The name of my film is “the tree of life“, and plays in the 1950’s in Texas. My movie is a drama and with the prominent star Brad Pitt. He plays the father of a family.
Mr. O’Brien (Brad Pitt) is an Ingeneur and earns the money for the whole family. He’s not very happy about his job, because his dream was to get a prominent musician. The education to his sons is very strict. Mrs. O’Brien (Jessica Chastain) is the mother of three sons, she doesn’t talk very much but she loves her family and her especially her man very much. One day she gets the message that her 19teen year old son is dead, but we don’t know how exactly. She calls Mr. O’Brien and wants to tell him this message but he’s at an airport so we can’t understand his answer but you can see in his face that he is very shocked about it. Mrs. O’Brien often thinks about her dead son and while she’s doing this you see the space and the earth and the music underlines the dramatic of the story. Jack, one of the three sons, is an rebellion. He hates his father and that’s why he has the thought to kill him especially in one scene. Mrs. O’Brien was so desperate that she commited suicide and the whole family falls apart. Years later there’s Jack, he’s architect in Houston and very successful. He has a women and lives in a big house. May he’s a little bit confused because he think’s very often about his mum, the tight education from his father and his dead brother … For me the background music of the movie plays an important role. The people in the film don’t talk very much to each other so the music tells the story in his own way. There are compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which makes the film unique. Also the first scene is not standard. You could only see a fire and the words “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation … while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy ?”. At first I didn’t understand the meaning of these words and the fire but when you watch the movie it gets clear. SB
´Although the movie is difficult to understand, I think your review of “the tree of life” describes the main point of the story very well. You have clear statements for the different parts and I could understand the film better, because of your interpretive ideas. The structure is good, but using more paragraphs in the summary for each important action would be better. I agree with you, when you write about the music. You are right by saying the film is unique, because the people don’t talk very much and the music tells much things of the whole story. The only thing I would add to your review is that the music increases the feelings of each person, especially the feelings of the mother. Also the pictures of landscape, space, explosions and other things have the same function for the film as the music. To sum up, I’d like to say that your text is an appropriate review for a confusing film.
“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?” With this citation out of the book of Job starts the film “The Tree of Life” of director and screenwriter Terrence Malick. To start a film with a, not rarely unfitting, bible citation is often the attempt of a director to give a story a deeper meaning which it actually doesn't have. But in this case the quotation fits perfectly to the story that “The Tree of Life” tells.
At first sight the plot of “The Tree of Life” seems to be modest: The film tells the story Jack O'Brien who is the oldest of a apparently intact family. He is torn between his warmhearted and graceful mother and his severe father who wants him being prepared for the hard world. In his childhood Jack is confronted with illness, suffering and death. At the age of 19 one of his brothers dies. As an adult he still remembers him every day and he is still looking for his position in the world.
But this film isn't just a conventional family drama. Malick uses this plot to create a story with a religious dimension. The real pretension of the film is to illustrate the entire history of life on earth and to ask existential questions of human being in order to find God's grace in our lives.
The film shows the beginning of the universe until the end of earth in amazing pictures. About one third of the film is a visionary part. No person, no speaking, no real storyline, only a kaleidoscope of impressive nature recordings accompanied by symphonic music which create a ruminant atmosphere.
In the center of the film is the human being who is torn between two ways of living, Malick calls them the way of nature, chaotic and tough, and the way of divine grace. This world outlook is represented in the family tragedy of the O'Briens. Malick accomplishes that the viewer internalizes these ideas so much that even senseless events like the death of Jack's brother seem to happen for a reason.
Tree of Life is not a conventional film, it is more a composition consisting of unique pictures, surreal music and and far-reaching statements. It asks the question about the reason for being and shows the human as part of the Creation without any irony or cynicism. When you reflect long on the film Terrence Malick's world outlook might look a bit naïve but as a summary I can say that this film is just awe-inspiring.
The name of my film is “the tree of life“, and plays in the 1950’s in Texas. My movie is a drama and with the prominent star Brad Pitt. He plays the father of a family.
