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Authors
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life (2011) constitutes an exception in a market flooded with commercial cinematic productions. Its experimental nature is best revealed by non-linear narrative, breathtaking images of the origins of the universe, and a creative approach to an old theme: what is the meaning of life? When middle-aged architect Jack O’Brien sees a tree being planted in front of a building, he meditates upon his childhood and adolescence, in Waco, Texas, during the fifties. Several aspects of his social and family life, such as the relationship with a strict father, representing “nature”, and a gentle mother, symbolizing “grace”; his experiments with sexuality and violence; his father’s struggle to overcome failure; his mother’s anguish in face of the loss of a child. This journey from innocence to childhood prompts several questions regarding the meaning of life, the relevance of faith and forgiveness. In this paper, I reflect on the central symbol of the movie, the “tree of life”, analyzing its cinematic representation; its symbolic, oneiric and religious meanings; and how it congregates the fragments of the narrative and its protagonists. For that purpose, I resort to mythology, anthropology and religion.
Description
Keywords
The Tree of Life Faith Symbol Experimental cinema
Citation
Mancelos, João de. “Talking to God, under Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life”. Atas do II Encontro Anual da AIM. Org. Tiago Baptista, e Adriana Martins. Lisboa: Associação de Investigadores da Imagem em Movimento, 2013. 320-328. ISBN: 978-989-98215-0-7.
Publisher
Associação de Investigadores da Imagem em Movimento