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''The Tree of Life'' is a 2011 American
experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...
coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...
drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
film written and directed by
Terrence Malick Terrence Frederick Malick (born November 30, 1943) is an American filmmaker. His films include '' Days of Heaven'' (1978), '' The Thin Red Line'' (1998), for which he received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenp ...
and featuring a cast of Brad Pitt,
Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...
, Hunter McCracken, Laramie Eppler, Jessica Chastain, and
Tye Sheridan Tye Kayle Sheridan (born November 11, 1996) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for playing the young Scott Summers / Cyclops in the reboot ''X-Men'' film series (2016–2019), as well as Wade Watts in ''Ready Player One'' (2 ...
in his debut feature film role. The film chronicles the origins and meaning of life by way of a middle-aged man's childhood memories of his family living in 1950s
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, interspersed with imagery of the origins of the known universe and the inception of life on Earth. After several years in development and missing its planned 2009 and 2010 release dates, ''The Tree of Life'' premiered in competition at the
2011 Cannes Film Festival The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South ...
, where it was awarded the
Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
. It ranked number one on review aggregator
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
's "Top Ten List of 2011", and made more critics' year-end lists for 2011 than any other film. It appeared in the 2012 ''
Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
'' critics' poll of the world's top 250 films as well as
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's poll of the greatest American films, one of the few 21st-century works to be included in either. The film was also later named the seventh-greatest film since 2000 in a BBC poll of 177 critics. In December 2019, ''The Tree of Life'' topped
The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newsp ...
' list of the best films of the 2010s. ''The Tree of Life'' received three
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
nominations:
Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
,
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...
and Best Cinematography.


Plot

The film begins with a quotation from the Book of Job 38:4-7: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?... When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Then a mysterious, flame-like light flickers in the darkness. Around the 1960s, Mrs. and Mr. O'Brien are informed of the death of their 19-year-old son, R.L., throwing the family into turmoil. In 2010, eldest son Jack is adrift in his modern life as a
Texan Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...
architect, disillusioned by his youth. Amid all this, voiceovers from Mrs. O'Brien ask God why R.L. had to die. Then, visuals depict the birth of the universe, followed by the
creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...
of
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
and the beginning of life. At one point, a dinosaur chooses not to kill another dinosaur that is injured and lying on the side of a river bed. Finally, an asteroid strikes the Earth. In a suburban neighborhood in
Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...
in the 1950s, the O'Briens are enthralled by their new baby Jack and, later his two brothers, R.L. and Stevie. When Jack reaches adolescence, he is conflicted with accepting the way of
grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...
or nature, as embodied by his parents. Mrs. O'Brien, the embodiment of grace, presents the world to her sons as a place of wonder. Mr. O'Brien, the embodiment of nature, easily loses his temper as he struggles to reconcile his love for his sons, wanting to prepare them for a world he sees as corrupt and exploitative. He laments his decision to work in a power plant instead of pursuing his passion for music, and tries to get ahead by filing patents for various inventions. Jack's perceptions of the world begin to change after one of his friends, Taylor, drowns. He questions how God could allow such things to happen, and that if God is malicious, he can be too. He becomes angry at his father's continuous hypocrisies and misdeeds, lashing out at his mother for tolerating him. When Mr. O'Brien goes on a business trip, the boys enjoy unfettered access to their mother, and Jack experiences the first twinges of rebelliousness. Peer-pressured, Jack commits
vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term ...
and
animal abuse Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or suf ...
. When trespassing into his crush's house, he steals her sheer nightgown; he then fearfully throws it into a river. Shortly after Mr. O'Brien returns, the plant that he works at closes; he is given the option of relocating to work in an inferior position within the firm or losing his job. As the family packs up to move to the new job, he laments his path of life, asking Jack to forgive his domineering behavior; Jack reflectively says he embodies nature. As adult Jack leaves work, he rides the elevator up, envisioning following a young girl across rocky terrain. As he walks through a wooden door frame erected on the rocks, he sees a view of the far distant future in which the
Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
expands into a red giant, engulfing Earth and then shrinking into a
white dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes ...
. After emerging from rustic doors, Jack follows the girl, then a young version of himself, across surreal landscapes. The dead return to life and gather at the seaside, where Jack is reunited with his family and all those who populate his memory. Jack meets his brothers and brings R.L. to his parents, who bids goodbye as he steps out of a home into a vast expanse. Accompanied by two girls in white, Mrs. O'Brien gracefully whispers, " I give him to you. I give you my son." Jack's vision ends and he leaves the building, smiling and feeling tranquil. The film ends as the mysterious light continues to flicker in the darkness.