ReplyDeleteMr. O’Brien (Brad Pitt) is an Ingeneur and earns the money for the whole family. He’s not very happy about his job, because his dream was to get a prominent musician. The education to his sons is very strict. Mrs. O’Brien (Jessica Chastain) is the mother of three sons, she doesn’t talk very much but she loves her family and her especially her man very much. One day she gets the message that her 19teen year old son is dead, but we don’t know how exactly. She calls Mr. O’Brien and wants to tell him this message but he’s at an airport so we can’t understand his answer but you can see in his face that he is very shocked about it. Mrs. O’Brien often thinks about her dead son and while she’s doing this you see the space and the earth and the music underlines the dramatic of the story. Jack, one of the three sons, is an rebellion. He hates his father and that’s why he has the thought to kill him especially in one scene. Mrs. O’Brien was so desperate that she commited suicide and the whole family falls apart. Years later there’s Jack, he’s architect in Houston and very successful. He has a women and lives in a big house. May he’s a little bit confused because he think’s very often about his mum, the tight education from his father and his dead brother …
For me the background music of the movie plays an important role. The people in the film don’t talk very much to each other so the music tells the story in his own way. There are compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which makes the film unique. Also the first scene is not standard. You could only see a fire and the words “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation … while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy ?”. At first I didn’t understand the meaning of these words and the fire but when you watch the movie it gets clear.
SB
I would give this movie 6 out of 10 points.
ReplyDelete(401 words)
SB
´Although the movie is difficult to understand, I think your review of “the tree of life” describes the main point of the story very well. You have clear statements for the different parts and I could understand the film better, because of your interpretive ideas. The structure is good, but using more paragraphs in the summary for each important action would be better. I agree with you, when you write about the music. You are right by saying the film is unique, because the people don’t talk very much and the music tells much things of the whole story. The only thing I would add to your review is that the music increases the feelings of each person, especially the feelings of the mother. Also the pictures of landscape, space, explosions and other things have the same function for the film as the music. To sum up, I’d like to say that your text is an appropriate review for a confusing film.
ReplyDeleteIB
ReplyDelete“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?” With this citation out of the book of Job starts the film “The Tree of Life” of director and screenwriter Terrence Malick. To start a film with a, not rarely unfitting, bible citation is often the attempt of a director to give a story a deeper meaning which it actually doesn't have. But in this case the quotation fits perfectly to the story that “The Tree of Life” tells.
At first sight the plot of “The Tree of Life” seems to be modest: The film tells the story Jack O'Brien who is the oldest of a apparently intact family. He is torn between his warmhearted and graceful mother and his severe father who wants him being prepared for the hard world. In his childhood Jack is confronted with illness, suffering and death. At the age of 19 one of his brothers dies. As an adult he still remembers him every day and he is still looking for his position in the world.
But this film isn't just a conventional family drama. Malick uses this plot to create a story with a religious dimension. The real pretension of the film is to illustrate the entire history of life on earth and to ask existential questions of human being in order to find God's grace in our lives.
The film shows the beginning of the universe until the end of earth in amazing pictures. About one third of the film is a visionary part. No person, no speaking, no real storyline, only a kaleidoscope of impressive nature recordings accompanied by symphonic music which create a ruminant atmosphere.
In the center of the film is the human being who is torn between two ways of living, Malick calls them the way of nature, chaotic and tough, and the way of divine grace. This world outlook is represented in the family tragedy of the O'Briens. Malick accomplishes that the viewer internalizes these ideas so much that even senseless events like the death of Jack's brother seem to happen for a reason.
Tree of Life is not a conventional film, it is more a composition consisting of unique pictures, surreal music and and far-reaching statements. It asks the question about the reason for being and shows the human as part of the Creation without any irony or cynicism. When you reflect long on the film Terrence Malick's world outlook might look a bit naïve but as a summary I can say that this film is just awe-inspiring.
(9 out of 10 points)
(448 words)
TH