The Tree of Life

2011
PG-13
2h 19m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

186K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:13

Coming-of-Age Drama Fantasy

The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

186K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

2,775

121

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 116 wins & 129 nominations total

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Jessica Chastain Through the Years

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Trivia
Dissatisfied by the look of modern computer generated visual effects, director Terrence Malick approached veteran special effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull, who was responsible for the visual effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), to create the visual effects for the film using bygone optical and practical methods. This marks the first feature film Trumbull has provided the effects for in 29 years, his last being Blade Runner (1982).

Goofs
When Mr. O'Brien receives the terrible news at the beginning of the movie by phone, the camera and camera operator are reflected in the handset.

Quotes
Mrs. O'Brien: [voice over] Help each other. Love everyone. Every leaf. Every ray of light. Forgive.

Crazy credits
There are no opening credits.

Alternate versions
The Extended Cut of the film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in 2018 for the film's Criterion Collection release. Edited by Terrence Malick and A.J. Edwards, it features roughly 50 minutes of additional footage. This footage includes new music composed by Hanan Townshend and sound design by Joel Dougherty. In the Extended Cut,
After Mrs. O'Brien (Jessica Chastain) has informed Mr. O'Brien (Brad Pitt) of R.L.'s death, there are four additional shots; Mrs. O'Brien lying in bed, a mirror and lamp, Mrs. O'Brien closing some drapes, and Mrs. O'Brien hugging R.L. (Laramie Eppler) (00:19).
After Mrs. O'Brien goes into R.L.'s bedroom, there is an additional scene where a neighbor's son brings some food to the O'Brien house (00:08).
As adult Jack (Sean Penn) arrives at work, there are two additional shots of people moving through the lobby (00:05).
After he gets out of the elevator, there is an additional shot of Jack greeting a colleague in the lobby (00:07).
After Jack apologies to his father on the phone, there is a scene where he attends a masked ball in the office (00:11).
After Jack is shown walking through a barren, rocky landscape, there is a montage of additional scenes; a scene on a pier as he watches people playing in the ocean below, a scene in an arboretum where he examines a flower, a scene in a zoo, a scene in a natural history museum, and a scene in a gallery. At the zoo, museum, and gallery, Jack is accompanied by a woman (Pell James), who, it is strongly implied, is his mistress. After the gallery, there is a scene in Jack's office, where he and the woman are being playful with one another. There is then a shot of another woman (Lisa Marie Newmyer) on his office balcony, followed by a shot of an underwater plant, and a scene where Jack shakes the hand of a homeless man (Wayne Dehart). Multiple shots of the city at night-time follow, showing the industrial sector and people in bars, on the streets, and in nightclubs. A shot of a baby swimming is then followed by several black and white shots of a train. Jack is then shown walking through some ruins, waking up to find his office full of smoke, being attacked by a large thug (Dalip Singh), being hassled on the street by gang members, and lying on the road after crashing his motorbike. This is followed by a montage of shots of and inside Jack's building, then a scene of Jack panicking as he looks out the window of a plane. The sequence ends with some shots of Jack walking through the lobby, followed by several shots of the tree in the courtyard that was shown being planted earlier in the film, and finally, a board meeting in which Jack is told the company is barely breaking even (04:00).
The 'birth montage' features four additional shots; the shadow of a gate opening, a shot of some birds in the sky, a shot of a peacock, and a shot of water running (00:06).
After Mrs. O'Brien wakes the children with ice cubes, there is an additional scene where Jack (Hunter McCracken), R.L. and Steve (Tye Sheridan) are looking at two chicks that have fallen from their nest during high winds. As the chicks reach up in an attempt to get food, Mrs. O'Brien hugs Steve and says, "I'll explain to you" (00:41).
During the scene where the O'Brien family encounter the prisoners being transferred, there is an additional shot of the exterior of the prison, with some of the inmates reaching out through the bars (00:04).