Cast

* Brad Pitt as Mr. O'Brien * Jessica Chastain as Mrs. O'Brien *
Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...
as Jack O'Brien ** Hunter McCracken as young Jack ** Finnegan Williams as Jack (age 5) ** Michael Koeth as Jack (age 2) * Laramie Eppler as R.L. O'Brien ** John Howell as R.L. (age 2) *
Tye Sheridan Tye Kayle Sheridan (born November 11, 1996) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for playing the young Scott Summers / Cyclops in the reboot ''X-Men'' film series (2016–2019), as well as Wade Watts in ''Ready Player One'' (2 ...
as Steve O'Brien *
Kari Matchett Kari Matchett is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles as Colleen Blessed on ''Power Play'', as Joan Campbell on ''Covert Affairs'' and as Kate Filmore in the science fiction movie '' Cube 2: Hypercube''. She has also appeared in films ...
as Jack's ex *
Joanna Going Joanna Catherine Going (born July 22, 1963) is an American actress known for the television series ''Kingdom'', ''House of Cards'', ''Mad Men'' and the movie ''Wyatt Earp''. Early life Going was born in Washington, DC, the eldest of six childre ...
as Jack's wife * Michael Showers as Mr. Brown * Kimberly Whalen as Mrs. Brown * Jackson Hurst as Uncle Roy * Fiona Shaw as Grandmother * Crystal Mantecón as Elisa * Tamara Jolaine as Mrs. Stone * Dustin Allen as George Walsh * Tommy Hollis as Tommy


