The story is set in the 1950s, centered on a family with three boys, interspersed with the life feelings of the eldest son in the present time and space, and narrated the life of family members from the bereavement. The story of the film is very simple, and there are basically no dramatic factors, only some simple and natural life fragments. As an adult, Jack started his own company, but he groped like a headless fly in contemporary life. He hoped to change the face of society and other people's ideas, but in the end his dream came true. The film unfolded in his memory. His mother taught him to win the world with love, and his father told him that he must be strong to get ahead, and he must be strong to make people sit up and take notice of you. Both parents want Jack to obey himself. In this contradictory view of education, Jack began to lose himself. Finally, Jack finally understood the true meaning of life and understood love, truth, beauty and goodness. Jack finally found that at the starting point of cognition-family, he learned the origin of self-awareness and his love for the world.
The memory of adult Jack is his own growth history, and fragmentary fragments cannot form a linear narrative structure. Although the tree of life defines publicity and distribution as drama, I think it is not just a simple narrative drama, but a film close to the essence of the film, which also leads it to the extreme of being praised and belittled. If you like it, be a classic; if you don't like it, be booed. Many people said that the film didn't express the story clearly. I don't think, maybe it doesn't express the story clearly like Citizen Kane, and it doesn't have the fast-paced and clear story vein like Let the Bullets Fly, but the story itself is about the self-salvation of Little Jack in two contradictory educations.
Director Malik is a Christian, and this work also has strong theological thoughts. At the beginning of the film, the words "Nuns teach us that there are two ways to live, one is to conform to nature, and the other is to be merciful" and "Nature makes us just want to have fun and hope to control our own destiny ... Even if the road ahead is bright and surrounded by deep love, there are also dark corners and misfortunes". I'm not a Christian. Forgive my impatience and impatience at first, and I can't pay attention to why the author arranged these lines. But I saw the director's thinking about human nature in these quiet pictures. Today, with the proliferation of commercial films, Malik still works slowly, without deliberate film audio-visual language and editing shots. Everything is so natural and ethereal that a soul that has fallen into the dust feels its own smallness in an instant. Malik, who is studying philosophy at Harvard University, doesn't like showing his face, appearing in a mirror or taking photos, and enjoys nature safely.
There are nearly 20 minutes of column pictures similar to "Man and Nature" in the film, and many people express contempt and say that this is a naked documentary. I am very sad to watch film reviews in Douban, this impetuous world, this materialistic world of quick success and instant benefit. I saw this comment on Time.com: Let go of prejudice for a while, let the flood of beauty wash away your teenager's arrogance and return to the lost life. From fireworks in the dark to elegant creatures in the deep sea, from the growth of micro-cells and the mystery of atoms to the explosion of the universe and the eruption of volcanoes, from clear snowfields to golden deserts, from quiet forests to turbulent seas, from veils flying to doors in light and shadow, that out-and-out beauty is shocking. The MV, made up of thousands of beautiful pictures, is a perfect combination of light, shadow and color. Every picture is breathtaking, and every perspective is novel and independent, which brings viewers enjoyment and thinking. In my opinion, the pictures made by CG at the beginning and end of the film are far less beautiful than the natural landscape and the smiles when they are together. Film is not only the art of narration, but also the art of light and shadow. If it is good enough and thoughtful, it is also a good movie.
As for the so-called Oedipus plot, I am not a director and dare not jump to conclusions. Everyone has that kind of self-awareness when he grows up, and he doesn't want his mother to give more love to others, just like Jack's desire and loss in his eyes when he asks his mother who he loves most and her mother says I love you three. Freud may be right, and this psychological thinking may be deliberately maintained in the film. Young Jack said to his father in his mind, "Why don't you die? She will only love me. " I don't know how to explain the intense hostility and Oedipus plot
The tree of life is like a small tree planted by Jack and his father when he was a child. His mother said, "You will grow up with him". In the film, the orange sunlight always appears through the cracks in the leaves and falls on the green grass. In the smiling face of the child, it seems to tell the audience that this is life and this is hope. The last beach full of people actually appears repeatedly in the film, sometimes alone, sometimes as a family, and finally, there are many, many people, everyone who appears in his life. Because everyone in life exists, we have enough strength to meet the sunset and reach the end of life. I think this is what Malik passed on to us with his 30-year idea. Whether it is life, the universe or questioning God, please embrace everything with love and discover the poetic beauty in life.
"Life is like a cloud, like autumn grass, like trees. Is this a scam at the moment when the universe is impermanent? Who can live forever, we can't rest on our laurels and must move forward bravely. " Malik used his philosophical thoughts to interpret Christianity and life.