MY FAVOURITE MOVIE OF THE DECADE
Terrence Malick's ambitious opus- The Tree of Life.
It deals with the themes of existentialism, mortality and the questioning of faith.
It's NOT nihilistic or about criticism of religion. Rather it's an extremely "Christian" movie but it does put forward some questions, hard-hitting questions about faith. Asking God,
"Where are you?"
"Why am I here?"
The dreamlike imagery will seem unfathomable to some but strike the chord with people of certain wavelength.
In "The Tree of Life," Malick boldly begins with the Big Bang and ends in an unspecified state of attenuated consciousness after death. The central section is the story of birth and raising a family.
Firstly, it's one of most unique movies I've ever watched. The minimalist dialogue, mostly narrative and philosophical musings allows Terrence Malick to weave his magic through his stunning visual cinematography and camera work.
The reason this movie is so close to my heart because I related to the story so much. An authoritative father, a meek religious mother, the relationship between the siblings is exactly like me and my brother too. The decisions he makes, I've found myself in the same situations and the questioning of faith after my first exposure to death of loved one. It's just too relatable.
Although the most relatable movie for me is still Annie Hall, which is literally a biography of my character. 😂
Not every movie has a captivating plot. But this movie had substance, which would make you ponder about the deepest unanswered questions in life which are subdued in our busy lifes and that's what makes it so amazing.
Kind of like The Turin Horse, which is shattering and fills you with nihilism without even using dialogues!!!
As the Guardian put it,
"The Tree of Life is about the inner crisis of a tormented man in his middle years and the terrible unchangeability of the past. As this man briefly forces himself to consider his own negligible place in the universe, the film gestures at the unimaginable reaches of geological and stellar time, depicting nothing less than the origins of the cosmos and man himself in a colossal Kubrickian symphony of images."
The movie starts with the mother telling her kids,
"The nuns taught us there are two ways through life, the way of Nature and the way of Grace. You have to choose which one you'll follow."
"No one who choses the way of Grace ever comes to a bad end."
Here, way of nature is the unforgiving and indifferent universe, slowly consuming itself and everything within it and drifting towards it's inevitable death.
And the way of Grace is devotion and submission towards God. To act selflessly, modestly and be forgiving.
But why should we be faithful to God in such an unforgiving and cruel world where horrific things happen to people of virtue?
Then son's rebellion towards God happens.
"Why should I be good? If you're not."
It's not implying everyone should be evil. But what is the incentive for being good? Since there's no such thing as heaven. There's no divine reward waiting for us.
Malick also ingeniously quotes the most appropriate verse from the Bible for this movie from the Book of Job. Job was a noble and righteous man with unfaltering faith in God. But Satan argued, the faith is only there because Job has been blessed. Thus, God tests him by putting him through adversities, snatching away every fortune he had and afflicting him with disease.
But Job's faith remains steadfast.
The film’s message is that the only way to find happiness in this unfair world is by following the way of Grace, it need not mean following a certain religion rather as the Mother puts it,
"The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by. Do good to them. Wonder. Hope."
Also Terrence Malick is an underrated genius. He would have been more popular if only his movies weren't inscrutable to the masses.
