Featured Film: THE TREE OF LIFE

The Tree of Life - is a 2011 American drama with experimental elements written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Sean Penn, Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain. Malick's film chronicles the origins and meaning of life by way of a middle-aged man's childhood memories of his family living in 1950s Texas, interspersed with imagery of the origins of the universe and the inception of life on Earth. After decades in development and missed 2009 and 2010 release dates, the film premiered in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or. The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews for its technical and artistic merits, but there were also polarizing reactions in response to Malick's directorial style and, in particular, the film's fragmented non-linear narrative.

The film opens with a quotation from the Book of Job, when God asks, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation ... while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" A mysterious, wavering light that resembles a flame emerges. The image is Thomas Wilfred's "Opus 161" from the collection of Eugene and Carol Epstein of Los Angeles, CA. In voiceover, Mrs. O'Brien (Jessica Chastain) recalls the lesson taught to her that people must choose to either follow the path of grace or the path of nature. The film then cuts to Mrs. O'Brien, as she receives a telegram informing her of her son's death at age 19. Mr. O'Brien (Brad Pitt) is notified by telephone. The family is thrown into turmoil.

In the present day, Jack O'Brien (Sean Penn) is adrift in his modern life as an architect. When he sees a tree being planted in front of a building, he begins the central reminiscence of the film.   The film cuts to a dramatization of the formation of the universe. As the galaxies expand and planets are formed, Jack's voice is heard asking various existential questions. At other points in the film, these questions and observations are voiced by other members of his family, as well as his younger self. On the newly formed Earth, volcanoes erupt and microbes begin to form. Eventually, the camera settles on a beach, where it reveals an Elasmosaurus lying with a fatal gash on its side. In a forest, a young Parasaurolophus is wary of predators. Later on a riverbank, the Parasaurolophus lies wounded. A Troodon emerges and examines the wounded dinosaur. The Troodon places its foot on the Parasaurolophus' neck, preparing for the kill, but then reconsiders after watching it struggle. The predator wanders off.   In a sprawling neighborhood in Waco, Texas, the O'Briens are reintroduced. The young couple are enthralled by baby Jack and, later, his two brothers. The film settles on the family as Jack (Hunter McCracken) reaches adolescence, and is faced with the conflict of accepting the way of grace or nature, as embodied by each of his parents. Mrs. O'Brien (grace) is gentle, nurturing, and authoritative, presenting the world to her children as a place of wonder. Mr. O'Brien (nature) is strict, authoritarian, and easily loses his temper as he struggles to reconcile his love for his sons with wanting to prepare them for a world he sees as corrupt and exploitative. He laments his decision to become an engineer rather than pursue his passion of becoming a musician, and now pursues dreams of wealth by filing patents for various inventions.

One summer, Mr. O'Brien takes a trip around the world in an effort to commercialize his inventions. While he is away, the boys enjoy unfettered access to their mother, and Jack experiences the first twinges of rebelliousness. Goaded by other boys his age, Jack commits acts of vandalism and animal abuse. He later trespasses into a neighbor's house and steals her underwear. Jack is confused by his experiments with violence and experiences guilt, throwing the stolen underwear into a river to rid himself of it. Mr. O'Brien returns home, having failed to sell any of his inventions. Shortly thereafter his plant closes and he is given the option of staying with the company and relocating to work a stable yet unfulfilling job, or be terminated. Mr. O'Brien agrees to the transfer and he and his family pack up to move. Mr. O'Brien laments the course his life has taken, questioning whether he has been a good enough person. He reconciles with Jack, asking forgiveness for his harsh treatment of him.

The film shows the end of life on planet Earth, with the planet being first burnt to cinders by the sun when it has turned into a red giant and then left alone as a desolate, lifeless frozen place still orbiting around the sun, which by that time has turned into a feeble white dwarf.   The film returns to the adult Jack leaving work in the present day. Riding the elevator down he experiences a vision of walking on rocky terrain, possibly at the end of time and life itself. He tentatively walks through a wooden door frame which is erected on the rocks. On a sandbar, Jack is reunited with his family and all the people who populate his memory. His father is happy to see him. His mother is overjoyed when Jack's memory resurrects his dead brother. She thanks Jack, kissing his arm twice. Jack's vision ends and he leaves his building smiling. The film ends with the same mysterious, wavering light from the opening.