If you haven't heard about Tree of Life, it's the new film from Terrence Malick starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain. This is Malick's fifth feature, his previous films including Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line and The New World, and he has become a director that you either love or don't. Personally, I haven't seen enough of his films to judge, only The Thin Red Line, which I personally really like.
Anyway, enough of the background surrounding this film, the trailer is in theaters attached to Black Swan for people to see. And boy does it look beautiful. The trailers that impress me are ones that don't exactly blow you away the first time, but cause rewatchings of it until you realise how great this looks. Two examples of this are my two favorite films of 2010 so far, Inception and The Social Network. Both had fantastic trailers that didn't blow me away the first time, but after repeat viewing caused me to think about it more and more and get more excited for it. The Tree of Life is one of those trailers.
The film basically follows a Midwestern boy and his evolution to when he is an adult, discovering the changing scenes of time which does not change. The trailer is full of intriguing shots, incredible shots I might add, and great music, two perfect ingredients for a teaser trailer. But damn does it just look plain beautiful. I can tell the cinematography will be gorgeous and considering the music is composed by Alexandre Desplat (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), but the storytelling, the performances and the direction will probably be terrific. I read a report of a screening of the film someone saw and that person compared it to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Just wait until this comes online, your jaw will be dropped by the cinematography. There are so many memorable shots, including one of a waterfall and Sean Penn walking over the pews of a church. I'm ready to love this film, especially with a great cast, Malick and Fox Searchlight (my favorite studio in the world) behind it. I have a feeling this will be Malick's masterpiece and something special.
