Ever since his directorial debut Badlands, Terrence Malick has pushed further away from the mainstream conventions of linear storytelling, progressively moving towards movies as tone poems with often deeply spiritual undertones. The Tree Of Life represented Malick's real shift in gear towards impressionistic filmmaking, telling the fragmented recollections of architect Jack O'Brien (Sean Penn) as he ponders back on his childhood growing up in 1950s Texas. His parents (played by Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt) are viewed in symbolic terms, Nature and Grace taking on physical form. With a meandering pace which even allows for a detour from the central characters to explore the creation of the universe (dinosaurs included), The Tree Of Life was always going to have a polarizing effect on audiences, but there's no denying Malick's ambition as a filmmaker. Such a shame that his more recent movies To The Wonder and Knight Of Cups feel like pale imitations rather than the real deal.
