The Tree of Life opens with a quote narrated by Mrs. O’Brien (Jessica Chastain), where she talks about two ways through life; the way of nature and the way of grace. We have to choose which one we will follow as she further explains, how the way of nature is about pleasing ourselves and making others to please it, too. How nature wants to have its own way, finding reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it, when love is smiling through all things. Whereas the way of grace is about being selfless in our pursuits, not trying to please ourselves, rather accepting being slighted, forgotten and disliked. Ending with, “That no one who loves the way of grace ever comes to a bad end. I will be true to you. Whatever comes”.
I still remember watching The Tree of Life on the big screen. It was an experience like no other. I was mesmerised by every frame, like most people are when they watch a Terrence Malick film. This is the movie that made me fall in love with cinema, with its beauty and how it relates to life itself.
Life is a precious thing. When we are born, we discover a new world around us with every blink of our eyes. Through our cries, we make our first attempt to talk and question the world around us. We are loved and we are born to love. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack (Hunter McCracken, Sean Penn), through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). 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.
As a child, Mrs. O’Brien comforts him, helping him navigate the world around him and protecting him from the cruelty of it. With a new brother in his mother’s arms, we see an early hint of nature coming through as jealousy. Yet the way of grace never leaves as Mrs. O’Brien keeps her boys closer to it.
One scene that shows the contrast between mothers and fathers, as well as grace and nature, is how they both wake their children up. Their mother wakes them up in a mischievous way, putting ice on their legs and inside their T-shirts, bringing them joy, happiness, and love. On the other hand, their father takes away their blankets, ordering them to wake up, as the day starts instead with a negative feeling.
Malick explores the way of nature through Jack’s relationship with his father, which is a constant battle for him. Like in the dinner scene for example, we see Jack’s father telling him to address him as “sir”. Showing his authority as a cold silence flows around the family with their heads down. The next scene shows how Mr. O’Brien has to ask Jack if he loves him, followed by scenes of punishment where Jack has to close the door slowly without making a sound and uprooting unnecessary grass around the house. Mr. O’Brien also teaches Jack about life, asking him to promise that he shouldn’t be like him, to be more determined and not wait for things to happen, because life will go by. During a return drive with his children from church, Mr. O’Brien tells them an important lesson about life, “Wrong people go hungry, die. Wrong people get loved. The world lives by trickery. If you want to succeed you can’t be too good.”
One scene that puts the already distant relationship over the line between Mr. O’Brien and his children, and causes the feeling of hatred in Jack, is when Mr. O’Brien gets violent and physical when Jack’s brother R.L talks back to him. Later on, in a sequence I love very much, when the boys realise that their father has gone away for a business trip, it’s like a breath of fresh air, and there is suddenly a feeling of freedom among themselves.
Jack’s hatred towards his father grows. He asks god to kill him, or let him die, and the world around him feels uncontrollable. He witnesses his friend drown and another burned in a house fire. The way of nature starts to get to him. He even lashes out at his mother for tolerating his father’s bullying and abusive behaviour. This leads Jack to a rebellious phase where he vandalises, steals, and succumbs to ways of nature.
“Help each other. Love everyone. Every leaf. Every ray of light. Forgive.”
Jack realizes he crossed the line when he accidentally shoots his brother’s finger. Feelings of guilt and remorse come rushing back to him as he asks his brother for forgiveness. Seeing his brother forgive him immediately, Jack realizes that his brothers have embraced the way of grace while he travelled the path of nature, becoming more and more like his father.
Jack also witnesses his father’s downfall both professionally and personally as Mr. O’Brien confronts his abusive behaviour towards his family. He asks for Jack’s forgiveness, showing how he ignored the way of grace, became unhappy, abusive and selfish in his pursuits. How foolish he was, living in shame and envy. “You boys are about all I’ve done in life. Otherwise I’ve drawn zilch. You are all I have. You are all I want to have.”
Jack realises that the pull between the way of nature and the way of grace is a constant battle, a wrestling match happening inside your soul. You can easily submit to the way of nature, but it is not a good way to live your life. As Jack takes his first steps towards a new chapter in his life, he remembers his mother saying, “The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by. Do good to them. Wonder. Hope.”
There comes a time when we must look back at the memories of our own childhoods. These memories might come when you stumble across an old photo album of yourself growing up or in that moment of happiness when you first become a parent, trying to remember how your parents did it with you. One thing that many of us struggle to come to terms with is when you are compared to the parent you least want to be compared with.
The beauty of The Tree of Life is how you experience it yourself. With the new extended edition released in 2018 for the Criterion Collection, you can watch the story go more in depth to see how these characters made it through life. Terrence Malick wants us to be a part of his world, see how he draws his inspiration, and ask with him as he questions the nature of faith, existence and life.
The Tree of Life is not just a movie, it is an experience. It is cinema in its purest form.
