The Tree of Life review

Terrence Malik's 'The Tree of Life' does not feature on the top 1000 films of all time.

It is a highly experimental family-dama telling the story of the 1950's American family - father (Brad Pitt,) mother (Jessica Chastain) and their three sons Jack (Hunter McCracken,) RL and Steve (Tye Sheridan.) However when RL dies, the family begins to fall apart with Steve and Mr O'Brien having a tumultuous relationship. In the modern-day, an adult Jack (Sean Penn) reflects on his troubled family life.

Although the Tree of Life doesn't feature on the top 1000 films of all time list, it would definitely be number one on the top 1000 pretentious Oscar-bait list. I call it Oscar-bait. The better term would be failed Oscar-bait. It was nominated for three Oscars: director, picture and cinematography, it ultimately didn't win any. Although the cinematography was gorgeous especially the surreal visuals of the birth of the universe, it all became tedious after a while.

It reminded me of Mailk's third film: the equally pretentious The Thin Red Line, which had lots of random close-ups of bugs. Okay, it was cool and arty. But what was the point of it all? Was there even a point? Did there need to be a point? Knowing Malik, there probably was, but it all went over my head.

Another similarity is how Malik is once again wasted his casted. I can't really comment on whether Pitt, Chastain and Penn were good or bad, because they played visual to Malik's cerebral visuals. For Christ's sake, these actors have five acting Oscars between them. Sean Penn has three Oscars, yet he was completely irrelevant to the plot. Cut him out and nothing would change except for a twenty-minute shorter run-time.

The Tree of Life was classic Terrence Malik. High-brow, intellectual and just so damn pretentious.

Badlands review

 Number 392 on the top 1000 films of all time is Terrence Malik's directorial debut: the 1973 neo-noir period crime drama Badlands.

Loosely based on the true-life story of spree killers Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, Badlands tells the story of twenty-five year old Korean war veteran and greaser Kit Carruthers (Martin Sheen.) He is a deeply troubled individual who quickly forms a relationship with the naive, impressionable fifteen year old Holly Sargis (Sissy Spasek.) The two of them soon embark on a murder spree across America.

Badlands is the third Terrence Malik film I've seen after Days of Heaven and the Thin Red Line. I didn't like either of those films finding them slow, boring and overly-philosophical. I didn't enjoy them so much that I didn't think I would ever like a Terrence Malik film. But I will happily admit that I was wrong in that assessment. Badlands was a thrilling and engaging crime drama with some brilliant performances from its lead actors.

For his role as the psychotic Kit Carruthers, Martin Sheen deservedly won the Best Actor Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. Sissy Spacek was nominated for the Most Promising Newcomer at the BAFTA's. Both of them were great. Spacek remarked on the chemistry she had with Martin Sheen and this really showed through on-screen. It would be easy to compare them to Bonnie and Clyde, but their relationship was far different. Rather than being a willing accomplice like Bonnie, Holly seemed more like an innocent young woman caught up in Kit's charismatic charm.

And Kit had all the charm and charisma you would expect from a spree killer. No doubt carrying trauma from the PTSD, he is completely cut off from his emotions and any sense of human decency. Sheen shone in the lead role. He was engrossing as Kit Carruthers. Usually when you have "couple" killers, it is the man that initiates like with the Moors Murderers or Paul Bernado and Karla Homolka, with the woman usually claiming they were bewitched by their male counterparts. However true that actually is Sheen was spellbinding in his role.

Unlike the bloated The Thin Red Line, the Badlands is only ninety minutes long meaning the pacing was terrific. The tension rarely let up for a second as we see how Kit and Holly attempt to navigate this new life they've created for themselves. 

Granted Terrence Malik wasn't the easiest to work with as many members of the crew quit during production. Malik went through three different cinematographers and allegedly he was practically the only one left by the time the shoot had finished. Despite this, the film remained cohesive and unified. You might expect it to look like a disparate, disconnected mess but this was far from the case. Perhaps that's because how Malik also wrote, produced and edited the film ensuring that his vision remained intact. I loved the cinematography too, as it really emphasised the isolated American landscape.

If I were to criticise anything it would be Sissy Spasek's voiceover. Holly narrates the film throughout, but her narration is little more than exposition serving no purpose except for explaining things that the audience could have figured out for themselves. It was a strange choice by Malik as it suggests that he either didn't trust himself to explain his vision clearly enough or that he didn't trust his audience enough to understand it properly. Yet neither of these seem very likely from what I know about Terrence Malik.

That minor criticism aside, I thoroughly enjoyed Badlands. I wasn't expecting to like it at all but I'm very happy to say that it proved me wrong.

Days of Heaven review

 Number 317 on the top 1000 films of all time is Terrence Malik's 1978 romantic period-drama film 'Days of Heaven.'

Richard Gere and Brooke Adams play Bill and Abby - two lovers in 1916 Chicago. After Bill kills his employer, he and Abby flee to find work at a Texan farm. There they concoct a plan for Abby to marry the dying farm-owner, played by Sam Shepard, with the idea of inheriting his money after he dies, but then she falls in love with him.

After the Thin Red Line, this is the second Terrence Malik film that I've seen. I am swiftly realising that I do not like Terrence Malik films. They are tedious, pretentious and over-long. Yes, Days of Heaven, was only ninety-five minutes, but that's still too long for what was ultimately a boring film.

There were too many weird close-ups of insects and animals and not enough of things actually happening. Much like, the Thin Red Line, and that was a war film. Yet all we got was endless philosophising rather than exciting war scenes.

I was bored of Days of Heaven within the first five minutes which naturally meant I missed all the film's set-up and introduction. But even if I hadn't I don't think I would have missed much. The performances were just as bland as the script which was a surprise as you have good actors like Richard Gere, Brooke Adams and Sam Shepard. Yet the weird love triangle felt unconvincing due to the lacklustre acting. Even writing this now, I am struggling to remember the character's names.

If I were to compliment the film on anything, it would be its cinematography particularly the climatic sequence with the farm being set on fire. There was a reason why it won the Best Cinematography Oscar.

Otherwise, this was a bland, boring and tedious film. Par for the course for Terrence Malik.