| The Tree of Life | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Terrence Malick |
| Produced by | Dede Gardner Sarah Green Grant Hill Brad Pitt Bill Pohlad |
| Written by | Terrence Malick |
| Starring | Brad Pitt Sean Penn Jessica Chastain |
| Music by | Alexandre Desplat |
| Cinematography | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| Editing by | Hank Corwin Jay Rabinowitz Daniel Rezende Billy Weber Mark Yoshikawa |
| Studio | Plan B Entertainment River Road Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Fox Searchlight Pictures (United States) EuropaCorp (France) |
| Release date(s) | May 16, 2011 (Cannes Film Festival) May 27, 2011 (United States) |
| Running time | 139 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $32 million[1] |
| Box office | $54,303,319[2] |
The Tree of Life is a 2011 American drama film with experimental elements written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, and Jessica Chastain. Malick's film chronicles the origins and meaning of life by way of a middle-aged man's childhood memories of his family living in 1950s Texas, interspersed with imagery of the origins of the universe and the inception of life on Earth. After decades in development and missing 2009 and 2010 release dates, the film premiered in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or. The film received widespread critical acclaim, but also polarizing responses to Malick's use of technical and artistic imagery, directorial style, and fragmented non-linear narrative.
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A mysterious, wavering light that resembles a flame flickers in the darkness. Mrs. O'Brien (Jessica Chastain) recalls a lesson taught to her that people must choose to either follow the path of grace or the path of nature. In the mid 1960s, she receives a telegram informing her of her son's death at age nineteen. Mr. O'Brien (Brad Pitt) is notified by telephone. The family is thrown into turmoil. In the present day, Jack O'Brien (Sean Penn) is adrift in his modern life as an architect. When he sees a tree being planted in front of a building, he begins to reminisce about his life as young teenager during the 1950s.
The universe is formed. As the galaxies expand and planets are formed, voices ask various existential questions. On the newly formed Earth, volcanoes erupt and microbes begin to form. An Elasmosaurus, a large wound in its side, gazes out to sea. In a forest, a young Parasaurolophus is wary of predators. Later on a riverbank, the Parasaurolophus lies wounded. An Ornithomimus[3] emerges and examines the wounded dinosaur. The Ornithomimus places its foot on the Parasaurolophus’ neck, preparing for the kill, but then reconsiders after watching it struggle. The predator wanders off. From the vantage point of space, an asteroid is seen impacting the earth.
In a sprawling neighborhood in Waco, Texas, live the O'Briens. The young couple are enthralled by baby Jack and, later, his two brothers. When Jack (Hunter McCracken) reaches adolescence, he is faced with the conflict of accepting the way of grace or nature, as embodied by each of his parents. Mrs. O'Brien (grace) is gentle, nurturing, and authoritative, presenting the world to her children as a place of wonder. Mr. O'Brien (nature) is strict, authoritarian, and easily loses his temper as he struggles to reconcile his love for his sons with wanting to prepare them for a world he sees as corrupt and exploitative. He laments his decision to become an engineer rather than pursue his passion of becoming a musician, and now pursues dreams of wealth by filing patents for various inventions.
One summer, Mr. O'Brien takes a trip around the world in an effort to commercialize his inventions. While he is away, the boys enjoy unfettered access to their mother, and Jack experiences the first twinges of rebelliousness. Goaded by other boys his age, Jack commits acts of vandalism and animal abuse. He later trespasses into a neighbor's house and steals her underwear. Jack is confused by his experiments with violence and experiences guilt, throwing the stolen underwear into a river to rid himself of it. Mr. O'Brien returns home, having failed to sell any of his inventions. Shortly thereafter his plant closes and he is given the option of staying with the company and relocating to work a stable yet unfulfilling job, or be terminated. Mr. O'Brien agrees to the transfer and he and his family pack up to move. Mr. O'Brien laments the course his life has taken, questioning whether he has been a good enough person. He reconciles with Jack, asking forgiveness for his harsh treatment of him.
Five billion years in the future, life on the planet Earth is destroyed, incinerated by the Sun as it expands into a red giant and then left alone as a desolate, lifeless frozen planet still orbiting the Sun, which by that time has turned into a feeble white dwarf.
In the present, adult Jack leaves work. Riding the elevator down he experiences a vision of walking on rocky terrain. He tentatively walks through a wooden door frame which is erected on the rocks. On a sandbar, Jack is reunited with his family and all the people who populate his memory. His father is happy to see him. His mother is overjoyed when Jack's memory resurrects his dead brother. She thanks Jack, kissing his arm twice. Jack's vision ends and he leaves his building smiling.
The mysterious, wavering light continues to flicker in the darkness.
