The Tree of Life (winner of the Palme d'Or)

baconsarnie

Thank you- have been searching the web fruitlessly for weeks. I should have known boards would have the answer

Sad Professor

Oh and here's a video of Chris Nolan and David Fincher gushing about the film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVUXDn6hCY4

A lot of rumours that Malick is planning on releasing a 6 hour version at some stage, it would focus a lot more on the kids. At the minute it seems very up in the air with the only source being a French magazine. Hopefully if it is true Malick will release the full cut and it won't end up like the constantly teased footage shot for The Thin Red Line.

Sad Professor

He's also supposed to be working on a documentary called Voyage of Time which would contain more of the beginning and end of the universe stuff from this film.

e_e

Any confirmations on which cinemas are playing it yet?

I reckon the IFI could run it for the whole month of July and still have many people attending.

bnt

IFI are definitely pushing it - big display in the main lobby. They show the biggest films for three week runs, usually. I might wait to see if they move it down to Cinema 2 or 3 after the first week or two - I prefer those to Cinema 1. It would be nice if they put in an intermission, but that's a rarity these days.

duckworth

It's been a long time since I've been this excited about a new film. I'm going to **** myself if it isn't out soon....

And it'd be a pity if it isn't shown on the bigger screens - it really looks like it should be viewed in Savoy 1.

johnny_ultimate

Given that this is an unusually busy summer for beyond generic blockbusters, we'll be lucky to get it in one of the smaller mainstream screens. IFI 1 is probably the biggest we can hope for. It is released smack bang in the middle of Transformers and Harry Potter.

bnt

The Screen on D'Olier St. (Dublin) are advertising it too. I haven't been there in year, but IIRC it's quite big ...

roguey

Raging! As far as I can tell from their website, my local cinema (Castlebar) isn't showing it!! I'm so looking to seeing this, I just assumed they would be showing it! Does anybody know where the closest venue showing it would be? Galway maybe?

e_e

http://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/tree_of_life.png :rolleyes:

Sad Professor

The mainstream reaction to the film in the US has been fairly negative. There's been a lot of reports of walkouts and general rowdiness during screenings. It's sad that a cinema has to put a notice like that up to dissuade idiots from ruining the experience for everyone. I find it hard to believe that someone would go into a film like this not having at least some idea what to expect.

MagicMarker

Sad Professor wrote: »

The mainstream reaction to the film in the US has been fairly negative. There's been a lot of reports of walkouts and general rowdiness during screenings. It's sad that a cinema has to put a notice like that up to dissuade idiots from ruining the experience for everyone. I find it hard to believe that someone would go into a film like this not having at least some idea what to expect.

Brad Pitt is in it, that's the dude from Fight Club and Inglorious Basterds. People don't care what the film is about if he's in it, they'll go to it regardless and just expect a mainstream blockbuster. Heaven forbid they need to think about the movie while they're watching it.

Personally, it looks good, but TM is the same guy behind the truly atrocious ''The New World'', so I shall remain skeptical.

Sad Professor

Each to their own, but I thought the extended cut of The New World was excellent. The shorter theatrical cut seemed a bit disjointed though.

johnny_ultimate

Yeah it's rare I go into a film having no idea what it's about. Always considered minimal research a relative safeguard against unwelcome surprises.

But you can never overestimate a mainstream audience's tastes and intelligence. It's a damn shame but look at the films that tend to rake in money and it becomes clear people don't want to think or be challenged by cinema. There are enough that do, but a film like Tree of Life and any Narratively of stylistically inventive work from an auteur are going to be met with some confusion and hostility - often justified, but mostly not.

Goldstein

I assume they are going to begin displaying similar notices for the Scary/Data/Epic/Disaster/Vampire "parody" Movies

cinemamanagement wrote:

A warning to our valued patrons:
This movie is a lot of tripe and your attendance only perpetuates the production of similar cerebrally and comically defunct garbage. Enjoy the movie!

you idiot

bnt

e_e wrote: »

http://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/tree_of_life.png :rolleyes:

Jim Emerson has more details on this on his Scanners blog, here. According to the cinema programmer, some customers had a very negative reaction:

There was a small but vocal minority of patrons who walked out of the film, but there were a few individuals who were fairly nasty and belligerent towards the management staff, demanding their money back. There have been a significant number of people who were fascinated by the film and there were plenty of individuals who have written to us to tell us that they thought the film was a masterpiece.

duckworth

I've no problem with people walking out of films. I've walked of plenty in my time.

Films I've seen multiple walk outs:
Senna (3 couples walked out after 20 minutes or so. I have no idea what they were expecting..)
There Will Be Blood
A Serious Man (And one person actually shouted 'Ah, **** off' at the ending)
I Love you Philip Morris

Films I've walked out of:
Edge of Darkness
The second or third Star Wars film (cant remember)
Indiana Jones 4
Smart People
Kidulthood
Cassandra's Dream

There is truly nothing as depressing as the feeling of walking out of the cinema, while everybody else is still in other screens enjoying themselves - and the bitter feeling of having your money just robbed from you staying all the way on the car journey home.

Phony Scott

Saw it last week. It's a polarising film alright, without a linear narrative. I'm reserving an overall critical opinion on the film until I see it again, but what I saw was not nessessarily difficult to follow, but it is heavy handed and rather clucky, but is well worth the asking price as a visual and audio experience. If you loved 2001: A Space Odyssey, you should see this immediately.

There was a few unintentional chuckles during one or two scenes, namely a moment involving

the extinction of the dinosaurs

and a scene where Brad Pitt's character

goes "I want you to hit me as hards as you can" Tyler Durden with his kids.

