Quote:
Originally Posted by surfdude12
OMG I can't imagine how angry I would have gotten with half the audience walking out during a film. That would seriously get to me. I'd probably sit in the front row ahead of time if its predictable to happen. With Malick I'm sure it happens. I'm sure a lot of people get tickets not realizing his style, but half the theater? dang.
When you first said Tree of Life was your least favorite Malick film I almost crapped a brick, but then realized that Malick is your favorite director (right?), so his "worst" isn't saying much. Its like my least favorite flavor of pizza.  Let me know your thoughts or post a review , once you've had a chance to watch it some more. Look forward to reading your thoughts on it.
You'll be glad to hear that Malick has definitely grown on me, with Thin Red Line, New World and now Tree of Life. I'll revisit Days of Heaven again. What is your ranking of his films, I'm curious? |
You said Tree of Life has made it into you top 10....so which film on your current list will be knocked out???
Yes, quite literally half the theater. It's funny, prior to the movie I told my girlfriend that I expected at least a third of the theater to walk-out in the first half hour. Part of this was due to the nature of the film, and the fact that people, for some reason, do no research prior to seeing a film. They see Brad Pitt and go "oh my gawwwd, I gotta see that!" The other part of it was due to many theaters across the country actually posting a sign at the theater, stating that the film is supposed to be "artistic and abstract," and that it should not be off-putting. Yes, many theaters actually posted a warning!
So, in the first half hour, somewhere between a third to a half of the theater walked out. And get this: most of them walked out PRIOR to the 20-minute "history of the universe" section! Half of them were teenagers and parents with pre-teens, I kid you not. What 14 year old or parent with an 8 year old would go to this film??? The other half were, obviously, very old people, who commonly will walk out of films they dislike so they don't "waste their time."
As for my ranking of his films, it's tough. I know you've read quite a bit of my Malick thesis, and in it I never really provided a ranking. I said, and still believe, Badlands is his most straight-forward film, with the engaging plot of two serial killers on the run (based on the real life Starkweather murders of the late 50s). It has a lot of thematic material in it, but not an abundance of visual symbolism (it's more the mannerisms of the characters and the voice-over, which is non-poetic, that provides the thematic material).
Days of Heaven is his most visually important film, as its images of nature tell the story even more than the dialogue or voice-over. It maintains the non-poetic voice-over of Badlands, but there is a bit more thematic material that can be taken from it. I've always said, as has Ebert (which, by the way, do you plan on reading his memoir that was just released last week?), that it is the most beautiful movie ever made. Up to and through the completion of my thesis, I had ranked it as my least favorite Malick film, because I found it to be his most troublesome. Reason for this was because I thought the story didn't hold up to the visuals. (My ranking after my thesis was finished was as follows: New World, Thin Red Line, Badlands, Days of Heaven). Since then, I've seen the film twice, and I now rank it even higher because I feel I have a better understanding of it, and its purpose. The visuals are SUPPOSED to supersede the importance of the story. The voice-over even confirms this. The point is that our lives and the conflicts we go through are obsolete and irrelevant from nature's point of view, because nature is the controlling force in the universe. The film shows this through the fire, which interrupts the drama regarding the love triangle and propels it towards a different destination. Nature controls.
The Thin Red Line I still feel is his strongest film. I think it balances the visual with the spoken and the story most effectively. To me, it was the culmination of all the ideas of nature he had presented in his previous two films.
The New World was my favorite Malick film, although arguably his weakest overall. I think it had a good balance of story, visuals, and thematic material. Many critics did and still do find it very difficult to understand, aside from the obvious Pocahontas tale. I don't agree. I think that when deconstructed, it actually is reasonably easy to understand the purpose, as long as you realize it's a continuation of Malick's previous thematic pursuits.
The Tree of Life I find to be more troublesome than Days of Heaven and more abstract thematically than The New World. I think it builds upon some ideas in Badlands, but ultimately is more unlike that film than any of his other films. I think it is his most difficult film to dissect, even though I've only seen it once. I also think that there are many wrong ideas out there about the film, which hamper people's understanding about it. One such wrong idea is presented in the review that was just posted on this website (which was otherwise very well-written--Casey Broadwater's best review). Broadwater writes that
[Show spoiler]the ending is an "afterlife" scene, which is also what many critics had written in their reviews. Most of them said it was the weakest part of the film. I disagree completely, and it's not an afterlife scene at all. The entire point of Sean Penn's scenes is to show his trouble grappling with his brother's death. In real life, Malick's brother committed suicide in his late teens, which has always had a great effect on him. The movie is meant to be more autobiographical than reviewers who don't know his history have given credit for (it was even filmed in places where he grew up--he's from Waco, Texas). Penn's scenes are all about that, as you see him light a candle on the anniversary of his brother's death. He's wondered all these years why his brother died, and if there was anything that could have diverted his path. That's why a lot of the growing up scenes show just that--growing up. You don't see any huge event that would have predicted him dying, although the film does imply it was due to Vietnam and not suicide--a fact I'll have to look at more the next time I see it, although both war and suicide could provide very interesting, but similar analyses. Rather, the point is to show that sometimes death just happens, as it is a natural part of the universe. Nothing can stop it because NATURE rules. So, Penn is trying to grapple with this truth. That's why all his flashback scenes are. And then when he comes into the desert, he's not really in the desert--that's in his mind. That's symbolism for him "wandering alone" trying to understand the reason for his brother's death. When he finally does, what happens? HE GOES THROUGH A DOORWAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT. It can't get any more obvious than that! It's showing that he has finally understood that death is just something that happens and that it has to be accepted, and now he can cross the threshold (door) and get to the other side, where acceptance lies. Then, he ends up on the beach. Coincidence? No. What's on the beach? WATER. Water represents several things, but two of its most prominent, widespread meanings are life and rebirth. For Penn's character, it is both. He has been reborn, almost baptized, and can now come to acceptance with his brother's death. So, why all the people from his past on the beach? Because these are the people that have made him who he is and have gotten him to this point. He is able to embrace his childhood finally and the unfortunate death that resulted. In other words, he has been reborn and can finally view these people as contributing to him being where he is, and not try to find fault in each of them in causing his brother's death.
So, overall, what would my ranking be? Probably as follows:
Best:
The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life, Days of Heaven, Badlands, The New World
Favorite:
The New World, The Thin Red Line, Days of Heaven, Badlands, The Tree of Life
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
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Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
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Iceland
Indonesia
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Israel
India
Latvia
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Malaysia
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Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
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Sweden
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United Arab Emirates
5/5
4.5/5
2.5/5
2.5/5
Thinking about it always makes me go 
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