Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life

[Will 2,215]

On 7/26/2017 at 11:38 AM, Disco Stu said:

Maybe Will isn't old enough to relate to such existential worries!

 

Quite the contrary -- I probably think about that stuff more than anyone else on this board! Philosophy has taken up considerable portions of my thoughts since I started reading books on the subject several months ago. 

 

And, actually, I have started to appreciate the film more after reading this analysis, which suggests that the film should be viewed as a philosophical thesis (something I should be able to appreciate!) For example, I now see the dinosaur scene as perhaps the most interesting in the movie, after being unable to understand what was going on when I was watching. 

 

The nature vs. grace thing is really quite interesting to ponder (for example, whether grace is really an outgrowth of "nature," or whether it is its own "force") and fits in well with a lot of the reading I've been doing recently. Unfortunately, because this is a film, Malick doesn't explain his reasoning in as much detail as I would like -- he sets out a thesis but doesn't really defend it thoroughly, leaving much to the viewer to figure out, which was probably the point. However, as a poster noted in the thread I linked to above, Malick was a professor of philosophy and likely thought about his thesis for years before deciding to put it into a film, so it deserves significant respect. I might have preferred a book from Malick on the subject (at least until I "connect" with the film more, which may or may not happen at a later time), but because of its presence in the film this is not a movie I'll forget anytime soon.