The scene where Mr. O'Brien and the children visit the barbecue runs slightly longer, and transitions into an additional sequence of several scenes. R.L. is shown playing with a chair by lassoing it. When Mrs. O'Brien picks the chair up, R.L. asks if he can lasso her. She says yes and sits down, and R.L. tosses the rope around her as she laughs. They then discuss lassoing techniques. This scene is followed by a scene of R.L. and Mrs. O'Brien hanging out washing as they playfully interact. Over this scene, we hear Mr. O'Brien telling R.L., "You're going to have a record, and it's going to follow you around for the rest of your life. You mess up, you might not be able to get a security clearance. People will ask why. They'll point the finger at me. All but you. My son." This is followed by a scene in which Jack is weeding the garden. When he returns to the house, Mr. O'Brien asks if he got it all. There is then a dialogue-less scene of Jack and Mrs. O'Brien sitting on the porch (02:44).
After the scene where Mr. O'Brien is trying to teach Jack and R.L. how to fight, he approaches Steve and jokingly says, "you ready?" (00:07).
Immediately after the above scene, the dinner scene is longer, and shows Mr. O'Brien drinking from a bottle of Tabasco sauce before he sends Steve away from the table (00:18).
After the scene where Mr. O'Brien talks to Jack about the navy not granting him leave when Jack was born, there is an additional sequence focusing on Mr. O'Brien's father (Brían F. O'Byrne). We see him working as a welder, trying to sell insurance as a door is slammed in his face, and sitting on a couch. This is followed by a shot of Mr. O'Brien looking at Steve as he plays on the porch. Next, there is a shot of Mr. O'Brien's father as an old man. We then see Mr. O'Brien's mother interacting with R.L. and Steve together, and then Mr. O'Brien alone. This is followed by more shots of his father working as a welder, then a shot of a dying bee, then a shot of him unshaven and worried. Next, there is a shot of Mr. O'Brien staring into space, then a sequence showing him preparing to shave and getting dressed for work. These scenes are accompanied by a voiceover in which Mr. O'Brien says, "I took my father for granted. A sweet man. I thought he was weak. A welder. Machinist. He did what he could. Real estate. Insurance. He worked 12 hours a day, six days a week. Forty years he served them. You know what he got for it? A wristwatch. Somebody ran him over and left him in the street. Left him in the street to die. For years, I had one pair of pants. Same green pants. Had to run around in my shorts while my mother washed them. You have no idea what it's like working for a man you don't respect. It makes you less than a man" (02:08).
After the scene in school when Jack interacts with Samantha (Samantha Martinez), there is an additional scene in church. Fr. Haynes (Kelly Koonce) asks Jack who gave him his name, and Jack talks about his baptism, entering the family of God, and inheriting the kingdom of heaven. When Haynes asks him what his duty to his neighbor is, Jack answers that it is to love them as he loves himself (00:37).
Immediately after the above addition, there is a scene of Jack remembering a three-legged dog playing with them. This is followed by a scene of Jack, R.L., and Steve playing around at the river; looking at an airplane flying overhead, trying to throw one another into the water, and flinging mud at one another. This sequence is followed by a scene of Jack watching as Samantha and another boy emerge from behind a shed (01:18).
After the funeral for the boy who drowned, there are two additional shots; Jack in the kitchen as Steve says to him, "It's kind of embarrassing" and Mrs. O'Brien walking past a snake at the base of a tree (00:14).
Immediately after the above addition, the scene where Steve asks Mrs. O'Brien "will you die too?" is extended. In the Theatrical Cut, we hear the question, and then immediately cut away, with R.L. saying "you're not that old yet mom" off-camera. In the Extended Cut, however, we see R.L.'s saying "you're not that old yet mom." There are then three quick additional shots; Mrs. O'Brien on the porch, Jack in the garden, the shadow of a swing (00:17).
Immediately after the above scene, there is an additional scene of Mrs. O'Brien catching her hand in an electric mixer and Jack unplugging it and helping her to clean her hand. This is followed by a brief shot of Mrs. O'Brien floating underwater (00:19).
The scene where Mr. O'Brien criticizes Jack's upkeep of the lawn is longer, with more questions and critiques (00:18).
After the fight at dinner, there is an additional shot of Mrs. O'Brien standing contemplatively on the porch (00:24).
Shortly after the fight at dinner, in the theatrical cut, Mr. O'Brien leaves to go on a trip. In the Extended Cut, however, prior to him leaving, there are several additional sequences. Jack and R.L. are working in the yard, and Mr. O'Brien asks R.L. if he practiced his guitar. This is followed by a shot of Jack rubbing their dog's tummy and then crawling around the yard on his hands and knees in the rain pulling up weeds. Mrs. O'Brien comes out and asks him what he's doing. The film then cuts to Mrs. O'Brien's mother (Fiona Shaw) sitting at the kitchen table with Mrs. O'Brien criticizing Mr. O'Brien ("he's pitiless. Like all weak spirits, he's just full of criticisms and contrariness. He refuses to see who he really is. He's two people, you know. He just wants to be very, very kind, one half