The Tree of Life, which I recently caught on DVD, drops an epic sequence depicting no less than the creation of the universe and the rise and fall of the dinosaurs, smack dab into the middle of a serious drama covering the joys and tragedies of an American family from the 1950's to the present. I just wanted to warn you: yes, you're getting an Art film here, with a capital A.
Many of the individual sequences of the film are involving, well acted, and- in the case of the "creation of the universe and all life on earth" sequence- quite spectacular. But some may find the lack of a traditional story, and the way the disparate parts of the movie don't demonstrate obvious connections with one another, a little frustrating.
Myself, I admired more than enjoyed The Tree of Life, and have no real desire to watch it again anytime soon. But I'm glad that movies like this can still get made, even if I found this particular movie to be a little dull at times. Anyway, maybe next year I'll check out the film again, after its images and juxtapositions have been percolating in my brain for a while, and see if I have any new impressions.
And, yeah, I already have some ideas about how the creation of the universe stuff ties into the scenes of Brad Pitt yelling at his kids in his backyard, but in the end they're just my ideas. You'll probably have your own. And if that's okay with you, you'll probably like the movie at least as much as I did. But if you prefer all your movies to clearly communicate what they're about, do yourself a favor and steer clear of this one.
The Tree of Life is available in all manner of formats for your home viewing pleasure. I have to say that the standard DVD I watched looked and sounded terrific.
Author's note: Yeah, yeah, I know I said in the previous post that I was going to sum up "The Tree of Life" in a small, capsule review. But I quickly abandoned that idea. A movie like this demands at least a little elaboration, right?
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