I saw the movie on the 16th. Here is my review
Some of the people in my theatre left after 15 min, other half way through the movie and some stayed until the end but were really really disappointed (a lots of "it sucks" "I didn't understand anything" etc..) There were surprisingly a lots of young people (ie teenagers) and those were, I think, the most disappointed ones. I guess they came for Pitt and Penn. When you'll see the movie you'll understand that if you only went to see it because of the 3 "leads" (who really aren't the leads for me) then you'll leave with somewhat a bitter taste in your mouth.. Argh it's so hard to write a review for this move without spoiling! The movie is not really what I was expecting (ie trailer) but at the same time it was (ie title).
The movie talks about everything related to life. Whether we are talking about human life or something else from the creation to the death. It deals with feeling we've all felt : confusion, anger, disappointment, shame, hurt, happiness, grief, fear, jealousy, desire of rebellion, desire to be seen and heard, .. It follow the life of this family, not only of a son or a father. It shows how everything, every action, every feeling, every decision are linked and have impact on our surrounding. There is this huge contrast between Nature, nature which is untamed, majestic, wild and men, men who try to control themselves, to live through some sort of discipline but at the same times men who try to come to term with the fact that they love, they fail, they get hurt sometimes and when they are down some can still come over and kick them in the face. I think there are movies and then there is the Tree of Life. There are directors and then there is Terrence Malick. I've never felt that way after seeing a movie. So many of the questions which were asked in the movie went through my mind before. I am not a very religious person but every single quotation from the bible (the ones coming from the actual Bible were very few!!!) found an echo into my mind. The voiceover, I think some people disliked it well I believe it was the strenght of the movie, it was what made it unique and so powerful. The voiceover was a plead, a plead to God for something, anything. Malick brought the best of its actors because they didn't speak much, because there were a lots of close up (you can't cheat with close up + no dialogue). Every words had a meaning, when you'll see the movie, if you like it/get it you'll realize that no additional words were needed.
Pitt was..incredible. I've never thought he was a great actor, just a good & smart one but here he was pure genius. He showed he as talent, he showed he has layers and he showed he deserves to belong to those A-list people. Penn, he maybe had 30min max in the whole movie and 3 lines but it's his best performance so far. He plays the lost man like no other and the child. The children are actually the true star, the ones you'll see the most (along with Earth and the Universe), the one who have the most dialogue with the mom.. Talking about her, oh gosh. What an actress! I felt very close to that family because I somewhat had similar parents. I don't know if it helped me to understand it/enjoy it more.
The cinematrography.. 3 words : out of this world (guys you'll see dinosaurs). The music spot on, perfect, tear-worthy and the directing/editing was just perfect. I don't know, right now I can't think about anything negative because every single weird thing (Penn speaking 3 lines) had a reason and brought something to the movie.
This was an out of this world movie, a masterpiece, something like I've never seen before and probably never will. It touched my heart beyond words and I am sure it didn't only touch mine. Yes some people left but a few of us stayed there, glued to our seat even when the end credits rolled. We just couldn't believe what we saw and felt.
