Sunday 10 July 2011

It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it.

Tree of Life (2011)
Chosen by me as I like to go to the cinema a lot.


Willfully almost perversely obtuse The Tree of Life is a fascinating but frustrating experience.
A hushed sombre voice-over intones meaningless platitudes over images that seem unrelated to anything.
We are often giving scenes lacking vital information (I was unclear until checking the credits which kid was meant to be Sean Penn, the film's dialogue is largely irrelvant and I can't recall if anyone is ever mentioned by name) leaving fleeting sometimes haunting snatches of life.
It is, as ever with Malick, achingly beautiful. Tying a families grief and life into the very birth of the world itself may seem a stretch to far (the screening I was at had a few walk outs, that's for sure) but it allows for a poetic, off-kilter experience unlike anything else you're liable to see at the cinema this year.

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