“The Tree of Life” (2011)

My young lady offered a succinct appraisal of this year’s Palm d’or winner: “art wank”.  I can’t say that I wholly disagree.  Terence Malick’s 2 hours 20 minute epic on life, the universe and everything is as ambitious a film as any ever made and only blind fans would argue that he pulls it off without a hitch.  Whether you enjoy it or not will depend on your tolerance for abstract imagery, deathly slow pacing and the most bold dramatic conceit since “2001: A Space Odyssey”.

The Kubrick reference is entirely relevant.  Malick long ago inherited Stanley’s reputation for quietly making masterpieces at very irregular intervals.  With “The Tree of Life” he takes on Kubrick at his own game, giving his tale of domestic disharmony and family tragedy in the 1950s a truly cosmic dimension.  Whilst the micro-story sees Brad Pitt as a none too successful inventor-cum-frustrated musician, complete with  a Willy Loman side, struggling to connect with his wife and three sons, the macro one takes on nothing less than evolution itself.

The relationship between the two parts of the movie is likely to be challenging for a mainstream audience.  What possible connection is there between a pair of dinosaurs interacting on the banks of a stream and Brad’s egocentric suppertime monologues?   In “2001″ the back-story works because it’s told in a linear fashion, giving a scientific context for all that follows.  In “The Tree of Life” the segues are random and haphazard.  Malick also seems to have one foot in the religious camp, with biblical allusions to Job and much time devoted to whispered utterances of faith and reflection, and another in the scientific, with images of cell division and planetary congress.

 There’s still much to love.  All the standard Malick tropes - impassioned, highly subjective voice overs, gorgeous shots of nature, stirring water symbolism - are there.  The acting is superlative.  With his crew cut and sneer Pitt looks like Brando did in the late 1950s, delivering his most sensitive performances to date.  He’s matched by new comer Jessica Chastain and child actor Hunter McCracken as the first born, Jack.

Malick falters in a last act. Sean Penn flounders around in some kind coastal limbo, playing the adult Jack in scenes of parental reconciliation that seem like sub-par Fellini.  “The Tree of Life” is much stronger celebrating the simple joys and pleasures of existence than in contemplating its end.