Plot: The film shows how the formative years of 2 among 3 kids of a strict suppressive father can get influenced and when the suppression crosses a limit, the elder kid goes in search for the answer on what death is;who god is;why can't he stop being cruel and the likes. Years later, the younger brother seeks answers for the same.
Highlights:
- The positives first. The crazy camera angles and the abrupt cuts employed make this film a worthwhile watch! So does the premise that the film sets.
- The portions where the elder kid grows and the youngsters are born and how they grow together, how issues with the father's sadistic nature affect the family etc. are captured brilliantly by Terrence Malick.
- Brad Pitt, in scenes displaying his fury, and the elder kid act superbly. The background opera-type music provides an apt background.
- On the negative side, I couldn't understand anything on the 'evolution of earth' scenes. They made no sense to me as they did not seem to carry any scientific logic either.
- Ditto on the scenes involving Sean Penn.
- The climax reminded me of The Seventh Seal and 81/2 both of which I never liked much & both come in The Tree of Life's related films category at IMDb (No surprises there!)
Tiresome, Confusing but Worth a watch for the childhood sequences.
