"To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the Paradise of God."
Revelation 2:7
Yesterday I saw a film alone. I went by myself because I knew my wife would not like the film. This is not a knock on her, she is smart enough to know Hangover 2 was awful. But I wanted to see the new Terrence Malick film, The Tree Of Life. Malick is my favorite director. Malick is not for everyone. I realize that. His films will never make Hangover 2 type of money. But they just might be remembered much longer.
They are works of art. Whether you like the art or not is up to you; but it is defiantly film as art form on display.
At the showing, there were possibly 25 people in the theater. More than I expected, but since The Tree of Life recently won the coveted Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, maybe a few people knew this and were curious. Maybe a couple other Malick fans were actually in the audience. Maybe someone just saw Brad Pitt was in it and that was reason enough. Whatever the reason, The Tree of Life demands your full attention. It is not an easy film. It is darn near a silent film for much of the experience.
By 15 minutes in, I saw 3 people walk out. One more would follow; that I noticed.
The film is one of the most ambitious I have ever seen. It starts with words from God to Job.
Job 38: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation … when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
Few people even attempt films like this. And for good reason. It’s hard to pull off. It’s the kind of story in theme, I tried to write right away when I started writing fiction.
In college, I wrote a 45 page story for an important class and had a one on one with the professor. She said, “It seems to me the theme is, ‘why are we all here? What’s the meaning of life?’” She asked it as if surely that’s not how deep I was attempting to get.
My answer: “yes.”
I try to scale down stories now. I see the power in simple things. But Malick still has that teenage enthusiasm at the ultimate questions and the ultimate way to tell them.
“The only other film I've seen with this boldness of vision is Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and it lacked Malick's fierce evocation of human feeling. There were once several directors who yearned to make no less than a masterpiece, but now there are only a few.” -Roger Ebert
The film's opening third deals with the creation of the universe and our planet. While there is no dialogue during most of this stretch, there is glorious music and the images on screen are amazing.
But the absence of conventional narrative bothers people. I don’t know that its people’s fault even.
I’ve witnessed twice recently, people’s reactions that I do not think were genuine. One was during that first mentioned film, Hangover 2. One young man kept laughing, because he thought that’s what he was supposed to be doing within his peer group. He would repeat the “joke” just said and laugh, loudly. Until even he couldn’t keep doing it anymore. Because nothing was actually funny.
Famous comedians often get this pass as well. I witnessed a comedian I quite enjoy open his show and not say anything funny for the first few minutes. But a young man laughed hysterically at jokes like, “Hello. Nice to be here.”
If nobody in the entire world had ever seen a film before, which film would people be flocking to see? That’s the kind of new eyed wonder I hope for. To not have preconceived notions or expectations. To enjoy something (or not) because I enjoy it, not because it’s what I’m programmed to think.
If the script is not 3 acts divided every 30 pages, that might also be a good thing on
occasion.
So what was the Tree Of Life about, anyway? Well, I hope someone else I know sees it one day (and likes it) so we can have that conversation. For me:
God’s got a lot on his plate. But one family as seemingly insignificant as the O’Brien’s in Waco, Texas in the 1950s, is not insignificant at all to Him.
The universe is vast and amazing and impossible to even grasp or measure. And in all that, a family of 5 in a small town is a focus. As is your family. Or you alone. You are everything to the Creator. His greatest creation.
Not a bad thing to ponder at the movies. If you don’t walk out first.
Matthew 6:26
"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"
