The Tree of Strife

Terrence Malick’s latest film has proved to be nothing if not divisive. I had an interesting conversation with a drunk man in a Pharaoh’s costume about this very thing one night. We both very loosely agreed that parts of it were good; we just couldn’t agree on which parts.

I’m all for experimentation in film. I love it. But Malick doesn’t do anything new. Sure, a lot of it is surreal, or semi-real. But it’s all been done before. There was one shot in the whole film that made me lose my breath a little; the flock of pigeons flying in the city. It sounds dicky when I explain it like that, but it is a truly beautiful sequence. I loved the early ‘beginning of time’ sequence. But then we got to the dinosaurs. Oh the dinosaurs. I was on his side up until then. I was willing to indulge him. Next time however, it will be the naughty corner.

I have heard critiques of critiques (suitably po-mo) which say that people who don’t like it just don’t ‘get’ it, that they need more patience or a more thorough ability to wank. I don’t think that is fair. It is not about being smart enough to understand the film or the director’s intention. Just because something is surreal doesn’t mean it is beyond understanding or beyond critique.

For Malick’s benefit though, the scenes with the family were incredible. The actors who played the sons and Brad Pitt as the Dad did a fantastic job. I liked that it wasn’t linear; it was like a small insight into the life of this family that you dipped into and left. Nevertheless, you left it feeling something for them, wondering about what happened to them for the rest of their lives. It was nice that there was no happily ever after type of scenario also. That is one of the first marks of a film beyond average.

I failed to see the point of the mother also. Her role was to look pretty and ethereal and be the nurturer. It would have been nice for her to have some complexity. Honestly too, by the end of it I think I would have screamed if she lovingly caressed one more person’s face. The dream-like sequence of the last half hour I thought could have been cut completely; it just looked like an ad for an insurance company.

Dear Terrence. He did try hard I think. Good on him for that. But ultimately it isn’t particularly new, the style is not unique and the surreal sequences are very clumsy. Also, it is so immense it just seems to take up your entire day. See it if you’re unemployed, elderly, or a stay-at-home-mum-or-dad. Possibly hallucinatory drugs might help.