Terrence Malick pitched the concept of The Tree of Life to River Road Entertainment head Bill Pohlad while the two were collaborating on an early version of Che. Pohlad recalls initially thinking the idea was "crazy", but as the film concept evolved, he came to feel strongly about the idea.[4] The Tree of Life was announced in late 2005, with Indian production company Percept Picture Company set to finance it and Donald Rosenfeld onboard as producer. The film was set to be shot partially in India, with pre-production scheduled to begin in January 2006.[5] Colin Farrell and Mel Gibson were at one stage attached to the project.[6]
In an October 2008 interview, Fisk, a longtime Malick collaborator, suggested that the director was attempting something radical.[7] He also implied that details of the film were a close secret.[8] In early March 2009, visual effects artist Mike Fink revealed to Empire Magazine that he was working on scenes of prehistoric Earth for the film.[9] The similarity of the scenes Fink describes to descriptions of a hugely ambiguous project entitled Q that Malick worked on soon after Days of Heaven has led to speculation that The Tree of Life is a resurrection of that abandoned project.[10]
Filming began in Texas in 2008.[11] Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki returned to work with Malick after collaborating with him on The New World. Locations included Smithville, Houston, Matagorda,[12] Bastrop, Austin,[13] Dallas,[14] and Malick's hometown of Waco.[15]
The namesake of the film is a large live oak tree that was excavated from a property a few miles outside Smithville. The 65,000 pound tree and root ball was trucked into Smithville and replanted.[16][17][18]
After nearly thirty years away from Hollywood, famed special effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull contributed to the visual effects work on The Tree of Life. Malick, a friend of Trumbull, approached him about the effects work and mentioned that he did not like the look of computer-generated imagery. Trumbull asked Malick, "Why not do it the old way? The way we did it in 2001?"[19]
Working with visual effects supervisor Dan Glass, Trumbull used a variety of materials for the creation of the universe sequence. “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,” said Trumbull. “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.”[20] The team also included Double Negative in London, under the supervision of Paul Riddle, who handled the astrophysical aspects of the segment. Fluid-based effects were developed by Peter and Chris Parks, who had previously worked on similar effects for The Fountain.[21]
In March 2009 Empire magazine's website quoted visual effects supervisor Mike Fink as saying that a version of the film will be released for IMAX cinemas along with two versions for traditional cinemas.[9] The IMAX film has been revealed to be The Voyage of Time, a documentary expanding on the 'history of the universe' scenes in The Tree Of Life, which the producers decided to focus on releasing at a later date so as not to cannibalise its release.[22]
By May 2009, The Tree of Life had been sold to a number of international distributors, including Europacorp in France, TriPictures in Spain, and Icon in the UK and Australia,[23] but lacked a US distributor. In August 2009, it was announced that the film would be released in the US through Apparition, a new distributor founded by River Road Entertainment head Bill Pohlad and former Picturehouse chief Bob Berney.[24] A tentative date of December 25, 2009 was announced, but the film was not complete in time.[25] Organisers of the Cannes Film Festival made negotiations to secure a premiere at Cannes 2010, resulting in Malick sending an early version of the film to Thierry Fremaux and the Cannes selection committee.[26] Though Fremaux warmly received the cut and was eager to screen the film at his festival,[26] Malick ultimately told him that he felt the film was not ready.[27] On the eve of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Berney suddenly announced his departure from Apparition, leaving the company's future uncertain.[28] Pohlad decided to keep The Tree of Life at Apparition, and after significant restructuring, hired Tom Ortenberg to act as a consultant on its release. A tentative plan was made to release it in late 2010, in time for awards consideration.[29] Ultimately, Pohlad decided to close Apparition and sell rights to the film.[30] Private screenings of the film to interested parties Fox Searchlight Pictures and Sony Pictures Classics took place at the 2010 Telluride Film Festival.[31] On September 9, Fox Searchlight announced their acquisition of the film from Pohlad's River Road Entertainment.[32] The film opened in limited release in the United States on May 27, 2011.[33]
On March 28, 2011, UK magazine Empire reported that UK distributor Icon Entertainment were planning to release the film on May 4, 2011. This would make the UK the first region in the world to see the film,[34] preempting the expected Cannes Film Festival premiere on May 11. This would disqualify the film from inclusion at Cannes.[35] As a result, a surge of interest in the story developed on international film news sites.[34] After film blogger Jeff Wells was told by a Fox Searchlight representative that this was "unlikely",[36] and Anne Thompson received similar word from Searchlight and outright denial from Summit,[37][38] Helen O'Hara from Empire received a confirmation from Icon that they intended to stick with the May 4 release.[34] On March 31, Jeff Wells was told by Jill Jones, Summit's senior VP of international marketing and publicity, that Icon has lost the right to distribute The Tree of Life in the UK, due to defaulting on its agreement, with the matter pending arbitration at a tribunal in Los Angeles.[39] On June 9, it was announced that The Tree of Life would be released in the UK on July 8, 2011, after Fox Searchlight Pictures picked up the UK rights from Icon.[40]