Production


Development

In the late 1970s,
Terrence Malick Terrence Frederick Malick (born November 30, 1943) is an American filmmaker. His films include '' Days of Heaven'' (1978), '' The Thin Red Line'' (1998), for which he received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenp ...
was offered $1 million for his project after ''
Days of Heaven ''Days of Heaven'' is a 1978 American romantic period drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick, and starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz. Set in 1916, it tells the story of Bill and Abby, lovers who travel ...
''. Malick had an idea for a film that would be "a history of the cosmos up through the formation of the Earth and the beginnings of life." The film was known as ''Q'' and included elements not in ''The Tree of Life'' such as a section set in the Middle East during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and an underwater minotaur dreaming about the evolution of the universe. One day, Malick "just stopped" working on the film. Decades later, Malick pitched the concept of ''The Tree of Life'' to River Road Entertainment head Bill Pohlad while the two were collaborating on an early version of '' Che''. Pohlad recalled initially thinking the idea was "crazy," but as the film concept evolved, he came to feel strongly about the idea; he ended up financing the film. Producer Grant Hill was also involved with the film at an early stage. During a meeting on a different subject involving Malick, his producer Sarah Green, Brad Pitt, and Pitt's
Plan B Entertainment Plan B Entertainment, Inc., more commonly known as Plan B, is an American production company founded in November in 2001 by Brad Grey, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and Kristin Hahn. In 2005, after Pitt and Aniston divorced, Grey became the CEO o ...
production partner
Dede Gardner Dorcas Wright "Dede" Gardner (born October 16, 1967) is an American film producer and the president of Plan B Entertainment. She is a two-time Oscar winner for '' 12 Years a Slave'' and ''Moonlight'', the first woman to win two Oscars for Best P ...
, Malick brought up ''Tree of Life'' and the difficulties it was having getting made. It was "much later on" that the decision was made for Pitt to be part of the cast. ''The Tree of Life'' was announced in late 2005, with Indian production company
Percept Picture Company Percept Picture Company is an Indian film production company, established in 2002 and a division of Percept Limited, an entertainment, media and communications company based in Mumbai. It has produced films like ''Dhol (film), Dhol'', ''MP3: Mera ...
set to finance it and Donald Rosenfeld on board as executive producer. The film was set to be shot partially in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, with pre-production scheduled to begin in January 2006.
Colin Farrell Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A leading man in projects across various genres in both blockbuster and independent films since the 2000s, he has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award. ''The ...
and
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...
were at one stage attached to the project.
Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...
was set to play the role of Mr. O'Brien, but dropped out (due to recurring sicknesses) a month before his death in early 2008. For the roles of the three brothers, the production team spent over a year, seeing over 10,000 Texas students for the roles. About 95% of the entire cast had no prior acting experience. In an October 2008 interview
Jack Fisk Jack Fisk (born December 19, 1945) is an American production designer and director. As a production designer, he is known for his collaborations with Terrence Malick, designing all of his first eight films including ''Badlands'' (1973), ''Days o ...
, a longtime Malick collaborator, suggested that the director was attempting something radical. He also implied that details of the film were a close secret. In March 2009, visual effects artist Mike Fink revealed to ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' magazine that he was working on scenes of prehistoric Earth for the film.Exclusive: Malick's Tree Of Life
. ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
''. Retrieved December 22, 2010. The similarity of the scenes Fink describes to descriptions of a hugely ambiguous project entitled ''Q'' that Malick worked on soon after ''
Days of Heaven ''Days of Heaven'' is a 1978 American romantic period drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick, and starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz. Set in 1916, it tells the story of Bill and Abby, lovers who travel ...
'' led to speculation that ''The Tree of Life'' is a resurrection of that abandoned project.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
in 2008. Cinematographer
Emmanuel Lubezki Emmanuel Lubezki Morgenstern (; born November 30, 1964) is a Mexican cinematographer. He sometimes goes by the nickname Chivo, which means "goat" in Spanish. Lubezki has worked with many acclaimed directors, including Mike Nichols, Tim Burton, ...
returned to work with Malick after collaborating with him on '' The New World''. The film was shot in 1.85:1 and often used natural light. The film used 35mm, 65mm, and IMAX formats. Locations included Smithville,
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
, Matagorda, Bastrop, Austin,
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, and Malick's hometown of
Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...
. The namesake of the film is a large
live oak Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. ...
tree that was excavated from a property eight miles outside Smithville. The 65,000-pound tree and root ball were trucked into Smithville and replanted. The sets for ''The Tree of Life'' were unusual for a large scale film. According to Brad Pitt, "A movie set is very chaotic. There rehundreds of people; there regenerators and trucks. And this was a completely different experience — we had none of that." "There were no
amera Amera may refer to: People * Amera Eid, Australian belly dancer * Amera Khalif (born 1929), Jordanian sports shooter Other uses * MS ''Amera'', a cruise ship * Ben Amera, a monolith in Mauritania * Amera, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * ...
lights ... there were no generators and the camera was all hand-held so it was a very free-form, low-key experience." Malick would change different aspects of a scene between takes in order to create "moments of truth".


Editing

Similar to many of Malick's films, the film had "teams of editors to put together different cuts, and finding and discarding entire story lines during the post-production process." Malick used "unorthodox methods to edit the film". One of the film's editors, Billy Weber said “Terry is willing to try anything. Absolutely anything. Sometimes we’d cut a character out of a scene, or cut all the dialogue out of a scene, just to see if it worked. And when you’ve worked with him for any length of time, you can even try that without asking him about it first. He’s very open to looking at anything that you try.” This includes allowing film students from USC and
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, as well as interns, to play a part in the editing process. Some of them stayed on the film the whole time. In an unused ending for the film, Jack arrives as a boarding student at St. Stephen's Episcopal School, which Malick attended in the 1950s.


