Terrence Malick’s film The Tree of Life uses a unique mixture of linear and avant-garde techniques to prove his philosophy that everything in the universe is formed through both nature and through grace. On one hand, the film explores the dynamics of a family living in 1950’s American Suburbia, yet it also explores the vastness of the universe, from its mysterious creation to its glorious demise, and countless moments in between. Though a linear Hollywood film might make these events out to be clearly driven by cause and effect, Malick’s film is not connected by logic but by the abstract qualities of each image and the distortion of time continuity that allow the audience to see how everything from cosmos to microorganisms, and dinosaurs to family life, are connected through the paths of nature and grace.
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Malick was incredibly meticulous about how this film was shot; natural light was used exclusively, and typical shooting practices like zooms, pans, and tilts were prohibited. He often used static shots, sometimes uncomfortably close to the subject, that make the viewer very aware of the film process, but also invite deeper audience thought about the psychological realities of the characters. An example of this occurs early in the film when Mr. O’Brien is telling his wife his regrets, and the camera is positioned at an odd angle, below and mere inches from his face. This shot is more powerful than it might first appear, because although Mr. O’Brien represents the path of nature for most of the film, this invasive close-up allows the viewer to see his humanity and traces of grace and compassion that have shaped him and his regrets. Another abstract element of this film is its rather asynchronous score. Throughout most of a lengthy montage depicting the life of the universe, classically religious choral music is
Malick was incredibly meticulous about how this film was shot; natural light was used exclusively, and typical shooting practices like zooms, pans, and tilts were prohibited. He often used static shots, sometimes uncomfortably close to the subject, that make the viewer very aware of the film process, but also invite deeper audience thought about the psychological realities of the characters. An example of this occurs early in the film when Mr. O’Brien is telling his wife his regrets, and the camera is positioned at an odd angle, below and mere inches from his face. This shot is more powerful than it might first appear, because although Mr. O’Brien represents the path of nature for most of the film, this invasive close-up allows the viewer to see his humanity and traces of grace and compassion that have shaped him and his regrets. Another abstract element of this film is its rather asynchronous score. Throughout most of a lengthy montage depicting the life of the universe, classically religious choral music is