of himself, and the other half is mean as a miser. He wouldn't give you an egg. He's jealous of the boys"). She is then shown walking on the street with Mrs. O'Brien pointing out that relationships often fall apart when people have children and the passion fades. Speaking of having too many children herself, she says, "your brothers never really got off to any kind of start at all." Mrs. O'Brien's brother Ray (Jackson Hurst) is then shown visiting the O'Brien's. Popular with the boys, who he is shown playing with, Ray listens as Mrs. O'Brien talks about her husband ("he hasn't filed a tax return in three years"; "works the men under him too hard. Nobody likes him"; "he's a good provider though"). She talks about possibly getting a job herself, but says he doesn't want her to. They discuss her childhood love of science, and she talks about a time when she thought she'd never marry, that no-one would ever love her. She also talks about how important her children are to her ("when those boys were born, my life began"). Jack is then shown asking Mrs. O'Brien if she is going to leave them, and Mr. O'Brien is shown jealously watching Ray play with the children. There are multiple sequences of Ray and the children playing, inter-cut with Mr. O'Brien walking aimlessly around the house and yard. Ray then confronts Mr. O'Brien about the children, telling him, "you force them to love you whether they like it or not." Mr. O'Brien retaliates by accusing Ray of being irresponsible and lazy. Ray then leaves and Mrs. O'Brien wordlessly confronts Mr. O'Brien. A tension-filled meal follows, showing Mr. O'Brien trying to cheer up Steve by telling a joke, but it doesn't work. The sequence ends with a scene of Jack giving Mrs. O'Brien his jar of savings, but she refuses to take it, then a scene of the boys playing (09:47).
After the montage showing Mrs. O'Brien and the boys playing after Mr. O'Brien leaves on his trip, there are several additional sequences. Jack's friend George Walsh (Dustin Allen) brings Jack into his house, which is messy and strange, with curtains drawn and furniture covered in cloth. As the boys start to throw things around, Mrs. Walsh (Robin Read) is shown aimlessly wandering through the house in a dressing gown, ignoring what they're doing. Jack and George are then shown playing with a knife. Jack asks where George's father is and the film cuts to George walking through an overgrown garden and then being thrown into a greenhouse. His father (Ben Chaplin) then begins to aggressively mock him, comparing the size of their arms, and ranting about the world being a frog pond. He then accuses George of not giving the dog water and places a hammer under his chin, asking "what stops your hands from turning into fins?" This scene is followed by Jack running home and hugging Mrs. O'Brien, as Mr. Walsh locks George in the basement (03:03).
Immediately after the above sequence, there is another additional sequence. Jack is shown playing with some rocks on his bed and Mrs. O'Brien is in the kitchen when the wind suddenly starts to blow. As dogs bark, it gets louder and wilder, causing concern for everyone in the house. As it continues to get stronger, Mrs. O'Brien and the children are shown trying to get windows and doors shut as people are shown running outside. It then starts to rain, and a power cable falls into the street, still live. The O'Brien's are shown listening to a weather report on the radio as the lights go out. This is followed by several shots of a massive hurricane moving across the land and the O'Brien's sheltering in their basement with a candle. Jack then wakes up to find the street and garden full of debris and broken trees. The O'Briens join the rest of the neighborhood in the clean-up job, as an elderly man talks about the storm; "downtown's gone. 114 dead." Various shots show the O'Brien children trying to get a bicycle out of a tree, looking at an uprooted tree, finding (and playing with) a large fish in a garden, and Mrs. O'Brien cleaning the porch and tidying the house (05:30).
The sequence of Jack, R.L., and Steve getting up to mischief with their friends is longer. Led by Robert (Bryce Boudoin), we see them roughhousing, tormenting a snail by putting rocks in front of it, chasing girls with a frog, knocking a nest from a roof, taking equipment from a shed and destroying it (when Steve points out it isn't theirs, he's told, "if you don't take something, you're not going to get it"), trying to feed the O'Briens' dog a tortoise and instead giving it to a neighbored dog, and stealing from a vegetable patch in a garden and then destroying the patch (02:40).
The scene where Jack walks around Mrs. Kimball's house is longer, and shows him looking at a birdcage (00:36).
Right after Jack says, "what have I started? What have I done?", there is an additional sequence showing him running his hand along the surface of a puddle, playing with R.L., and getting out of a bath. When his mother approaches him in the bathroom, he closes the door in her face (00:14).
