come anticipate the masterpiece that will be terrence malick's TREE OF LIFE.

I saw an hour of this when it was screened on Film Four recently and was enraged I missed this at the cinema as Thin Red Line is incredibly boring. It looks like I missed the worst parts of it (?)

I think Thin Red Line is a masterpiece. Not boring at all to me, totally/tonally enrapturing.

Per Malick's editing, I'm not sure I was as distracted as you were (xpost) to the cuts, but I do know that at least since Thin Red Line his movies have more or less been made in the editing suite. That is, he has a loose script, but spends just as much time making his actors recite long speeches that won't make it in as impulsively stealing shots of nature that will (tons of Sean Penn were apparently excised from Tree of Life, just as Adrian Brody was more or less erased out of Thin Red Line). Out of the hours and hours of extraneous stuff as well as acting, the movie's themes and whatnot are shaped when he and his team start cutting things together. It's a very impressionistic style, and I can imagine it being frustrating for someone expecting something more linear. In fact, Badlands may be the only Malick to stick to a relatively conservative narrative filmmaking style. It's pretty linear/straight-forward in a way that none of his subsequent films are. Even The New World is a little loopy, and that one (iirc) trades in hyper-realism.

The lack of linearity didn't bother me, just the fact that he didn't let any shot linger for more than 5 seconds, even though some of the shots were quite beautiful and would've been more effective if he'd let them breath. I mean, if this movie is supposed to be a contemplation on life and universe and all, he didn't give us much time to contemplate before moving to the next Significant Image, and the next one, and the next one... The idea of shaping the whole movie in the editing room is cool, but I don't think that justifies the rapid cuts. Surely the shots of nature et al that he'd done were long enough that they would've allowed for a slower pace? The jump cuts felt like a conscious aesthetic choice, not something that was forced by the material he had, so it was baffling to me why he chose to do it that way.

your complaint is similar to dave kehr's, iirc.

not sure it makes sense to say the cutting isn't motivated by the material--the style is exactly the point, even more than the "material," no? Malick's thing is less making Significant Images to be pondered than a rush of images (he'd be a great music video director), a kind of flowing signification, let's say, rather than anything you can put your finger on. im not saying you're supposed to be frustrated, but any sense of Meaning is meant to be fleeting and transitory, i think.

the funny thing is that it's not a "contemplative" movie at all. quite the opposite! The Thin Red Line is contemplative, maybe, which is why it's my favorite of his. The Tree of Life is more immediate and overwhelming.

I mean, if this movie is supposed to be a contemplation on life and universe and all, he didn't give us much time to contemplate before moving to the next Significant Image, and the next one, and the next one.

You could make a case that this is the precise point.

^^^

Okay, fair enough, but what is the point then? What is quick pace suppose to convey? That Heaven is hectic?

No, maybe that you've got one life to live, it goes by fast, and the next thing you know everyone is dead, including you, and even as you juggle a jumble of memories, loves, experiences, mistakes and regrets, you're not one step closer to understanding the way the universe works or why.

OTM.

Tho I think the aesthetic experience is the primary driver, so if someone's not responding to that, I'm not even going to try to convince them otherwise.

Well, I did respond to it, but by feeling nauseous, I doubt that was what the movie was supposed to do...

the next thing you know everyone is dead, including you, and even as you juggle a jumble of memories, loves, experiences, mistakes and regrets, you're not one step closer to understanding the way the universe works or why.

Yeah, like I said, I was fine this when the movie was depicting memories, of childhood thoughts and images and experiences meshing with each other... But what I didn't get why the same technique was used with the cosmic/spiritual stuff. Like, in the beach scene in the end of the movie Malick keeps cutting within the same "Heaven" (or whatever it's supposed to be) imagery, he doesn't juxtapose it with memories or stuff from other parts of the movie, it's just jump-cuts within the same scene on the beach, and I seriously don't get what was the point of there. From what was actually happening in the scene, it felt like we were supposed to witness the state of grace mentioned earlier in the movie, of sins forgiven (hence the mother being all cuddly with the father again) and losses regained... But the way it was presented felt stressful and chaotic, closer to music video than anything solemn. And if that was intentional, I just don't get what the intention was.

The new Blu-ray/DVD release features two versions of the picture — the 139-minute, Oscar-nominated 2011 theatrical cut and a new, 188-minute extended edition. This longer edit, however, is not a “director’s cut,” although Malick himself prepared it.

http://www.vulture.com/2018/09/will-terrence-malick-ever-really-finish-the-tree-of-life.html

Same as it ever was. https://t.co/V4PiwEryqb

— Michael Oman-Reagan (@OmanReagan) October 30, 2019

Er, not sure what happened

Shout out to my friend who once tried to torrent Malick’s The Tree of Life, downloaded 3h 8m of the trailer on a loop, and watched that for thirty minutes thinking it was “experimental” before he caught on. I have thought about this approximately twice a week for ten years 🙏

— Megan (@mmegannnolan) October 30, 2019

I suppose you're also going to shatter my illusions by claiming that the film isn't actually scored to an extended mix of 'Yackety Sax'.

prayers up for this poor bastard mentioned in the comments

another s/o to @SomeNiceFun who inadvertently watched it thinking it would be a calming film to take the buzz off an acid trip, and who was also - unbeknownst to him - was simultaneously coming down with norovirus

— Stan The Golden Boy (@tristandross) October 30, 2019

prayers up for this poor bastard mentioned in the comments

another s/o to @SomeNiceFun who inadvertently watched it thinking it would be a calming film to take the buzz off an acid trip, and who was also - unbeknownst to him - was simultaneously coming down with norovirus

— Stan The Golden Boy (@tristandross) October 30, 2019

prayers up for this poor bastard mentioned in the comments

another s/o to @SomeNiceFun who inadvertently watched it thinking it would be a calming film to take the buzz off an acid trip, and who was also - unbeknownst to him - was simultaneously coming down with norovirus

— Stan The Golden Boy (@tristandross) October 30, 2019

prayers up for this poor bastard mentioned in the comments

another s/o to @SomeNiceFun who inadvertently watched it thinking it would be a calming film to take the buzz off an acid trip, and who was also - unbeknownst to him - was simultaneously coming down with norovirus

— Stan The Golden Boy (@tristandross) October 30, 2019

grrr

Thank u for recreating the experience of watching bootleg Tree of Life

Lol

I had totally forgotten Jack shouting at his father "SHE ONLY LOVES ME!"

Extended version throws in too much that truly is too much/not enough (Ben Chaplin as abusive dad in the neighborhood). Also Chastain's mother (Fiona Shaw) explicitly diagnosing Pitt's resentments, which we can see for ourselves.

Alex Ross's Criterion supplement on the musical selections is excellent.