The Tree of Life

Eine poetische Sinfonie von schönen Bildern, Musik und Gefühlen aus dem Leben, die uns aber schließlich nichts Nützliches erzählt. (07.07.2011)

This film is only missing a robot prostitute from the future, otherwise it has everything. It’s very hard to digest, maybe it has a satisfactory answer to the question of life, the universe and everything, but I was unable to find it. Yet it has quite a few moments that I liked that were either though-provoking or just visually beautiful, so in the end I was less bored than I’d expected. That said, at home on the computer, with a plethora of things to distract me, I wouldn’t manage it. (08.08.2011)

The first twenty minutes are breathtaking in terms of camera work and editing, and the narrative segments are pleasantly ambiguous. But then we look into space, into prehistory, and back again, and nothing changes. The main story just stays in one place with the unwavering Pit at the forefront the whole time. I don't share Malick's personal remorse, and so I find it very difficult to forgive the spiritual subtext (which quite openly transitions into religious propaganda). It's like a dream, like a memory. But it's foreign, and therefore, no accompanying emotions are evoked. (26.01.2012)

Malick’s piece tells a lot about a life of the dominant species on earth, and amazing space and earth-shaping interludes shows its futility in the overall context. That entire trivial part with the family and typical problems fades away in the void of creation. We have our own unique place in space, that is important for us, the most important, but we should never forget that we are mere dust. Sometimes it’s good to just stop for a while and ponder a little. This is a visual masterpiece and the music is a chapter on its own. And Brad Pitt as a fatherly figure surpasses himself. (24.07.2011)

Während mir The New World schließlich in ihrer Poetik, in ihrem Spiritualismus gefiel, nehme ich The Tree of Life anders wahr. Es ist wirklich merkwürdig, mit Sean Penn oder Brad Pitt zu werben, denn sie sind definitiv nicht die Hauptdarsteller. Der Hauptdarsteller ist Malicks Vision, die Hauptattraktion der Schnitt. (01.03.2022)

Beautiful images, perhaps even some poetry at times, but the emotions are fleeting. Brad Pitt's performance is phenomenal, and overall the film is more than controversial in terms of what it represents, how it speaks to the audience, and what it is actually about. One big unknown, and Terrence Malick aspires to be one of the greatest eccentrics in Hollywood. (15.04.2012)

Mit der Feststellung, dass der neueste Film von Malick nicht für jeden ist, werde ich wahrscheinlich niemanden überraschen. Deshalb fange ich anders an. Was mich betrifft, hat The Tree of Life seinen Zweck hundertprozentig erfüllt. Er hat zu meiner momentanen Stimmung gepasst und meine poetische Natur perfekt befriedigt. Mehr als zwei Stunden habe ich die wunderschönen Aufnahmen genossen und der herrlichen Musik gelauscht (es tat mir eigentlich gar nicht leid, dass Desplats sensationeller Soundtrack nicht besonders viel Raum bekommen hat). Ich war überwältigt, der Film hat mich bezaubert, die Geschichte über die Vater-Sohn-Beziehung, die für mich persönlich auch ein Thema ist, gerührt… Ob Sie es glauben oder nicht, ich hatte fast das Gefühl, dass der Film zu kurz ist. Langweile ist das Letzte, was mir im Zusammenhang mit diesem Film einfällt. Kurzum, nach langer Zeit habe ich einen Film gesehen, den ich unbedingt noch einmal im Kino sehen möchte. Ich werde aber warten, bis er aus dem Multiplex in Clubs kommt, wo er mir noch mehr schmecken wird.__PS: Die erwachsenen Schauspieler*innen sowie die Kinderdarsteller sind brillant.__PPS: Die Szene, in der man die Komposition "Vltava" hört, ist wahrscheinlich die beste Szene überhaupt. Es würde mich aber interessieren, ob bei der Musik auch andere Zuschauer*innen als die aus Tschechien Gänsehaut am ganzen Körper bekommen.__PPPS: Diejenigen, die die Bibelzitate und das ständige Erwähnen von Gott stören, könnten darüber nachdenken, ob mit dem Gott nicht etwas anderes als der "bärtige Mann, den Christen verehren" gemeint ist. "Glücklich kann nur sein, wer liebt. Wer nicht liebt, dessen Leben fliegt an ihm vorbei." Wenn man auch nach diesen Worten nichts verstanden hat, hätte man sich The Tree of Life wahrscheinlich gar nicht anschauen sollen. (22.07.2011)

Critics will argue how personal and at the same time magnificent this film is, showing film art in its original form, that it is another similar film to "2001: A Space Odyssey". However, unfortunately, it is also a mishmash on which Malick has worked for years of his life. True, he works incredibly long on every film of his, but in this case, the result is simply not as well visible. The story here is fleeting, and it is also not complicated in any way. Actually, it is about the coming-of-age of one boy in a family where things are not entirely simple. Mainly due to the character of the father, brilliantly portrayed by Brad Pitt, which is probably the biggest asset of the film. He is not in a classically positive role but, on the contrary, plays a believable character with both light and dark sides. The rest of the film is... I don't know. Some will say that it is a philosophical contemplation of our own lives, and I say that Malick thought too much about where we actually come from and where we are heading. From this meditation came a strange collage that at one moment reminds of a great retro drama, in the second moment resembles "Walking with Dinosaurs", only to finally turn into an ode to classical music. What pleased me the most was the inclusion of Smetana. After the first notes, I didn't want to believe it, but you simply cannot mistake "Vltava" for anything else. Such a beautiful composition is simply unique. Furthermore, Malick is not original, but represents a modern pop cultural work that pretends to be the creation of a great artist dealing with his childhood and adolescence anxieties. If he had put it in a slightly more accessible form, maybe he would have dazzled audiences on a broader scale. But as the film's supporters defend, this is an opus for open minds. I believe that I have an open mind, but I could also look for divine meaning in every dried-up spit. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/08/warrior-x-ms-1-sibir-5x-rychle-zbesile.html (25.02.2013)