{"id":12355,"date":"2011-07-09T22:42:56","date_gmt":"2011-07-09T21:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=12355"},"modified":"2011-08-09T05:04:15","modified_gmt":"2011-08-09T04:04:15","slug":"the-tree-of-life-review-terrence-malick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2011\/07\/09\/the-tree-of-life-review-terrence-malick\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tree of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

UK cinemagoers can now finally see Terrence Malick’s latest film but how does it hold up after all the buzz and anticipation?<\/p>\n

Ever since his debut Badlands<\/a> (1973) screened to acclaim at the New York Film Festival nearly 40 years ago, a Terrence Malick film has become something of an event.<\/p>\n

One of the most audacious directorial debuts in US cinema was followed five years later with Days of Heaven<\/a> (1978), a troubled production which fortunately yielded one of the most visually remarkable films of the 1970s.<\/p>\n

Then there followed a twenty year period where Malick didn’t make any movies, a time which stoked his legend and made people revisit the\u00a0extraordinary\u00a0beauty and craftsmanship of his work and\u00a0cemented his place in the canon of American cinema.<\/p>\n

Just when it seemed he would become the J.D. Salinger<\/a> of US cinema, in the mid-90s it emerged that he was actually returning with an adaptation of the World War II novel The Thin Red Line<\/a> (1998), which has the distinction of being one of the greatest and most unusual war films ever released by a major studio.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Six years later he made The New World<\/a> (2005), a retelling of the Pocahontas<\/a> story which contained the same slow-burn ecstasy as his previous work along with some breathtaking use of imagery and music.<\/p>\n

Malick remains an enigma as his refusal to do any publicity or play by conventional Hollywood practice is matched by an extensive network of admirers<\/a> and supporters<\/a> throughout the very system he flouts.<\/p>\n

Up to this point his forty year career has been highly singular.<\/p>\n

Not since Stanley Kubrick<\/a> has a filmmaker achieved such creative control nor inspired such reverential awe amongst his peers and true cineastes.<\/p>\n

Financing for this film was presumably a bit trickier than his last two, but River Road Entertainment<\/a> and producer Bill Pohlad<\/a> managed to raise the reported $32 million budget and followed the recent Malick formula of casting a big star alongside talented newcomers.<\/p>\n

The production was three years in the making, with the bulk of photography taking place in 2008 and various other elements stretched out until it eventually\u00a0premi\u00e8red\u00a0at Cannes back in May.<\/p>\n

One of the most hotly anticipated festival screenings in years<\/a>, it seemed to divide initial reaction at the festival (it was both booed and cheered at the press screening in the morning), but with high praise from experienced trade critics<\/a>, the film was rapturously received at the evening premiere and went on to win the Palme d’Or<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Malick was actually spotted at the festival<\/a>, but the producers accepted the award on his behalf and there was a wonderful symmetry to The Tree of Life winning a trophy of golden leaves.<\/p>\n

Over the last few weeks Fox Searchlight<\/a> have given it a platform release and amongst discerning\u00a0film goers\u00a0it has become one of the must-see events of the summer.<\/p>\n

After all, this is a work by one of America’s most revered directors featuring one of the biggest movie stars on the planet.<\/p>\n