It’s heeeeeeere. Honestly, I’m not sure I even want to watch this, so I’ll leave it to you guys to comment. Click on the image below to watch it at Apple, or check out the embed after the jump.
It’s heeeeeeere. Honestly, I’m not sure I even want to watch this, so I’ll leave it to you guys to comment. Click on the image below to watch it at Apple, or check out the embed after the jump.
Comments
75 responses to “‘The Tree of Life’ trailer”
This trailer is so amazing that it actually managed to blow away my already sky high expectations. It was also, sadly, my favorite thing about watching Black Swan last Sunday.
Will Lubezki finally get his long-delayed Oscar?
This looks phenomenal. A visual treat. You can already tell we’re looking at something extremely layered…I’ll be there.
beautiful shot after beautiful shot… and they don’t look forced.
Goosebumps.
Most beautiful film ever. Take it to the bank.
Malick is a true original who takes his time in making films, with almost always to great results. The one exception being The Thin Red Line, which in my opinion doesn’t hold up. My only fear is that this film is overreaching. It looks great and I think this could be Pitt’s moment. We shall see, bu this is exciting. The photography looks outstanding, as always with his films.
I was amazed just by the shitty camera phone capture on YouTube. This is breathtaking.
I have the same reaction, I’ve had the first time I saw it – this looks a lot like Benjamin Button (the actual film and not its trailer) to me.
The cinematography also looks good but I don’t find anything mindblowing about it. If anything, everything seems to be shot rather narrowly, to the point where it’s almost distacting.
And that narration.
I do think that Sean Penn looks good in this though.
Lastly, the shot at 0:59 looks uncanilly like something out of The Fountain.
Can’t see this til I’m off from work — gahhh, dying here.
I knew I should have brought an extra pair of pants to work.
Was going to wait to watch this when I saw Black Swan on Friday, but I couldn’t wait… stunning… most. anticipated. movie. of. 2011.
Glad this is going to come out in Spring/early Summer.
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That trailer looks better than most of the likely BP nominees this year.
It has me thinking about next year’s race now, lol.
Has a more pretentious trailer ever been constructed?
The most annoying pretentious trailer ever. Gawd.
Pretentious or not, cinematography is so stunning, one can already congratulate Lubezki for winning the Oscar next year. I’m also quite excited to see Pitt. Always found him very good at least, and especially since his performance in The Assassination of Jesse James.. (which in my opinion, is one of the greatest performances ever) he belongs to the very best actors of his generation.
And here come the contrarians. How is this trailer pretentious? I agree with Faraci on this one. Calling something pretentious is often just another way of saying “It makes me feel stupid”
Pretentious?
Interesting considering we know nothing of the plot yet. Maybe wait before you trash the film? Armond White would at least do that.
I watched “Days of Heaven” for the first time last night. It hit me like a punch to the gut, truly a masterpiece.
Beyond excited for this.
Looks like a home video that a child molester shot. LOL! White naked kids in bathtubs!
It feels good to be excited by a film again.
Is this a commercial for De Beers? “You haven’t lived unless you’ve loved…” WTF?! Pretentious? YES!
The trailer feels like an 80’s movie Spielberg would’ve executive produced. “Feels like an 80’s movie and Spielberg” aren’t pejoratives for me.
That being said, this trailer is nothing if not completely representative of what you’ll see. Fox Searchlight is pretty good at that. And what that is is a Terrence Malick film. Visual poetry with philosophical narration. Can’t fucking wait.
“How is this trailer pretentious?”
Exhibit A: “Guide us… to the end of time”.
And Fitz, stop being pretentious. It’s a trailer designed to provoke this kinds of conversations. No one’s judging the film yet, except you.
If we’re comparing human anatomy, this movie is a VAGINA and the Academy is a huge, throbbing PENIS. “Come! F*%&K ME!!!!,” says The Tree of Life.
So there is a natural disaster on the background? Von Trier’s Melancholia will feature cataclysms too.
K, home from work, just saw it.
Umm, gorggggeous, but yeah … pretentious, much?
I’m still looking forward to it, big time.
It’s Benjamin Button all over again. *sigh* I hate filmmakers that make movies for the sole reason of winning awards.
I have to wonder if anyone calling this trailer pretentious has actually ever seen a Terrence Malick film.
@ /3rtfu11,
Much too much praise, methinks. Kind of see what you mean though. Maybe if Spielberg actually did “Benjamin Button” like he planned in the 90s. I love it when he uses handheld tracking shots like he did in ‘Munich’.
Still, I do think that it ultimately looks like a Malick movie. We shall see.
By the way, calling this trailer “pretentious” is not exactly an insult. The trailer for “The Fountain” has some that too, and it was entirely by design. But where I think The Fountain fared better is by not having narration. I think it’s unnecessary here.
I have ^. And I don’t like them. But I enjoy Brad Pitt. Sean Penn is one of my favorite actors. Jessica Chastain looks intriguing. The cinematography looks great. I love Desplat. etc..
So, I’ll definitely see this and hope it isn’t as classically Malickian (much to the chagrin of most) as I fear.