Visual effects

After nearly thirty years away from Hollywood, famed special effects supervisor
Douglas Trumbull Douglas Hunt Trumbull (; April 8, 1942 – February 7, 2022) was an American film director and innovative visual effects supervisor. He pioneered methods in special effects and created scenes for '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', ''Close Encounters ...
contributed to the visual effects work on ''The Tree of Life''. Malick, a friend of Trumbull, approached him about the effects work and mentioned that he did not like the look of computer-generated imagery. Trumbull asked Malick, "Why not do it the old way? The way we did it in '' 2001''?" Working with visual effects supervisor Dan Glass, Trumbull used a variety of materials for the creation of the universe sequence. "We worked with chemicals, paint, fluorescent dyes, smoke, liquids, CO2, flares, spin dishes, fluid dynamics, lighting and high speed photography to see how effective they might be," said Trumbull. "It was a free-wheeling opportunity to explore, something that I have found extraordinarily hard to get in the movie business. Terry didn't have any preconceived ideas of what something should look like. We did things like pour milk through a funnel into a narrow trough and shoot it with a high-speed camera and folded lens, lighting it carefully and using a frame rate that would give the right kind of flow characteristics to look cosmic, galactic, huge and epic." The team also included Double Negative in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. Fluid-based effects were developed by Peter and Chris Parks, who had previously worked on similar effects for ''
The Fountain ''The Fountain'' is a 2006 American epic romantic drama film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. Blending elements of fantasy, history, spirituality, and science fiction, the film consists of t ...
''. A column in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' noted that the film credited
Thomas Wilfred Thomas Wilfred (June 18, 1889 in Naestved, Denmark - August 15, 1968 in Nyack, New York), born Richard Edgar Løvstrøm, was a musician and inventor. He is best known for his light art, which he named '' lumia'', and his designs for color organ ...
’s lumia composition ''Opus 161'', and that this was the source of the "shifting flame of red-yellow light" at the beginning and the end.


Themes


Philosophical

Many reviewers have noted the philosophical and theological themes of the film. Catholic author and now auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles
Fr. Robert Barron Robert Emmet Barron (born November 19, 1959) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester since 2022. He is the founder of the Catholic ministerial organization Word on Fire, and ...
, reviewing ''The Tree of Life'' for a ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' blog, noted that "in the play of good and evil, in the tension between nature and grace, God is up to something beautiful, though we are unable to grasp it totally...“Tree of Life” is communicating this same difficult but vital lesson." The Catholic magazine '' America'' called the film "a philosophical exploration of grief,
theodicy Theodicy () means vindication of God. It is to answer the question of why a good God permits the manifestation of evil, thus resolving the issue of the problem of evil. Some theodicies also address the problem of evil "to make the existence of ...
and the duality of grace and human nature". They described the final beach scene as "the greatest film depiction of
eschatological Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that nega ...
bodily resurrection". Rabbi
David Wolpe David J. Wolpe (born 1958) is the Max Webb Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple. He previously taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and UCLA. Wolpe became the ...
says "that Terrence Malick's new film "Tree of Life" opens with a quotation from Job. That quotation holds the key to the film and in some sense, the key to our attitude toward life." He added that "The agony of the parents, the periodic cruelty of the father — all are the powerful but passing dramas that for the moment entirely preoccupy us as we watch the movie. But then we are drawn back to a world so much bigger than our hour upon the stage that we know again how essentially small is each human story." According to Bob Mondello, the film is showing that "to understand the death of a young man, we need to understand everything that led to his creation, starting with creation itself." Kristen Scharold compared the film to Augustine's Confessions, and noted how one voiceover is nearly identical to a quote from Fyodor Dostoevsky's ''
The Brothers Karamazov ''The Brothers Karamazov'' (russian: Братья Карамазовы, ''Brat'ya Karamazovy'', ), also translated as ''The Karamazov Brothers'', is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly two years writing '' ...
''.


Nature and grace

Many have said that Mr. O'Brien represents the way of nature, while Mrs. O'Brien represents the way of grace. Brad Pitt said Mr. O'Brien "represents nature — but nature as that oppressive force that will choke another plant out for its own survival." "The American dream didn't work out as he believed it would.
e's is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in ''Monthly GFantasy'' from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003 to Februa ...
quite envious and bitter that people are ahead of him. Naturally, when someone feels oppressed, they find someone weaker to pass that oppression on o and the sadness in this situation sit's on his sons."