The Tree of Life was released on Blu-ray disc in the United States and Canada on October 11, 2011, it includes a DVD of the film with the Blu-ray but there is no separate DVD release of the film yet .[41]
Early reviews for The Tree of Life at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival were polarized. After being met with both boos [42] and applause [43] at its premiere at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, the film received very mixed early reviews.[44][45] The film went on to be awarded the prestigious Palme d'Or. Two of the film's producers, Bill Pohlad and Sarah Green, accepted the prize on behalf of the reclusive Malick.[46] The Tree of Life is the first American film to win the Palme d'Or since Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004.[46] Head of the jury, Robert De Niro, said it was difficult to choose a winner, but The Tree of Life "ultimately fit the bill".[46] De Niro explained, "It had the size, the importance, the intention, whatever you want to call it, that seemed to fit the prize."[46][47]
On August 19, 2011 it was announced that the film had won the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Big Prize for the Best Film Of the Year. The award will be presented on September 16, during the opening ceremony of the 59th San Sebastián International Film Festival.[48] Malick released a statement of thanks for the award.[49] On November 28, it was announced that the film had won the Gotham Award for Best Feature, shared with Beginners.[50]
The Tree of Life currently holds an 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 227 reviews, with an 88% among "Top Critics". The site's consensus is that "Terrence Malick's singularly deliberate style may prove unrewarding for some, but for patient viewers, Tree of Life is an emotional as well as visual treat."[51] At Metacritic which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 85 based on 43 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[52]
Roger Ebert gave the film four stars of four and wrote, "The Tree of Life is a film of vast ambition and deep humility, attempting no less than to encompass all of existence and view it through the prism of a few infinitesimal lives. 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. Malick has stayed true to that hope ever since his first feature in 1973."[53] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gives it a perfect five stars and states it is an "unashamedly epic reflection on love and loss" and a "mad and magnificent film."[54] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter states "Brandishing an ambition it’s likely no film, including this one, could entirely fulfill, The Tree of Life is nonetheless a singular work, an impressionistic metaphysical inquiry into mankind’s place in the grand scheme of things that releases waves of insights amidst its narrative imprecisions."[55] Justin Chang of Variety states the film "represents something extraordinary" and "is in many ways his simplest yet most challenging work, a transfixing odyssey through time and memory that melds a young boy's 1950s upbringing with a magisterial rumination on the Earth's origins."[56] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone states "Shot with a poet's eye, Malick's film is a groundbreaker, a personal vision that dares to reach for the stars."[57] A.O. Scott of the New York Times gave the film much praise and stated, "The sheer beauty of this film is almost overwhelming, but as with other works of religiously minded art, its aesthetic glories are tethered to a humble and exalted purpose, which is to shine the light of the sacred on secular reality". Total Film gave the film a five-star review (denoting 'outstanding'): "The Tree Of Life is beautiful. Ridiculously, rapturously beautiful. You could press ‘pause’ at any second and hang the frame on your wall."[58] Ross Miller of Blog Critics said, "to say that Terrence Malick’s Palme d’Or winning fifth film is ambitious would be to make the understatement of this young 21st cinematic century... an epic, meditative exploration of life, including the meaning of it, The Tree of Life is Malick doing what he does best but on a scale even he hasn’t attempted before."[59] Richard Corliss of Time named it one of the Top 10 Best Movies of 2011.[60]
On the other hand, Sukhdev Sandhu, chief film critic of the Daily Telegraph describes the movie as "self-absorbed," and "achingly slow, almost buckling under the weight of its swoony poetry."[61] Lee Marshall's review for Screen Daily followed a similar line, seeing the film as "a cinematic credo about spiritual transcendence which, while often shot through with poetic yearning, preaches too directly to its audience."[62] Stephanie Zacharek of Movieline praised the technical aspects of the film, such as the "gorgeous photography", however states nonetheless it is "a gargantuan work of pretension and cleverly concealed self-absorption."[63]
Sean Penn has said, "The screenplay is the most magnificent one that I've ever read but I couldn't find that same emotion on screen. [...] A clearer and more conventional narrative would have helped the film without, in my opinion, lessening its beauty and its impact."[64] He further clarified his reservations about the film by adding, "But it’s a film I recommend, as long as you go in without any preconceived ideas. It’s up to each person to find their own personal, emotional or spiritual connection to it. Those that do generally emerge very moved."[65]
The Tree of Life was voted best film of 2011 in the annual Sight & Sound critic poll, earning one and a half times as many votes as runner up A Separation.[66] The film was voted the best released film of 2011 by Film Comment,[67] and it also topped the indieWire annual critics survey for 2011,[68] as well as the LA Weekly Film Poll 2011.[69]
The Tree of Life won the Palme d'Or at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in May 2011.
