THE TREE OF LIFE

Terrence Malick's long-awaited The Tree of Life is close to reaching maturity (see what I did there?). Initially thought to have been ready for the 2009 award season, then later switched to 2010 film festivals; it will now (probably) been seen during the summer of 2011, most likely at Cannes.

I had read that Tree was Malick's epic narrative about a family and their three sons, but even after seeing the trailer in front of Black Swan, it's still hard to fathom what the hell's going on. Brad Pitt (Cool World) is the take-no-shit father and Jessica Chastain (The Debt) is the more forgiving and loving mother. Pitt takes out his rage on his eldest son, who grows up to be Sean Penn (an equally angry individual).

There are some pretty stunning scenes here, but for now, it all just adds up to a big question mark. Perhaps with the next full trailer we'll learn more answers; I must admit, the amount of mystery surrounding this has me intrigued.