Autobiographical

Many reviewers have noted the similarities between Jack's life and Terrence Malick's life. Jim Lynch, a close friend of Malick, told Malick that he thought ''The Tree of Life, Knight of Cups,'' and ''
Song to Song ''Song to Song'' is a 2017 American experimental romantic drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring an ensemble cast including Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, and Cate Blanchett. After a leng ...
,'' formed an "autobiographical trilogy". Lynch said Malick disliked the labeling and "didn’t want people thinking that he was just making movies about himself. He was making movies about broader issues.”


Release

In March 2009, ''Empire'' magazine's website quoted visual effects supervisor Mike Fink as saying that a version of the film will be released for IMAX cinemas along with two versions for traditional cinemas. The IMAX film has been revealed to be ''
Voyage of Time ''Voyage of Time'' is a 2016 American documentary film written and directed by Terrence Malick. The film is said to be an examination of the birth and death of the known universe. Malick had been working on the film for over forty years and it ha ...
'', a documentary expanding on the "history of the universe" scenes in ''The Tree of Life'', which the producers decided to focus on releasing at a later date so as not to cannibalize its release. It was released in IMAX in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
on October 7, 2016 by
Broad Green Pictures Broad Green Pictures was a production and financing company. It was founded in 2014 by CEO Gabriel Hammond and Chief Creative Officer, Daniel Hammond. Management On February 25, 2015, Broad Green Pictures acquired a 45% stake in David Garrett ...
.


Delays and distribution problems

By May 2009, ''The Tree of Life'' had been sold to a number of international distributors, including
EuropaCorp EuropaCorp S.A. (stylised in opening logo as EUROPA CORP.) is a French motion picture company headquartered in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, and one of a few full service independent studios that both produces and distributes feature ...
in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, TriPictures in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, and
Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and Australia, but lacked a US distributor. In August 2009, it was announced that the film would be released in the US through Apparition, a new distributor founded by River Road Entertainment head Bill Pohlad and former Picturehouse chief Bob Berney. A tentative date of December 25, 2009 was announced, but the film was not completed in time. Organisers of the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
made negotiations to secure a premiere at Cannes 2010, resulting in Malick sending an early version of the film to Thierry Fremaux and the Cannes selection committee. Though Fremaux warmly received the cut and was eager to screen the film at his festival, Malick ultimately told him that he felt the film was not ready. On the eve of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Berney suddenly announced his departure from Apparition, leaving the company's future uncertain. Pohlad decided to keep ''The Tree of Life'' at Apparition, and after significant
restructuring Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. Other reasons ...
, hired
Tom Ortenberg Tom Ortenberg (born 8 August 1960) is an American businessman. Early life and career Ortenberg was born to a Jewish family on 8 August 1960, in Briarcliff Manor, New York. He attended Pennsylvania State University and graduated in 1982. While th ...
to act as a consultant on its release. A tentative plan was made to release it in late 2010, in time for awards consideration. Ultimately, Pohlad decided to close Apparition and sell rights to the film. Private screenings of the film to interested parties
Fox Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century Stu ...
and
Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produce ...
took place at the 2010
Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022. History First held on 30 August 1974, t ...
. On September 9, Fox Searchlight announced their acquisition of the film from Pohlad's River Road Entertainment. The film opened in limited release in the United States on May 27, 2011. On March 28, 2011, UK magazine ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' reported that UK distributor Icon Entertainment was planning to release the film on May 4, 2011. This would make the UK the first region in the world to see the film, preempting the expected
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
premiere on May 11. This would disqualify the film from inclusion at Cannes. As a result, a surge of interest in the story developed on international film news sites. After film blogger Jeff Wells was told by a Fox Searchlight representative that this was "unlikely", and Anne Thompson received similar word from Searchlight and outright denial from Summit, Helen O'Hara from ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' received a confirmation from Icon that they intended to stick with the May 4 release. On March 31, Jeff Wells was told by Jill Jones, Summit's senior VP of international marketing and publicity, that Icon has lost the right to distribute ''The Tree of Life'' in the UK, due to defaulting on its agreement, with the matter pending arbitration at a tribunal in Los Angeles. On June 9, it was announced that ''The Tree of Life'' would be released in the UK on July 8, 2011, after
Fox Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century Stu ...
picked up the UK rights from Icon.


