The Tree of Life: A Nature Hymn
A tribute to the 2011 Palm d’or : The tree of Life.
Credit: Vincent Leroy
A tribute to the 2011 Palm d’or : The tree of Life.
Credit: Vincent Leroy
15. “The Tree of Life” (Director: Terrence Malick, 2011)
It’s not easy to make a movie that has both the scale of a single human lifetime and of the age of the universe. But Terrence Malick has shown us how they can be the same thing. “The Tree of Life” is a roving, gorgeous look at how people grapple with infinity without falling into the traps of narcissism. — Jacob Shamsian
Throughout the film, the presence of strong biblical echoes is palpable, relating in particular to the Book of Job and the first chapters of Genesis, as well as the intrusion, subplots, of references to Christian Gnosticism and Heidegger’s philosophy. Bearing in mind what Father Arpa used to say about Fellini, perhaps Terrence Malick is the true “singer of Grace” in Western cinema, the only one who has been able to transpose with such skill – the film is one of the best works of the last thirty years, not to mention always – themes of such spiritual depth raising the cinema as a secular place of worship.
The Tree of Life
The trailer for The Tree of Life has been wrestling inside Malick fans for almost a decade now. The images themselves all come from the film itself, of course. But the way they are assembled in this brief trailer lends them a unique emotional heft. It feels less like an advertisement, and more like the pure, distilled Malick essence.
This function is part of a collection on the very best movies of the 2010s, ensuing from our ranked high 25, which you’ll learn right here. That is #1.
Cinema historical past is crammed with motion pictures that attempt to mix the mundane and the cosmic, however few do it with as a lot sincerity and showmanship as “The Tree of Life,” our alternative for the very best movie of the last decade.
Richard Linklater
The Tree of Life (2011)
For its vast ambition and meditative grace. It somehow manages to be both an intimate memory film while taking on the notion of all of existence. And I love the way it confounds and challenges perception itself.
The tenth of a featured series of alternative movie posters for the Tree of Life (2011).
The ninth of a featured series of alternative movie posters for the Tree of Life (2011).