| List of Accolades | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Award / Film Festival | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
| 9th African-American Film Critics Association Awards | Best Film | The Tree of Life | Won |
| 32nd Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Cinematography | Emmanuel Lubezki | Won |
| 64th Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Terrence Malick | Won |
| 23rd Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Film | The Tree of Life | Won |
| Best Director | Terrence Malick | Won | |
| Best Original Screenplay | Terrence Malick | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Jessica Chastain | Won | |
| Best Cinematography | Emanuel Lubezki | Won | |
| Most Promising Performer | Hunter McCracken | Nominated | |
| 17th Critics Choice Awards | Best Picture | The Tree of Life | Pending |
| Best Cinematography | Emanuel Lubezki | Pending | |
| Best Art Direction | Jack Fisk (Production Designer), David Crank (Art Director) | Pending | |
| Best Visual Effects | The Tree of Life | Pending | |
| Best Sound | The Tree of Life | Pending | |
| 18th Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards | Best Cinematography | Emanuel Lubezki | Won |
| 5th Detroit Film Critics Society Awards | Best Film | The Tree of Life | Nominated |
| Best Director | Terrence Malick | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Jessica Chastain | Nominated | |
| 12th Golden Trailer Awards | Best Independent | Mark Woollen | Won |
| Most Original | Mark Woollen | Nominated | |
| Best of Show | Mark Woollen | Nominated | |
| 21st Gotham Independent Film Awards | Best Feature | Terrence Malick, Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardener, Grant Hill | Won |
| 15th Hollywood Film Festival | Hollywood Breakthrough Award - Actress of the Year | Jessica Chastain (Also for Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter) | Won |
| 5th Houston Film Critics Society Awards | Best Picture | The Tree of Life | Nominated |
| Best Direction of a Motion Picture | Terrence Malick | Nominated | |
| Best Cinematography | Emanuel Lubezki | Won | |
| 3rd Indiana Film Critics Association Awards | Best Director | Terrence Malick | Runner-up |
| Original Vision Award | The Tree of Life | Won | |
| 15th Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards | Best Cinematography | Emanuel Lubezki | Won |
| 32nd London Film Critics' Circle Awards | Film of the Year | The Tree of Life | Pending |
| Director of the Year | Terrence Malick | Pending | |
| 37th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Picture | The Tree of Life | Runner-up |
| Best Director | Terrence Malick | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Jessica Chastain (Also for Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields) | Won | |
| Best Cinematography | Emmanuel Lubezki | Won | |
| 77th New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Actor | Brad Pitt (also for Moneyball) | Won |
| Best Supporting Actress | Jessica Chastain (also for The Help and Take Shelter) | Won | |
| Best Cinematography | Emmanuel Lubezki | Won | |
| 11th New York Film Critics Online Awards | Breakthrough Performer | Jessica Chastain | Won |
| Best Cinematography | Emanuel Lubezki | Won | |
| 15th Online Film Critics Society Awards | Best Picture | The Tree of Life | Won |
| Best Director | Terrence Malick | Won | |
| Best Original Screenplay | Terrence Malick | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Jessica Chastain | Won | |
| Best Cinematography | Emmanuel Lubezki | Won | |
| Best Editing | Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa | Won | |
| 15th San Diego Film Critics Society Awards | Best Film | The Tree of Life | Nominated |
| Best Director | Terrence Malick | Nominated | |
| Best Cimenatography | Emanuel Lubezki | Won | |
| Best Editing | Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa | Nominated | |
| 10th San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Film | The Tree of Life | Won |
| Best Director | Terrence Malick | Won | |
| Best Cinematography | Emanuel Lubezki | Won | |
| 59th San Sebastián International Film Festival | FIPRESCI Grand Prix 2011 | Terrence Malick | Won |
| 16th Satellite Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Jessica Chastain | Won |
| Best Original Screenplay | Terrence Malick | Won | |
| Best Cinematography | Emmanuel Lubezki | Nominated | |
| 15th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards | Best Film | The Tree of Life | Won |
| Best Director | Terrence Malick | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Jessica Chastain | Nominated | |
| 12th Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Film | The Tree of Life | Pending |
| Best Director | Terrence Malick | Pending | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Jessica Chastain | Pending | |
| 10th Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards | Best Cinematography | The Tree of Life | Won |
| Best Art Direction | The Tree of Life | Nominated | |
| 11th World Soundtrack Awards | Film Composer of the Year | Alexandre Desplat (Also for Largo Winch II, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, A Better Life, The King's Speech, La Fille du Puisatier, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2) | Won |
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