Home media

''The Tree of Life'' was released on Blu-ray Disc in the United States and Canada on October 11, 2011; on January 24, 2012, there was a separate release of the DVD. During the Cannes Film Festival in 2011, Peter Becker, president of the home media company
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...
, and Fox Searchlight discussed a potential Criterion home video release that would include a longer alternate version of ''The Tree of Life'' which Malick would like to create. In an unprecedented move, Criterion decided to finance the alternate version for its eventual inclusion on both Blu-ray and DVD. In creating the alternate version, the original negatives' palettes were located for Malick to use, the entire film scanned in 4K resolution, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki brought in to help grade the footage, and a full sound mix created for the additional material, with Malick even dedicating "the better part of a year" to this project. Becker stated that the company has "never undertaken anything this extensive or this challenging, or anything that has taken this long to achieve or required so much effort on the part of pretty much every post-production craft. The only thing we didn’t do is go shoot new material". Malick was careful to note that the extended cut of the film is an alternative version, not the definitive one. In an interview with
Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
, Criterion technical director Lee Kline said:
Unlike with 'The New World'' he version of ''The Tree of Life''that premiered in 2011 at Cannes asdefinitely the definitive version of the film he wanted to make. What’s interesting talking to Terry about this ew version of ''Tree of Life'' I think he still doesn’t want people to think this is a better version. This is another version.
The extended version runs to 188 minutes; in addition to entirely new footage with new characters and scenes, it also extends existing scenes and features minor changes to the film's score, musical arrangements, and color grading. After premiering at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on September 7, 2018, the extended cut was released on September 11, along with a new 4K digital restoration of the original version. Both editions also include the film's trailer, the making-of documentary ''Exploring "The Tree of Life"'', a 2011 interview with composer Alexandre Desplat, new interviews with actress Jessica Chastain, visual-effects supervisor Dan Glass, and music critic Alex Ross, and a 2011
video essay A video essay is a piece of video content that, much like a written essay, advances an argument. Video essays take advantage of the structure and language of film to advance their arguments. Popularity While the medium has its roots in academia, ...
by
Matt Zoller Seitz Matt Zoller Seitz (born December 26, 1968) is an American film and television critic, author and film-maker. Career Matt Zoller Seitz is editor-at-large at RogerEbert.com, and the television critic for '' New York'' magazine and Vulture.com, as ...
, as well as a booklet containing essays by film critics Kent Jones and Roger Ebert. The cover used for both editions is designed by Neil Kellerhouse.


Soundtrack

'' The Tree of Life Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' by
Alexandre Desplat Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (; born 23 August 1961) is a French film composer and conductor. He has won many awards, including two Academy Awards, for his musical scores to the films '' The Grand Budapest Hotel'' and '' The Shape of Water'' ...
was released in 2011 by Lakeshore Records. "The Tree of Life" features selections and snippets from more than 30 individual pieces—including works by Brahms, Mahler, Bach, Couperin, Górecki and Holst. They are all woven together seamlessly with the help of some original music by Alexandre Desplat.


