Film Review: The Tree Of Life [dir. Terrence Malick; 2011]

Where to start? So much has already been written and said about Malick’s latest that it seems pointless to add any more words to the debate, but for what it’s worth, my view is that this is a rare example of a film that genuinely deserves the adjective ‘bold’. With its presentation of an archetypal, Texan family’s life in the 50s and its fantastical diversions into documentary-style depictions of the birth of the universe (complete with dinosaurs) it is a unique portrayal of a singular, individualistic vision of the world. It has its fair share of mis-judged (some would say pretentious) moments, but it also conveys tremendous beauty and is frequently moving. Most remarkably, it reflects the fleeting, seemingly arbitrary, perplexing, heart-breaking and life-affirming nature of memory itself. A must-see, if ever there was one.