After the scene where Jack tries to roughhouse it with R.L., and R.L. fights back, there is a scene where Jack asks R.L. "you forgive me?" and R.L. says he does. This is followed by a scene where R.L. is playing a clarinet, and Jack grabs it and runs off. R.L. isn't happy and tries to get it back, but Jack refuses to hand it over, and eventually R.L. just walks away. Next there is a scene of Jack getting into a fight in school, then a scene in Mr. Reynolds's (Nicolas Gonda) class where Jack is ignoring everything and scribbling on his notebook. This is followed by a scene of Reynolds trying to get to the bottom of why Jack has started doing so bad in school, then a scene of Reynolds explaining to Mrs. O'Brien that Jack wouldn't complete a painting because "he was afraid it might be wrong." Mrs. O'Brien then speaks to the principal (Freddie Joe), who tells her he was caught copying a report on Egypt from the World Book, he regularly disrupts the class, and he can't handle criticism. Speaking of his own father, the principal says that the threat of a smack can do wonders for a disruptive child. This is followed by Mrs. O'Brien and Jack driving home, and Jack lamenting, "I always do stupid things. I want to be little again". The sequence ends with a scene of the three boys playing around the base of a tree (03:59).
After the scene where Mr. O'Brien returns home, there is a scene showing Jack destroying the Deutschmark that Mr. O'Brien gave him by pushing it into a fan. This is followed by a scene of Mr. O'Brien telling Jack about his reaction to Jack's birth; "I went out and danced on the lawn, shot off my service revolver." He then criticizes Jack's lack of drive, saying "I make sacrifices for you. Honour those sacrifices by what you do." Mr. O'Brien then shows jack the official seal of his own company, which he had to leave after getting "hepatitis from drinking unpasteurized beer in China." He then talks about how he didn't get an education, but Jack will, saying, "I can redeem myself, you're my freedom." This is followed by a sequence of Mr. O'Brien and the boys walking around town, and Mr. O'Brien getting into an argument with a landlord (Bernie Leuders). The film then cuts to the restaurant scene from the Theatrical Cut, but the scene opens with Mr. O'Brien complaining about how long their last meal took, before turning on the charm with the waitress, much to Jack's disdain (03:16).
Immediately after the restaurant scene, there is a scene where Mr. O'Brien takes the boys swimming in the lake, but there is still palpable tension between him and Jack (00:34).
Prior to the scene of Jack walking with the tin cans tied to his feet, there is an additional scene showing Mrs. O'Brien speaking on the phone. Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien then sit Jack down, saying it's important to them that he get the best education possible, so they've decided to send him to boarding school. They promise they'll still see him on weekends and vacations, but Jack gets up and storms out. There is then a scene where a melancholy Mrs. O'Brien points out that Jack isn't getting along with his father or his classmates, so going away is the best option. The sequence ends with some shots of Mrs. O'Brien cleaning (02:03).
After the O'Briens are shown leaving their house, there is a sequence of Jack in boarding school. He is shown in the library, in a science class room, looking at maps, interacting with other students, smiling as he watches the sun, making friends, striking up a rapport with a girl, playing sports. Mrs. O'Brien's voiceover "The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by. Do good to them. Wonder. Hope.", which occurs over the montage of the family moving house in the Theatrical Cut, happens here in the Extended Cut (01:35).
Immediately after the above addition, there is a scene of Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien on the lakeside, holding onto one another (00:24).
In the final montage, right before the shot of the two mummified bodies, there are two additional shots; one of adult Jack walking around a derelict building, and one of a young girl walking in the desert (00:11).
Later in the sequence, after Jack is shown entering a heavy wooden door, there are two additional shots; a group of people walking from the darkness of a barn to the light outside, and a woman taking the hand of a child (00:05).
The scene on the beach has multiple new shots; Jack is shown kissing the feet of the woman who walks towards him, and there are several shots of some of the people from Jack's past, including his childhood friends, Mrs. Walsh, the angry prisoner (00:14).
The shots of adult Jack and his father walking on the beach have been reversed - in the Theatrical Cut, they are shown from behind, then in front. In the Extended Cut, we see them from the front, then behind.
Right before the last shot of the bridge, there is an additional scene of Jack approaching his home, with his wife seen taking her shoes off in the upper window and his son working in the kitchen (00:14).
At the end of the theatrical credits, there are some additional credits for the people involved in the Extended Cut, including cast members who only appeared in this version (00:42).