Reception


Critical response

Early reviews for ''The Tree of Life'' were polarized. After being met with both boos and applause at its premiere at the
2011 Cannes Film Festival The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South ...
, the film received mixed early reviews. It went on to be awarded the
Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
. Two of its producers, Bill Pohlad and Sarah Green, accepted the prize on behalf of the reclusive Malick. ''The Tree of Life'' is the first American film to win the Palme d'Or since '' Fahrenheit 9/11'' in 2004. The head of the jury, Robert De Niro, said it was difficult to choose a winner, but ''The Tree of Life'' "ultimately fit the bill". De Niro explained, "It had the size, the importance, the intention, whatever you want to call it, that seemed to fit the prize." ''The Tree of Life'' has since garnered critical acclaim. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, 84% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 289 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The site's critics consensus reads "Terrence Malick's singularly deliberate style may prove unrewarding for some, but for patient viewers, ''Tree of Life'' is an emotional as well as visual treat." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 85 based on 50 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Roger Ebert gave the film four stars of four and wrote: The following year, Ebert gave ''The Tree of Life'' one of his 10 votes in ''
Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
''s 2012 critics' poll of the world's greatest films. Anthony Lane of ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' said a "seraphic strain" in Malick's work "hits a solipsistic high" in ''The Tree of Life''. "While the result will sound to some like a prayer, others may find it increasingly lonely and locked, and may themselves pray for Ben Hecht or Billy Wilder to rise from the dead and attack Malick’s script with a quiver of poisonous wisecracks." Peter Bradshaw of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' awarded it five stars and lauded it as an "unashamedly epic reflection on love and loss" and a "mad and magnificent film."
Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...
of ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' states "Brandishing an ambition it's likely no film, including this one, could entirely fulfill, ''The Tree of Life'' is nonetheless a singular work, an impressionistic metaphysical inquiry into mankind's place in the grand scheme of things that releases waves of insights amidst its narrative imprecisions." Justin Chang of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' states the film "represents something extraordinary" and "is in many ways his simplest yet most challenging work, a transfixing odyssey through time and memory that melds a young boy's 1950s upbringing with a magisterial rumination on the Earth's origins."
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' states "Shot with a poet's eye, Malick's film is a groundbreaker, a personal vision that dares to reach for the stars." A. O. Scott of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' gave the film much praise and stated, "The sheer beauty of this film is almost overwhelming, but as with other works of religiously minded art, its aesthetic glories are tethered to a humble and exalted purpose, which is to shine the light of the sacred on secular reality". ''
Total Film ''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched ...
'' gave the film a five-star review (denoting 'outstanding'): "The Tree of Life is beautiful. Ridiculously, rapturously beautiful. You could press 'pause' at any second and hang the frame on your wall."
Richard Corliss Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He was the former editor-in-chief of '' Film Commen ...
of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' named it one of the Top 10 Best Movies of 2011. Some religious reviewers welcomed the spiritual themes of the film. For instance, Catholic author and now auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles
Fr. Robert Barron Robert Emmet Barron (born November 19, 1959) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester since 2022. He is the founder of the Catholic ministerial organization Word on Fire, and ...
, reviewing ''The Tree of Life'' for a ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' blog, noted that "in the play of good and evil, in the tension between nature and grace, God is up to something beautiful, though we are unable to grasp it totally...“Tree of Life” is communicating this same difficult but vital lesson." Rabbi
David Wolpe David J. Wolpe (born 1958) is the Max Webb Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple. He previously taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and UCLA. Wolpe became the ...
says "that Terrence Malick's new film "Tree of Life" opens with a quotation from Job. That quotation holds the key to the film and in some sense, the key to our attitude toward life." Not all reviews were positive. Sukhdev Sandhu, chief film critic of ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'' describes the movie as "self-absorbed," and "achingly slow, almost buckling under the weight of its swoony poetry." Likewise,
Stephanie Zacharek Stephanie Zacharek is an American film critic at ''Time'', based in New York City. From 2013 to 2015, she was the principal film critic for ''The Village Voice''. She was a 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist in criticism. Early life Stephanie Zachare ...
of
Movieline ''Movieline'' was a website, formerly a Los Angeles-based film and entertainment magazine, launched in 1985 as a local magazine, which went national in 1989. Known for its cult status and popularity among film critics,Saba, Michael''Movieline'' m ...
praised the technical aspects of the film, such as the "gorgeous photography", but nonetheless criticized it as "a gargantuan work of pretension and cleverly concealed self-absorption." Lee Marshall of '' Screen Daily'' referred to the film as "a cinematic credo about spiritual transcendence which, while often shot through with poetic yearning, preaches too directly to its audience." Filmmaker David Lynch said that, while he liked Malick's previous works, ''The Tree of Life'' "was not his cup of tea". In 2016, John Patterson of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' complained of the meager impression that the film left on him, opining that "much of it simply evaporates before your eyes." Sean Penn has said, "The screenplay is the most magnificent one that I've ever read but I couldn't find that same emotion on screen. ... A clearer and more conventional narrative would have helped the film without, in my opinion, lessening its beauty and its impact." He further clarified his reservations about the film by adding, "But it's a film I recommend, as long as you go in without any preconceived ideas. It's up to each person to find their own personal, emotional or spiritual connection to it. Those that do generally emerge very moved."


