To the Wonder (Terrence Malick, 2012)

[Qrazy]

More thoughts are required here.

Yeah seriously, fucking Boner.

[Boner M]

I'll post reviews at the fest's end. For now, I'll say this is the first Malick film that feels like a minor work, like ToL without scope; w/ that film's language - so perfect for expressing childhood reminiscence - here applied to the experiences of adults who, from all evidence, are overgrown children. I was totally on board with the first half or so, but from thereon I couldn't shake the sense that the reels could've been randomised to no great loss, something I've never sensed with his prior films, which all feel intuitively cohesive and even beautifully structured, for all their ellipses and fragmentation.

[Skitch]

So what you're saying is...its a Malick film.

[Melville]

I'll post reviews at the fest's end. For now, I'll say this is the first Malick film that feels like a minor work, like ToL without scope; w/ that film's language - so perfect for expressing childhood reminiscence - here applied to the experiences of adults who, from all evidence, are overgrown children. I was totally on board with the first half or so, but from thereon I couldn't shake the sense that the reels could've been randomised to no great loss, something I've never sensed with his prior films, which all feel intuitively cohesive and even beautifully structured, for all their ellipses and fragmentation.

After Tree of Life, something with a looser structure sounds intriguing. How did the non-classical music work out?

[baby doll]

After Tree of Life, something with a looser structure sounds intriguing.

So am I seriously the only one who thought that the structure of The Tree of Life was loose to the point of nonexistent (particularly in the second half, with the endless succession of unconnected vignettes)?

[Qrazy]

So am I seriously the only one who thought that the structure of The Tree of Life was loose to the point of nonexistent (particularly in the second half, with the endless succession of unconnected vignettes)?

Yes.

[Ezee E]

Yes.

And by Yes babydoll, he means no.

[baby doll]

And by Yes babydoll, he means no.

Now I'm just confused.

[Ezee E]

So am I seriously the only one who thought that the structure of The Tree of Life was loose to the point of nonexistent (particularly in the second half, with the endless succession of unconnected vignettes)?

No.

[baby doll]

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that having a loose structure is a necessarily bad thing, but in the case of The Tree of Life, even after four viewings, it still seems to me a grab bag of often stunning fragments rather than a unified whole. In the '70s, Malick told stories about characters, while in his three subsequent films (each a little less interesting than the one previous), he compiled sequences involving archetypes.