a review of 生命之树

Hmm... 🤔 I started watching The Tree of Life after having it on my watchlist for years, being a Terrence Malick aficionado ever since I saw The Thin Red Line when it was released in 1998. But somehow, The Tree of Life didn't resonate with me. Contrary to the feeling of genuine philosophical depth Malick's other films gave me, The Tree of Life felt pretentious, and I didn't feel the sadness of the parents, probably partially because the cinematography was fragmented and distracting, with the camera constantly swaying between extreme perspectives. The cosmic nebula interludes with vague poetic questions also made it harder to get into the story. It was all a bit too artsy-fartsy to my liking. I can appreciate that from someone like David Lynch, but in this case the stylization mainly bothered me. So I have to admit I stopped watching after reaching my fifteen-minute threshold whether a film is going to work out for me or not. I won't rate The Tree of Life, because I haven't seen most of it, and because I respect Malick too much.