Top ten lists

The film appeared on over 70 critics' year-end top ten lists, including 15 first-place rankings. ''The Tree of Life'' was voted best film of 2011 in the annual ''
Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
'' critic poll, earning one and a half times as many votes as runner up ''
A Separation ''A Separation'' ( fa, جدایی, Jodâyi; also titled ''Nader and Simin, A Separation'') is a 2011 Iranian drama film written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, starring Leila Hatami, Peyman Moaadi, Shahab Hosseini, Sareh Bayat, and Sarina Farhad ...
''. The film also topped the critics poll of best released film of 2011 by ''
Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film Co ...
'', and the
IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
annual critics survey for 2011, as well as ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
''/'' LA Weekly'' Film Poll 2011. In France, Cahiers du cinéma placed it second on its 2011 top ten list, tying it with ''
The Strange Case of Angelica ''The Strange Case of Angelica'' ( pt, O Estranho Caso de Angélica) is a 2010 Portuguese drama film directed by Manoel de Oliveira. It was entered into the Un Certain Regard section of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. De Oliveira conceived the ...
''. Keith Uhlich of ''
Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...
'' named ''The Tree of Life'' the third-best film of 2011, writing that "it may be the best thing alick'sever done." In 2012, 16 critics, including Roger Ebert, included it as one of their 10 votes for ''Sight & Sound''; this placed it at #102 in the final list (making it the fourth film on the list which had been released since the year 2000, behind
Wong Kar-wai Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure ...
's '' In the Mood for Love'',
Edward Yang Edward Yang (; November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007) was a Taiwanese filmmaker. Yang, along with fellow auteurs Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, was one of the leading film-makers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese cinema. He won the B ...
's ''
Yi Yi ''Yi Yi'' () is a 2000 Taiwanese drama film written and directed by Edward Yang centering around the struggles of an engineer named NJ (played by Wu Nien-jen) and three generations of his middle-class Taiwanese family in Taipei. The title in C ...
'', and David Lynch's ''
Mulholland Drive Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...
''). The film also received five votes in the directors' poll (placing it at #132). In 2015, Bradshaw named the film one of the top 50 films of the decade so far by ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. The ''Tree of Life'' ranked seventh on the
British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
(BBC)'s ''100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century'' in August 2016. The list was compiled by polling 177 film critics from around the world. In 2019, ''The Guardian'' ranked ''The Tree of Life'' 28th in its 100 best films of the 21st century list. In December 2019, ''The Tree of Life'' topped
The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newsp ...
' list of the best films of the 2010s. In March 2020, ''America'' magazine put the film on its The Top 25 Films from the Last 25 Years.


Accolades

The film won the
Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at the
2011 Cannes Film Festival The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South ...
. The film was nominated for Academy Award for Best Picture, Academy Award for Best Director, and
Academy Award for Best Cinematography The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work on one particular motion picture. History In its first film season, 1927–28, this award (like others such as the acting awards) w ...
at the
84th Academy Awards The 84th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2011 in the United States and took place on February 26, 2012, at the Hollywood and Highland Center Theatre in H ...
The film won the 2011 FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Big Prize for the Best Film Of the Year. The award was presented on September 16, during the opening ceremony of the 59th
San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in ...
. Malick released a statement of thanks for the award. On November 28, it was announced that the film had won the
Gotham Award The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...
for Best Feature, shared with '' Beginners''.


References


External links


''Two Ways Through Life: The Tree of Life (2011) Film Enthusiast''
* *
''The Tree of Life: Let the Wind Speak''
an essay by Kent Jones at the Criterion Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Tree Of Life, The 2011 films 2011 fantasy films 2010s science fiction films American coming-of-age films American drama films Films about evolution Fox Searchlight Pictures films Films about religion Films directed by Terrence Malick Films produced by Brad Pitt Films scored by Alexandre Desplat Films set in Texas Films set in the 1950s Films shot in Houston Films shot in Texas Metaphysical fiction films American nonlinear narrative films Magic realism films Palme d'Or winners Plan B Entertainment films Works about meaning of life Films produced by Grant Hill (producer) Films about father–son relationships 2010s English-language films 2010s American films