Connections
Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.18 (2011)

Soundtracks
Funeral Canticle
Written by John Tavener and Mother Thekla
Performed by George Mosley, Paul Goodwin and The Academy of Ancient Music
Courtesy of Harmonia Mundi USA

User reviews1.1K

Review

Featured review

Great in specific moments but ultimately doesn't come together as a whole and is surprisingly pretentious at times

The occasional films of Terrance Malick are something that many look forward to because the man is an artist and his films are often touched with that aspect rather than being what they appear to be at first glance. I always remember how taken I was by The Thin Red Line – a film I did not know was his and one I watched expecting it to be a competing film with Saving Private Ryan; I loved it and it stayed with me for some time. So I came to Tree of Life knowing what to expect (or at least knowing not to expect a "normal" story) and I was quite looking forward to it.

Although at times it far from it, most of the film follows a rough narrative that is a lot more sturdy than I expected. In 2011 a man is recalling his childhood as he reflects on the death of his brother many years ago when he was 19. These memories are of a harsh father and a loving mother and they are preceded by the birth of the universe, the evolution of life from single celled organisms, dinosaurs being kind to one another and the adult son stumbling around in what appears to be a desert. The official line is that Malick is a genius and that this film is a meditation over life and spirituality and I have read far too many reviews where those that love it gush generally about it while those that hate it are dismissed as being idiots and having an IQ of penguin weather levels. It doesn't help this massive split in opinion that Malick doesn't appear to give a tinker's cuss what you think – he is making the films he wants to make the way he wants to make them.

The first 40 minutes is the real tester and if you are loving the film after them, then you'll love the whole film. For the majority of the first hour we have lots of whispering voices saying profound things, lots of universe-creating explosions and shots of planets and life forming. We also have a terribly pointless moment walking with dinosaurs. All of this plays out under operatic music which practically screams "look how epic and beautiful all this stuff is". As it is at the start of the film, there is no real context for it and you really do have to trust Malick at this point – although that is not to say that he will reward your trust if you stick with it. For me this part of the film was overlong and really added very little once it had gone on for so long.

After this we get to the heart of the film for me, which is the memories of the family. As individual moments, the majority of these memories are great and well delivered – telling us a lot about the adult son even though we've barely seen him. I enjoyed many of these moments because they were naturally written, consistent, had characters that rang true and engaged me and were really well acted by all involved (Pitt in particular seems to totally "get" his character). However, as a narrative linking back to the adult son, it doesn't work as a whole for me and at the end of the film we are spat back out into another beautifully shot but pretentiously delivered moment of spirituality and "beauty" where the adult son learns we are all connected, are all part of the universe, are all loved or, to be honest, whatever lesson the specific viewer wants to take – as with a lot of art, things are wide open to be interpreted however you like. For me personally I only found visual beauty in these parts of the film, while in the family parts I only specific moments that worked really well, but nothing that joins it all up.

I wanted to be drawn in by it but at times it seems deliberately difficult and for many viewers (myself included) the film will come across as pretentious. The whispers and shots of nature that worked so well for me in Thin Red Line, mostly smacked of artsy navel gazing at best and out and out pretentious waffle at worst – and sadly, as a whole, this is how I took the film. I will stress though that the majority of the film is focused on the family in the 1950's and that these scenes all worked for me as individual scenes, which meant I enjoyed the film when there, but looking back on it I do have to say it never even slightly came together as a total package for me and I didn't really want to think about the wider spiritual parts because I felt so alienated from so many of them by the overdone music and the many shots of "beauty" and "meaning".

The Tree of Life, like many of Malick's films, is not for everyone, and in this case I unfortunately am one of those on the outside. It has a lot to like about it and I really liked the core of the film in the specific moment, but when I looked to the film to expand for me beyond any of the specific memories, it just didn't – instead I got dinosaurs petting one another, overly earnest opera, Sean Penn touching someone's feet on a beach and lots of shots of nature and beauty. Worth a look for the experience and the strengths in the core, but you may find yourself with me and be unable to see the awesome film that so many others are gushing over.