Content #2

WOW! AMAZING! FINALLY! Now I’ve gotten somewhere with this movie. After reading “Terrence Malick’s Insufferable Masterpiece” I got a better understanding of “The Tree of Life”. The whispering sound that I had no idea about previously is God talking to Job, which is the story on the book of Job Professor Devine, explained to the class in the beginning of the film. Of course I still don’t understand the purpose of the light in the beginning of the film, as the concept wasn’t explained entirely. I understand why I didn’t understand the film the first time I watched it because it was in fact all over the place as explained in this article. Malick’s whole vision was for viewers to understand his life as a child. But, if I can remember my experiences as a child most of them are blurry; it’s funny to say that I do only remember being mischievous as a child. I don’t really have any positive memories or experiences as a child; which clearly goes for Malick as well. However, the dinosaur aspect of the film wasn’t explained and I’m very interested in seeing what critics have to say about that particular part of the film. I also found it very interesting that I couldn’t follow the film because the motion of the camera that the film was shot in, as stated in the article the film director never has the camera standing on a tripod throughout the entire film which is very interesting. I think that Malick was trying to get readers to be in his shoes as a child. Also it’s interesting that there barely was any speaking throughout the film, the little bit of words that were spoken wasn’t as significant as the symbols displayed and the actions enacted.

Content #1

As taught in Film Lit class the beginning of films help understand the meaning of an entire film. The beginning of the film “Tree of Life” is an image of some sort of light, once the light is waved around for some time a voice enters in the background. I’m not quite sure that I remember what the voice says but, the voice is very low and whispering. I’m not quite sure what the light means as I do not know why Malick decided to open his film with this light. I do know the detonative meaning of light, is something bright which equals a positive meaning. From the title of the film “Tree of Light” I can only assume that the bright light means a bright life. After reading the article “LUMIA” it seems as though the purpose of this light is different for everyone that views the film. Zinman states, “We make something for you to interpret in your head, so that everybody sees a different light show”. In other words the light can mean just about anything it’s all about the way you interpret the light. The light can possibly be a design, special effects, or something to grasp the film viewer’s attention.

Early Watching

After watching a Tree of Life I was in utter shock. I had no idea what in the world I just watched. I felt like I was in the twilight zoom, or as if I watched someone’s entire life flash before them, spread out. I have a ton of questions: What was the point of the dinosaurs? Why did the son resent his father so much? Which one of the children died? Who was the old guy at the end of the film? What kid was hugging the old guy at the end the film? How many kids did the woman and man have? Why was there any names mentioned throughout the movie? What does all these symbols represent? I just feel like an enormous question mark, what did I just watch? I have no idea what any of the things that went on in this movie represents. It seems like in the blink of an eye the movie ended and I can’t express what I just watched. I’m literally at a lost for words, and that rarely happens.