Cannes Film Festival: 20 Best Palme D'Or Winners Ever
2. The Tree Of Life (2011)
Terrence Malick is one of the most intriguing directors to ever step behind a camera, having emerged in the 70s as a star to watch before taking an unexplained twenty-year break from the industry. When he returned to his field, his films became more epic, more complex, demanding and urgent.
No film of Malick's is as arresting, challenging and intelligent as his 2011 drama The Tree of Life, an epic odyssey into the life of one family in the 1950s and the attempts of one man (Sean Penn) to reconcile his past and question the very meaning of life, the universe and everything.
With sweeping, awe-inspiring insights into the birth of the universe, as well as a smaller but no less intense portrayal of family discord, the complexities of childhood and the existence of faith, The Tree of Life is an admittedly divisive work, but one that reaps many rewards for those willing to follow it during its journey.