7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.9 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
The impressionistic story of a Midwestern family in the 1950's following the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.
Starring: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, Sean Penn, Tye Sheridan, Fiona ShawDrama | 100% |
Period | 29% |
Surreal | 20% |
Epic | 13% |
Imaginary | 10% |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.84:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 kbps)
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (1 BD, 2 DVDs)
Digital copy (on disc)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
Director Terrence Malick is indisputably the Thomas Pynchon of moviemaking; he’s legendarily press-shy, he doesn't put out new work often, and when he does, his audience expects a weighty artistic statement, something dense to parse, puzzle over, and appreciate during the long wait for the next one. Although we might not be waiting too long this time around—Malick’s upcoming film, The Burial, is now reportedly in the editing stage—his most recent opus, the Palm d’Or-winning Tree of Life, is his grandest cinematic declaration yet, a flawed-but-monumental effort that takes us from the birth of the cosmos and guides us through the very end of time. Somewhere in between, it hones in on a boy growing up in Texas during the 1950s, competing for the affections of his angelic mother with his domineering, show-no-emotion father. It’s a narratively elliptical film of great ambition, and like all art that strives for the transcendent, it has and will be accused of being pretentious, slow, symbolically bloated, a waste of time, or worse. Don’t heed the haters. It’s not quite the all-encompassing masterpiece Malick wants it to be, but if you’re drawn to high-concept cinema or auteur visions of the world, The Tree of Life is an unparalleled experience. This is the kind of film that will still be watched fifty years from now with the same awe, feeling, and admiration.
Jack
If Tree of Life's director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki (Children of Men) doesn't win the Academy Award next year for best cinematography, then something is seriously awry in Hollywood. Whatever you think about the content of the film, you can't say it isn't staggeringly beautiful from start to finish. It usually doesn't take me very long to take screenshots for these reviews, but with Tree of Life I was faced with a gorgeous, desktop wallpaper-worthy high definition image in nearly every frame. (As a testament, I've included 40 screengrabs, rather than our standard 20, in the screenshots section.) And other than the fact that I noticed two or three tiny white specks on the print over the course of nearly two and a half hours, I can't find any real fault with the 1080p/AVC-encoded, 1.85:1-framed picture Fox has assembled for this Blu-ray release. Shot predominately on 35mm, with some of the "evolution" scenes filmed using IMAX-ready 65mm cameras, the film retains it's natural grain structure and integrity here, with no visible evidence of DNR or edge enhancement. You may notice that grain is a bit heavier than it would be in a more glossy film, but this is a product of the way Tree of Life was shot--on location and almost entirely with natural lighting, which necessitates "faster" film stock. With this in mind, clarity is excellent. Fine detail is easily visible in the actors' faces, and the period clothing is wonderfully defined in closeups. Any softness seems due to the fact that the film was predominately shot using darting, sweeping Steadicam movements, which means focus isn't always precise. What impresses most is the rich, painterly color palette; everything looks realistic but amplified, poeticized, with great use of light and shadow and the balanced contrast to back it all up on Blu-ray. Black levels are deep without putting stress on shadow detail, and there are no clipped highlights or general overexposure. The encode is solid too, with no overt compression artifacts or other troubles. This will definitely be one of, if not the, best-looking releases of the year.
You know you're in for a true audio experience when a disclaimer pops up before the movie begins stating that the filmmakers suggest you should keep the volume loud. Malick has always used sound as a thematic signifier--especially in The Thin Red Line and The New World--and Tree of Life is no different, featuring a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track that's thoughtfully designed, a perfect balance of the powerful and the delicate. As you can imagine from a film that depicts the beginning of the cosmos, the end of the Earth, and the general power of nature by way of volcanic explosions and pounding waterfalls, the subwoofer gets plenty of chances to rumble and throb. But the track also excels in the realism of its quieter moments--the sound of waves and gulls squawking in the rear channels, wind rustling through curtains and leaves and tall grass, crickets see-sawing the night away. Each location has its own sense of ambience and acoustics. Throughout, voices are clear and easy to understand, both the interior narration and the dialogue between characters. And then, of course, there's the epic soundtrack, which features original music by Alexandre Desplat--who has most recently done scores for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The King's Speech--along with nearly forty classical pieces, from piano interludes to full-blast operatic requiems. The film is wall-to-wall music, and it all sounds wonderful here-- dynamic, rich, and expressive. Follow the disclaimer's instructions and crank your receiver up a few notches past your usual listening levels; you'll definitely appreciate the additional volume.
The lone special feature of note on the disc is the Exploring the Tree of Life behind-the-scenes piece (1080p, 29:56), but thankfully it's a good one, including substantive interviews with the film's producers and stars, along with production designer Jack Fisk, costume designer Jacqueline West, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, and composer Alexandre Desplat. The notoriously press-shy Malick is nowhere to be seen--as expected--but David Fincher and Christopher Nolan show up to discuss the influence that the director has had on their own work. The only only other entry under the "Extras" tab is the film's theatrical trailer (1080p, 2:08), which is a brilliantly cut example of editing that sells the film perfectly.
So much more could be written—and that's the mark of a truly great movie—but I'll leave it at this: The Tree of Life is the best new film I've seen so far this year. It's not for everyone, but if you're patient and appreciate the very idea of ambitious, high-concept cinema, this piece of poetic/philosophical gristle will give you plenty to chew on until Malick's next film comes out. It also makes for a superlative Blu-ray experience, with a striking high definition and pristine lossless audio. Highly recommended!
1984
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1978
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2018
2004
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1963
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1987
2012
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Der Himmel über Berlin
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1999