What was your reaction to viewing “The Tree of Life”? Explain why you have the reaction and, using Roger Ebert’s review as a guide, comment on something he has said in your reaction.
Please bring your copy to class, word processed. You can wait until the week after next because of the length of Spike's film choice for next class!
“Malick's fierce evocation of human feeling” is how Roger Ebert puts it, and I cannot agree more. Terrence Malick captures my heart with his images and whispered narration and, like Ebert, “‘The Tree of Life’ reflect[s] a time and place I lived in.” So well that I immediately identified with the posse of boys playing together in the neighbourhood. I read earlier that the children were left much to their own devices and Malick filmed everything. By doing so, he created a natural portrait of a childhood lost forever to our increasingly technological world. That new world is well represented in the glass-fronted and sterile towers inhabited by Sean Penn’s character; it is a cold and soulless place that makes me weep at what we have done to our world. I must also say that I advise anyone watching the film to use the subtitles. When I saw it for the first time on a big screen, much of that dialogue was lost to me. It is worth listening. It is worth considering life, deeply. My “human feeling” is plumbed to its ultimate depths when I watch “The Tree of Life.” I will definitely watch it again.
ReplyDeleteThe movie " Tree of Life" was very confusing I did not like it. I was trying to figure out why the story went from the birth of the three boy's and their growth threw adolescence to Volcanoes and oceans.Although we knew a child died , I'm still not certain which one it was!.What was with the Opera music and the visual effects as if i was on an LSD (acid) trip.There was far to much happening in this movie that I feel had nothing in common. I could not connect with the characters at all.Brad Pitt was awful in the roll as the father,and who the heck was Shawn Penn portraying?.I do not like Shawn Penn as an actor as it is ,I like him even less now.I disliked this movie very much, too much visually going on and a very week story line.One other thing i would like to point out,even though sub titles were on during our screening I still could not at times figure out who was saying things as the subtitles just seem to appear when none of the characters seem to be talking.
ReplyDeleteIt was too good to be true. The film is too beautiful, too graceful, too sensitive and too idealistic to me.
ReplyDeleteFather is adequately strict, mother is too beautiful and kind, children play freely in the nature and brothers being good to each other. It feels castrate and something missing to me. There must be criminals, bad peoples, and beating and swearing parents even in those days. Roger Ebert said, ‘the film’s portrait of everyday life, inspired by Malick’s memories of his hometown...” As he said, it was like seeing other happy people’s youth age memories. Old memories are always beautified in our minds even horrible ones. Those just happy memories are made me feel like peeping beggar who looking over riches wall. I could more sympathize myself with African American kids than main characters.
I don’t want to remind my youth, because it was filled with beating, swearing and false faiths of my parents. I wish I had those beautiful memories but those are not for me. This film makes me feel my life miserable.