Last night, I watched “The Tree of Life” (2011), Terence Malick’s Oscar-nominated, beautifully filmed, phantasmagorical meditation on life, death, and the relationship of man to the Almighty. I sat mesmerized as the history of the universe unwound before me, stately, majestic, the finely-tuned vision of a master craftsman. And so it is with near-breathless awe that I say, simply. . .
What the hell did I just watch?!?
OK, confession: I only made it through about 45 minutes of this thing. I kind of gave up right after the raptor-type thing stepped on the face of the dying other-dinosaur-type thing and then stepped off it and went on its way. (And I couldn’t help but notice that this CGI raptor--unlike those in less “prestigious” films--didn’t seem to disturb the pebbles over which it “trod.”) I suppose this was meant to represent mercy or salvation or merely the ineffable workings of the deity the point is WHO CARES?!?
I could be wrong, but it seemed the main message of the movie is that the entire history of evolution culminates in Sean Penn--which is more than enough to put me off my feed for awhile.
Speaking of Sean Penn, what’s the point of getting A-list actors like him and Brad Pitt if all they’re going to do is whisper in voice-over and look tortured? I could do that! Not that I would: I have my principles.
Look, call me a philistine, but if I’m going to sit through a lengthy meditation on God and death, I’ll just re-watch the last season of “Dexter”: All the philosophy plus a little something that Terence Malick would do well to include in future cinematic endeavors: A plot.
Here endeth the rant.
No comments:
Post a Comment