Tree of Life (2011)Director: Terrence Malick
On a retreat last spring, Libby and I participated in an exercise called family sculptures. This involved using the other participants at the retreat to stand in as family members in order to illustrate our family dynamic around age 10. After setting up the sculpture, participants spend time asking questions and coming as a community to a better understanding of the sculptor. This is a difficult exercise, and if performed honestly, can bear both pain and fruit for one's spiritual development.
The middle part of Tree of Life strikes me as a similar exercise for the director. The crux of the story involves the relationship of a child entering adolescence, his parents, and the inter-relationship of that family dynamic with the character's adult understanding of God and the universe. I cannot think of another movie that so honestly deals with this topic. It plays out like memories projected on a screen. Snippets of beauty, pain, life, and death, all dealing with nature and grace.
Mallick gives it a more cosmic and universal scope by confusing but intriguing capstones giving the creation and ending of the world. All in all, it makes for a film that can be a difficult and rewarding source of meditation.