I think another viewing is in order this weekend.

duckworth

Anybody know if this is showing in Dublin tonight? Usually there are preview screenings on the Thursday aren't there?

The Screen says opening 7th July, but doesn't have the film listed until tomorrow..

Anybody know?

johnny_ultimate

duckworth wrote: »

Anybody know if this is showing in Dublin tonight? Usually there are preview screenings on the Thursday aren't there?

The Screen says opening 7th July, but doesn't have the film listed until tomorrow..

Anybody know?

Not a hope, alas. Preview screenings tend to be reserved for films that make money, not deeply reflective, non-linear meditations from auteurs :pac:

Can't wait to see it tomorrow though.

Sad Professor

I'm working tomorrow and all weekend so I'll have to wait until next week to see this. Can't wait though.

duckworth

Bleh.. damn the Screen for getting my hopes up. Can't go over the weekend, so I've to wait until next week...

Laserface

i am gutted this is showing nowhere near cork..since the kino cinema is closed nowadays.
anyone know where the closest cinema to cork is? i'll prob have to go to dublin to see this. and the new finished motorway is not very malicky at all

Renn

Phony Scott wrote: »

Saw it last week. It's a polarising film alright, without a linear narrative. I'm reserving an overall critical opinion on the film until I see it again, but what I saw was not nessessarily difficult to follow, but it is heavy handed and rather clucky, but is well worth the asking price as a visual and audio experience. If you loved 2001: A Space Odyssey, you should see this immediately.

There was a few unintentional chuckles during one or two scenes, namely a moment involving

the extinction of the dinosaurs

and a scene where Brad Pitt's character

goes "I want you to hit me as hards as you can" Tyler Durden with his kids.

I think another viewing is in order this weekend.

Not the biggest fan of 2001 myself but I see where you're going with the whole Kubrick thing. I think it's fair to say if you loved his previous output then this is definitely for you. Afaik this was planned back in the 70s but then put on hold for yonks - seems like all his other films have been building up towards what will probably be considered as his magnum opus. Definitely in no way heavy-handed either.

At the screening I was at there wasn't one chuckle, I'd find it bizarre if there was tbh

ruskin

Laserface wrote: »

i am gutted this is showing nowhere near cork..since the kino cinema is closed nowadays.
anyone know where the closest cinema to cork is? i'll prob have to go to dublin to see this. and the new finished motorway is not very malicky at all

In Cork too, can't believe theres not one cinema around showing Tree of Life. Thought the Triskel might show it but it doesnt seem so. Wheres the nearest cinema to Cork showing?

johnny_ultimate

In short: it's definitely worth seeing.

In detail: Malik is certainly aiming for an 'everything' film. The first hour is definitely the strongest, and plays like a more literal version of the ending of 2001. It's a beautiful look at the universe and life and death. It looks and sounds magnificent

(although the dinosaur CGI is a bit dodgy)

.

It's the Waco stuff I'd have a bit of an issue with. It's still engaging stuff - the speedy birth and growth scenes are glorious, and filmed like an Ozu film with movement. Indeed, the way the camera moves is perhaps the most spectacular thing about it. As it gets on, it becomes clear the characters are fairly broad archetypes. Pitt is the strict but well meaning father struggling against broken dreams, while Chastain is the timid but lovable mother. If the Fountain was Aronfsky's love letter to Weisz, this is Malick's to his mother. Most of the time CGI rays of sunshine are almost coming out of Chastain's ass so affectionate is the portrayal.

It's all from the child's point of view, which makes it engaging and scattergun - Malik visualising childhood memories with great effect. It's all about looking back at childhood as an adult and trying to understand it all. 'What does it mean' is the core concern of the film, and it's tackled largely optimistically. But I couldn't shake the feeling of repetition - the simple, focused characters are the point, but a point repeated for the guts of an hour and a half. It's split into loose sections focusing on the mother, father and son and then repeats itself. It's all part of the tone and pace, and is endearingly simple, but occasionally drifting towards the simplistic. They're not always themes worth repeating.

But overall it's an engaging work and clearly a film and topic Malik is totally engrossed in. It's a deeply personal and beautiful film, and while the Sean Penn scenes only get ten minutes of screen time (if not less) they're vital to the overall spiritual concerns of the film. Overlong, loose and simple, but still one of the most important films of the year.

cursai

Not showing ANYWHERE outside Dublin. Not driving up to Dublin just to walk into a movie in a bad mood so i think ill have to wait for the download!

Renn

Ha, funny that you say it's loose and overlong since there's most likely going to be a far longer cut released sometime down the line. I think some might interpret the word 'simple' in the wrong way - it's certainly not that hard to follow but I think using that word is a bit harsh. There's definitely a lot more going on in it that will have me rewatching it countless times.

Definitely the most ambitious film I've seen in yonks.

johnny_ultimate

Renn wrote: »

Ha, funny that you say it's loose and overlong since there's most likely going to be a far longer cut released sometime down the line. I think some might interpret the word 'simple' in the wrong way - it's certainly not that hard to follow but I think using that word is a bit harsh. There's definitely a lot more going on in it that will have me rewatching it countless times.

Definitely the most ambitious film I've seen in yonks.

It's a simple application of extremely complex ideas. It's not like the characters have much in the way of depth. But that's entirely the point, and a strength of the film for the most part, but as I said at times it did drift towards the simplistic, mostly near the end when ideas where repeated.

The film certainly has a more rewarding overall message and vision when you sit back and examine it in depth, though. And, yes, I think the shall we say 'hype' about its complex, "non-linear" structure has been blown out of all proportion. Once you get past the relatively structureless first fifteen minutes, it all flows in an extremely accessible straight line until you get to the more abstract epilogue.