The Tree of Life

I would dare to say that Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life is like no other film you have seen or will see in years.  It tries to encompass all the mysteries of the universe and yet focuses, like a microscope, on one suburban family in the 1950s.  Their life is shown beautifully, through images that make up Jack (Hunter McCracken), the oldest boy’s, memory.  There is no concrete plot, but we are not lost, confused or wondering what the point of all these images are.  It’s shown how most people would look back and remember their own childhood, even if it was not as idealistic as young Jack’s.

In the beginning of the film, we are shown images of Jack in the present as a successful middle aged man (Sean Penn), mixed with the memories of the tragic death of one of his brothers.  We are shown the contrasting reactions from his mother (Jessica Chastain) and father (Brad Pitt), the typical comforts and unhelpful words of neighbors, “Life goes on.  At least you still have the other two.”  We see the wind billowing thin white curtains, the sunlight through a tree, empty rooms featuring a perfect artifact from a common home of the period.  Each shot is completely different from the last, yet continuity is achieved.

Then the film shows beautifully organic masses, meant to portray the creation of the universe.  This feels both calm and incredibly intense at the same time.  We watch computer generated cosmos open up, lava flow over the earth, even a few dinosaurs are shown.  It is very much like a combination of  2001: A Space Odysey and The Rite of Spring in Fantasia, only in breath taking high definition.

Throughout the film, you will hear voices, sometimes whispering.  Usually it is young Jack, wondering out loud in a bit of an abstract prayer to God, “I want to know what you are.  Why should I be good?  When You aren’t.”  Other times it is the voice of his mother, usually with some subtle advice on life, and all its complexities, “Help each other.  Love everyone.  Every leaf.  Every ray of light.  Forgive.”  The film is better enjoyed if you keep an open mind and soak these words in, rather than scoff at their attempt to be profound.

Jack’s childhood is shown from the day he is born until he is a young teen.  There is none of the usual narration, that would be too simple.  Instead of anything being told to us, we are shown everything.  His interactions have very little dialogue, not because it doesn’t happen, but because it is not needed.

Through what we are shown, we understand that his mother is kind, loving and very in tune with nature, whereas his father has a much harder exterior, demanding respect, that chores being done right, and becoming a model of tough manhood for his sons.  We see the boys and mother rejoice in freedom while the father is gone and cower together at his outbursts.  Generations today might regard Pitt’s character as a villain or an unfit father, but in a typical family from the 1950s, this was very much how most fathers behaved.  Jack seems to understand this is just how it is.

The entire film is photographed beautifully, earning the film a nomination for Best Cinematography.  It feels so naturally free form, continuing the ideas of the abstract universe this all takes place in.  For indoor scenes, there is rarely any lighting other than the sunlight coming in from the windows.  This always brings out the natural beauty of these people, and they are rarely given a typical Hollywood style close up.  The way the camera captures them makes them look so soulful and real, like you’re looking into an old family album.

Now, I do not think The Tree of Life will entertain everyone, though I believe its nominations for Best Director and Best Picture are well deserved.  Some people will be very put off by the non-linear plot, lack of dialogue or how Sean Penn was a big part of the advertising campaign only to be a very small part in the whole film.  However, I do encourage everyone to give it a try.  Clear your mind, let it open up to everything you see and hear.  You might not be able to figure out any mysteries of the universe through The Tree of Life, but then again, it might be a step in the right direction.

“Do you trust in God?  Job too was close to the Lord.”

If The Academy is looking to award the film that dares to be existentially artful, the Oscar for Best Picture will go to The Tree of Life.

Mystic River

Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River is a thriller, wrapped in a murder mystery, guided by a haunting childhood experience.  Set in Boston, the film begins with three boys playing street hockey and lose their last ball in the storm drain.  With no game to play, young Jimmy finds some drying cement and a stick.  He writes his name, then Sean, timid Dave goes last, but only gets two letters in when a man interrupts, “You boys think it’s okay to destroy municipal property?”  Scared, the boys assume the man is a cop and he takes Dave away without much fuss.  Apparently, nobody gave these boys the “Stranger-Danger” talk.  From a minimum of words and images, we assess that young Dave was locked in a basement, sexually assaulted and escaped through the woods four days later.

