The Tree of Life: Exploring Philosophical Riches of Life and Time - Movie Analysis Essay

Terrence, Mallick’s movie “The Tree of Life” is primarily based on his vast philosophical perspectives. That is owing to Malick's background in philosophy that warrants philosophical inquiries and statements. The film juxtaposes the creation world, the dinosaurs age, pretension and metaphysics. The award-winning, groundbreaking film engages thoughtful philosophical riches of culture, life, sacred and time (Malick). That is seen through the film's transverse relationship in the spheres of science, ontology, morality and in the spiritual realm that subsequently demonstrates how the works of phenomenology can be relayed in a cinematic medium. That is in the quest of bridging the gap between the works of theology demonstrated in the film in a broader cultural perspective, coupled with its philosophical significance. Mallick's film in the philosophical perspective, therefore, emblems insightful engagement, presenting excellent resources for resources.

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The film underscores the possibility of transcendence through pushing the limits of the world, making the world no more absolute presence, albeit in the visible sign of the presence of its creator. The filmic dwellings delve in the expended chain of revolution in the world’s presence that subsequently points towards the presence of God. A primary illustrated experience to the viewer is Jack O’Brian’s image standing at the enigmatic doorframe in the wilderness (Malick). Similarly, the film underscores a philosophical exploration of the meaning of life through its featuring of a family, the O’Brians who are compelled to deal with the various psychological trauma of the unexpected death of one of their own. The director asserts a philosophical narrative by quoting the book of Job “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Erath?” (Malick). That is a clear depiction of the humbling nature of Job, a man of God whose faith was put to the test by God.

The film’s philosophical perspectives also underscore the oscillation between the forces shaping the galaxy and the intimate problems of the O’Brian’s family through the representation of the mother, the father and the three boys as they are the embodiment of nature which is cruel, coupled with the benignities of grace. Similarly, the representation of the digital roaming of the dinosaurs on earth that integrates into the lush real-life background as an audacious consequence evokes a metaphysical, a question on the philosophical world. Also, the autobiographical father-son relationship between Mr O'Brian and Brad Pitt emblems an emotional and painful detail through Mr O'Brian's strict and angry manner in which he treats his sons, accelerated by his professional bitterness and frustrations that underpins his old fashions disciplinarians, demanding his sons to address him as sir.

A central philosophical dilemma in the movie is spelt through Mrs O'Brian who asserts the two ways of life, the way of nature and the way of grace and challenges his sons to choose whichever they need to follow. She adds that nature is only responsible for pleasing itself and often finds a reason to be unhappy while one who uphold the ways of grace would never go wrong. Perhaps it is for the unwavering grace of Mrs O'Brian that helps the family pull through even at the times when the family is marked by tragedy (Malick). The movie, however, ends with a philosophical fantasy that sequences the scenes of creation and both parents and children see a reconciliation in the afterlife, the director’s greatest achievement in the film. The film, therefore, chronicles the origin and meaning of life through the O’Brian’s who finally find salvation through the ways of grace.

Work Cited

Malick, Terrence. “The Tree of Life: Crafting an Existential Masterpiece.” YouTube,uploaded by Like Stories of Old, 7 May 2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxnGHhEWXbc