. The imagery throughout the film is spectacular, the message is deep, but I think you have to be more engaged in semiotics than I am to really appreciate the film. It is pitch perfect, smoldering with emotion and short on answers.