Terrence Malick isn’t going to change the way he makes films. This, to me, looks like the culmination of everything he’s ever done in a way. But if you don’t like Malick, then I don’t see this film changing your mind.
I doubt Malick made this movie to win awards. He’s been working on this movie for about 5 years, why would he do all that JUST to win awards? Yeah, and like Kevin said, what do expect from Malick?
If people are already calling this pretentious what will happen when the Dinosaurs show up?
Yeah, about that.
What Andrew said. A thousand times what Andrew said. Malick is an artist, he makes his movies the way he wants to make them, which is why he spends so much time in the editing room and takes so long to finish. He’s a genius and won’t accept anything less than exactly what he envisioned. He’s a philosopher and writes as such, this isn’t an “Awards” movie, it’s a Terrence Malick film.
I dunno, I have a hard time believing that a true visionary would really spend years on editing.
It seems to me that a man of true vision would know what he wants and will shoot in such a way as to make the editing process as simple and organic as possible.
I do realize that different people work in different ways. But then, they are different from each other for that very reason.
Can. Not. Wait.
I think Thomas Jane put is best in his interviews abotu The Thin Red Line. He asked Malick why he was shooting the same scene outdoors from dawn till dusk, and Malick replied “Well Tom, you see if I shot from dawn till magic hour, that way I can take your scene, and put it anywhere in the movie I like.” That to me strikes as someone who knows what he wants but isn’t adhering to strict narrative rules. He has total freedom and control over the film that emerges out of the editing room that way. That, to me, is the mark of a visionary. Malick plays by his own rules, and it shows. Many have tried to imitate Malick over the years, but no one comes close, as they miss the point.
Goosebumps indeed. It looks absolutely amazing. And I expect nothing less from Malick who has made nothing but amazing films that completely absorbs you.
And I love the fact that I only have a vague idea of what the film’s storyline is all about.
A lot of unnecessary and unjustified whining going on in this thread. If this trailer emerged unannounced, courtest of an unknown director with no advance hype, people would not be griping about it being pretentious. The positive comments might not be so hyperbolic either, granted. But these intensely negative reactions just baffle me. I mean, what the hell do you people want? Why do you even watch movies?
First of all, it’s being honest about how unusual the film may be, which is better than trying to make it look like something it isn’t. It’s not spending all its time focusing on Brad Pitt’s name or face, or even Sean Penn’s, for that matter.
It’s providind an aura of mystery, enveloped in a cascade of breathtaking images. And this angers you? Where’s all this vitriol during the countless trailers for mindless rom-coms or thoughtless, testosterone-soaked action flicks that are released year in and year out?
What happened to remaining open-minded and optimistic about being taken on a journey into a unique cinematic landscape? Are we really that cynical and bitter that we need to trash a film before it sees the light of day? You should be encouraging Hollywood to take chances on passion projects from visionary directors, rather than mocking and besmirching their every move.
Yes, this film may turn out to be a beautifully shot, pretentious misfire. But some of you actually seem to be hoping that this is the case. As much as I dislike certain films and filmmakers, I always hope that the next effort will be better, because as a movie buff, I want more stories to enjoy…not less. If a movie has to exist, why not hope it’s a good one?
One word. STUNNING.
I’m sorry Kevin, you example makes Malick sound like a visionary of scenes and not movies.
He is still a visionary but the scope is smaller.
Freedom and experentation is another word for I don’t quite know what I want.
Keli: Thank you for saying everything that needed to be said. I guess I was too busy staring at the thread feed in disbelief at the comments that are popping up.
LOL, pretentious? If you say that it is just exposing a laziness to how you view films.
Maxim: How many of Malick’s films have you seen and which ones?
I think I know where you are going with your question.
I have seen Days of Heaven, Thin Red Line and New World.
Let me say upfront that what interests me in the discussion that we’ve had so far is the nature of what it means to be a visionary. You may not believe me but most everything I’ve said so far
hasn’t been specific to Mallick at all.
I have my own views on what it takes to be a great director and have rather unusual views on the auteur theory. To get back to the point (and you are free to argue with this), I honestly think that the greatest achievement a director can achieve in terms of vision, is to be able to envision the entire film at once. Not to discover during the process of filming but to come into it knowing, almost exactly how the film will flow. That implies havign a good idea of where scenes would be placesd (please understand that I am a realist and allow for wiggle room, inspriration and logistical demands).
Nevertheless, based on only what you’ve said (e.g. about years spent on editing (tons of unused footage of New World floating around),
taking a very frugal approach to every idea by shooting it in all the different conditions to be reused later) doesn’t scream the greatest visionary to me. An artist, definitely. Those have different types of processes to arrive at their art works.
That’s just my opinion and that doesn’t make the end results any less interesting to me nor should it read like I’m putting Mallick down. Honestly, at the end of the day, it’s the work that should speak for itself.
I will say though people are overreacting about the whole “pretentous” thing (and yes, I do think that had this been an unknown director the same word would be thrown as much if not more). Face it, it kind of is. I as have said before that need not be an insult either – it one way to promote a film. Nor does it mean that peple who find the narration to be that way are stupid or want the film to fail. I look forward to it as much as anyone else.