Skip ahead twenty-five years and the boys are grown and have grown apart.  Jimmy (Sean Penn) is a remarried widower favoring his nineteen year old daughter from his previous marriage, Katie (Emmy Rossum).  He’s also a convenience store owner and spent two years in jail sixteen years ago.  Dave (Tim Robbins) is devoted to his son, playing catch with him everyday and taking him on walks through the old neighborhood.  Dave’s wife, Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden) is devoted to him, even though he can be distant.  Sean (Kevin Bacon) is a detective with Boston’s homicide department.  When Katie is found murdered after the same night Dave came home late covered in blood, the three lost boys are brought back together and we assume we know how everything will play out.

Sean Penn’s portrayal of Jimmy earned him the Oscar for lead actor.  He is able to pull off the family man side as well as the jail hardened man, seeking revenge on his daughter’s death.  His greatest moments are his depictions of grief with his face contorting in agony not even realizing he’s crying.  In the scene where Katie’s body is discovered, Penn raves, spits and wails like he’s going mad.  He becomes a frightening image and I’m not surprised that he requested an oxygen tank after shooting that scene.

In contrast, Tim Robbins won the Oscar for best supporting actor by playing Dave with a different kind of intensity.  He’s very calm, soft-spoken and seems distantly remorseful about Katie’s murder.  His horrible childhood experience has made him an enigma we’re afraid to touch.  It has caused him to become very close to his son and inspires bedtime stories of a boy escaping from wolves in the woods.  He’s very creepy and obviously messed up from his trauma, but is he dangerous?  And if so, to who?

I try not to give anything important away in my reviews, but I have to advise first time viewers not to assume anything right away.  I made the mistake of relaxing through the middle of the film, assuming the most obvious connections.  Because I had my mind set, the film felt sluggish for a while and when events started to turn I felt a little frantic, asking myself, “How did I not see that?”  Perhaps that’s what the plot is supposed to do, mislead you into a false sense of security then light a fire under your ass until the end.  Well played Mr. Eastwood.

“Sometimes I think, I think all three of us got in that car.”

Milk

Once again, it’s like my giant excel spreadsheet randomize button I hit months ago was a mystic fortune teller.  Here I am reviewing Milk days before Wear Purple Day, where I and thousands more will honor the memory of six young boys who took their own lives after persecution against their sexuality.

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man elected into any political office.  The film shows us the last eight years of his life, from a realization at forty that he had done nothing he was proud of, witnessing the homophobic San Francisco police brutalize his friends and neighbors, through his campaign struggles and his success at election.  But ultimately, he became a symbol and driving force behind the gay rights movement.

Sean Penn does not portray Harvey as some daring, flaming hero, but rather a man who saw what needed to be done.  He witnessed first hand the persecutions the gay community endured and simply realized that they needed one of their own looking out for them.  It happened to be him and soon he was able to rally angry mobs together for one purpose, even when they were on the brink of a riot.  Penn does not mold Harvey around stereotypes, but gives us a smart, kind, funny and quirky person we would all like to know.  His romantic relationships are sprinkled in, but do not define him.

We are shown, sometimes though old bits of news footage, Harvey’s biggest opponents.  There is Anita Bryant, a ignorant religious conservative usually interviewed with a church in the background and validates herself with phrases like “laws of God” and “normal majority.”  She actually becomes a catalyst fueling anger and rallying the community further.  Harvey’s closest enemy is Dan White (Josh Brolin) a fellow Supervisor who ends up assassinating Harvey and the mayor.  Harvey keeps Dan close, trying to make an allay out of him and believes that Dan is a closeted homosexual himself.

One of the most moving scenes in the film is where a teenager from Minnesota calls Harvey. The call is very brief and commotion is all around Harvey, but the boy says that his parents are going to take him to a hospital to fix his homosexuality and he’s thinking about killing himself.  Harvey tells him to get away, run before this gets to him.  Only problem is that that boy is in a wheelchair.  We’re sure the boy is a goner, until he calls again over a year later, thanking Harvey for saving him.

I’ll admit, ever since his remake of Psycho, I have not been able to be a fan of Gus Van Sant.  But what he has done here with the story of Harvey Milk is wonderful and is needed in our society.  Those who feel lost or bullied because of their sexuality need to see this film.  They’re not the first to feel like this and need to know that people are and have been fighting for them.  And we’re not going to stop.

Harvey Milk is just one of countless casualties over the gay rights movement, but how many more will we let die with him?  How many more teenagers will we hear about committing suicide to escape a world where they are only bullied?  Parents, students and all citizens of the world need to take notice, stop the persecution and have respect.

“All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words.”