What was tree of life about

The film's portrait of everyday life, inspired by Malick's memories of his hometown of Waco, Texas, is bounded by two immensities, one of space and time, and the other of spirituality. This process leads to the present moment, and to all of us. We were created in the Big Bang and over untold millions of years, molecules formed themselves into, well, you and me.

And what comes after? In whispered words near the beginning, "nature" and "grace" are heard. We have seen nature as it gives and takes away; one of the family's boys dies.

And what then? The film's coda provides a vision of an afterlife, a desolate landscape on which quiet people solemnly recognize and greet one another, and all is understood in the fullness of time. Some reviews have said Mr. O'Brien Brad Pitt , crew-cut, never more of a regular guy is too strict as a disciplinarian.

I don't think so. He is doing what he thinks is right, as he was reared. O'Brien the ethereal Jessica Chastain is gentler and more understanding, but there is no indication she feels her husband is cruel. Of course children resent discipline, and of course a kid might sometimes get whacked at the dinner table circa But listen to an acute exchange of dialogue between Jack and his father. Brien says, and Jack replies: "It's your house.

You can do what you want to. That's how you grow up. And it all happens in this blink of a lifetime, surrounded by the realms of unimaginable time and space. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from until his death in In , he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

Rated PG for thematic material. Brad Pitt as Mr. His father was a hard working man and a loving father in many ways. He is frustrated however by his lack of success in life, something that he takes out on the rest of the family. Director Terrence Malick presents a highly visual mosaic to contrast the lives of his characters and the world in which they've evolved. Sign In. Edit The Tree of Life Jump to: Summaries 4 Synopsis 1. The synopsis below may give away important plot points. Getting Started Contributor Zone ».

Edit page. Top Gap. When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Yet The Tree of Life strains toward something beyond Darwinian ruthlessness. You slammed the door; now close it gently 50 times. Even his play is Darwinian: He teaches his boys the hand-slapping game and forces them to learn to fight. His real god may be money, and his faith is self-determination. As his professional aspirations slip away from him, he quarrels with his wife and terrorizes his children.

When tensions boil over in one excruciating family supper and Mr. Young Jack likes his mother better than his father, but as time goes by, he finds more and more in himself what he hates in his father. Much of this may be autobiographical; the director grew up in Texas and had a brother who died.

The individual moments have only the power of the archetypal situations they evoke.