Tree of Life
It’s not often I don’t have an opinion on something, but I
haven’t got one yet on Tree of Life (Dir. Terrence Malick) It’s very deep and is trying to say some
profound things about the meaning of life.
The trouble is I’m not sure if it does, and if it does I’m not sure what
it is saying. It’s about life, the
universe and everything (quite literally) and I’ve seen it described as
impressionistic. I think the thing that
makes it difficult is that it appears to have a narrative structure, but that
isn’t the thing that’s important; what’s important are the questions it raises
in the viewer about their own life. I
think I’ll watch it again, but I’ll need to be in the right mood.
It fails the Bechdel test and I noticed. I was also troubled by a casual portrayal of
domestic violence, but maybe I was meant to be troubled.
The Way
In contrast to Tree of Life I totally got The Way, and loved
it. It’s a more straightforward
narrative, with a basically simple story line, but the simplicity of the
story-telling brings out the beauty and profundity of the human relationships
portrayed. It’s a film about a father
dealing with the death of his son, starring Martin Sheen, directed by his son
Emilio Estevez (who makes cameo appearances as the son) and there’s something
quite touching about a father and son working through some stuff like this; in
that sense it’s a bit like “On Golden Pond” where Henry and Jane Fonda worked
together shortly before Henry’s death.
This also fails the Bechdel test but I didn’t notice so
much; but it’s a shame that such a quality film didn’t manage some better
women. Why is it that “women” films are
seen as a niche market, whereas a film like this which is a film about men’s
relationships is seen as a film about human relationships?
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