'The Tree of Life': Searching for God in the Silence

'The Tree of Life':

Searching for God in the Silence

When approaching the work of filmmaker Terrence Malick, it is important to keep in mind the central character of so many of his narratives - God, himself. Malick, whatever his personal religious beliefs may be, has a cinematic style coated with layers of the metaphysical, supernatural, and the divine. No more is this clear than in Malick’s divisive 2011 masterpiece The Tree of Life.

When it first opened at the Cannes Film Festival, The Tree of Life was met with both ecstatic applause and a round of scathing boos from those in attendance. Upon a theatrical release, critical response was mostly positive and the film has been declared one of the best of the decade by many, including the late Roger Ebert, however, there also existed a vocal minority of those who gave scathing reviews to the project. The general audience response was even more divided. It currently holds a 60% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes with most reviews polarising at either extreme of the rating scale.

The one thing that this proves is that The Tree of Life is a difficult film.

And it is undoubtedly a difficult film to understand. It’s very visual and very metaphorical. It jumps wildly between periods ranging from the present day to the 1950s to the dinosaurs to the beginning of time itself. It includes quickly moving shots, scenes that take place in seemingly random locations, as well as very little interpersonal dialogue. The film is unlike any of its contemporaries. And yet, through this unique style of filmmaking, Malick manages to create one of the most profound and complex narratives ever put to screen.

The bare bones of the film are quite simple. It follows two separate timelines: the first is set in the 1950s and follows the O’Brien family - the loving mother, the abusive father, and their three sons; the second is set in the present day and follows Jack O’Brien, the eldest O’Brien child, as a middle-aged man reflecting upon the trauma of his childhood.

The Tree of Life can be read a thousand different ways. There’s no one way to look at it or make sense of it. It contains a multitude of themes and rich ideas. However, the most critical piece to understanding the film is through its relationship with God.

Easy enough, right? Two alternate storylines that slowly build towards a narrative climax as Jack learns to move past his father’s abuse and the passing of his mother and brother. Along the way, we pick up some light philosophy and engage in personal soul-searching. It's the recipe for a clean-cut Hollywood drama. However, Malick is not content on keeping things easy.

Instead, he juxtaposes the simple story of one normal American family with the entire history, both past, present, and future, of the universe itself. The film becomes more than just a story told from the prospect of Jack O'Brien but also one told from the perspective of God.

The story of Jack O’Brien is one of him coming to terms with a world that seems progressively darker. As a child, he notices things wrong with the world - disability, abuse, violence - and begins to question the morality of the world. As a man, he reflects upon these things and the hurt that he himself has endured as a result and hopes to find God, wherever he may be. As the film continues, one question keeps coming back to the forefront of his mind and the mind of his mother:

Why do bad things happen to good people?

The O’Brien family is a surrogate for much of humanity. They live an ordinary life in an ordinary and they are treated to such brokenness and heartache. The abuse of Mr. O’Brien grows worse, Jack becomes a violent person, the cracks in the foundation of the Earth begin to show. It all culminates with the death of the middle child of the O’Brien family, R.L.

R.L. is presented as the pinnacle of goodness in their lives. He isn’t violent, he isn’t disruptive. He’s calm, quiet, and a wonderful person. Yet, at the age of 19, he is tragically killed. How he dies is never revealed, however, the tragedy of the death is made known through the story of the older Jack O’Brien.

The O’Briens regularly call out to God each in their own way. Mrs. O’Brien does when she is a young woman, and so does Jack as both a child and an adult.  “What are we to you?”, “where were you?”, “did you know?” And God doesn’t seem to respond.

Yet, we instead see the narrative as he does. We see the grandeur of the universe from its beginning towards its inevitable end. We see the development of the infinite. We see the forming of the galaxies. We see clouds of dust and gas become stars. We see planets take shape. We see the molten rocks cool and become land. We see the development of microscopic cells into the oceans, then those cells into plants and animals, then those animals move towards the land. And only in the last moments do humans appear.

This montage takes up sixteen minutes of screentime for good reason. Filled with powerful instrumental music and dazzling images from across the cosmos, the “birth of the universe” montage exists to put us in the right mindset when approaching the story. The story will feel important but take a step back and it is dwarfed by the majesty of God.

One of the implicit questions I found The Tree of Life asking was “how do we find ourselves in all of this?” We look upon our lives as something great, something triumphant, or important, yet compared to the greatness of the universe, and to the even greater God above it all, we are nothing.

Even our achievements as a society and as a species are fleeting. The screenplay of The Tree of Life sets the story of adult Jack in a nondescript city, called the City of Destruction, saying: “it could be Chicago, New York, Houston, Paris, Mumbai, Los Angeles, or a composite of them all. We never see it whole . . . fragments only . . . a new Babel” (Malick, 9). Malick here makes another conscious Biblical allusion. The story of Babel is a parable of humanity’s collective hubris. In the story related in Genesis 11, humanity has come together to built a great tower, the greatest tower ever made, to stretch up into heaven and to reach God. The driving thought behind it is “we have come so far that we are greater than God himself.” God eventually disrupts their plans to prove to them that he is stronger than them. Far stronger.

Compared to everything, we are nothing.

God speaks directly in the film only once, and it’s delivered through a quotation shown on screen at the first start of the film. It’s an abbreviated quotation from towards the end of the Book of Job. When God says these words to Job, Job has spent the first 37 chapters in desolation. His children are killed. His wealth is gone. His friends abandon him. Job then takes out his anger upon God. Finally, God responds, saying:

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell Me, if you have understanding,

Who set its measurements? Since you know.

Or who stretched the line on it?

On what were its bases sunk?

Or who laid its cornerstone,

When the morning stars sang together

And all the sons of God shouted for joy?”

Job 38:4-7

The Tree of Life is a film searching for God in the silence. The cry of humanity’s struggles is heard throughout in the words the central characters. However, they never seem to find any answers. It is as if God keeps quiet and can't provide the solace so desperately needed. They constantly wonder if God is ever truly there. Is he there watching over them? Does he hold them all in his hand, or only after death? Can he hear us?

“Are You watching me?” asks the young Jack. “I want to know what You are. I want to see what You see.”

We look to God for answers to all of our questions. We desire to know as he knows. We desire to know every intention and every detail of the plan. We want to know why our lives happen the way they do. Yet we will never know for God's purposes are so above our mortal frameworks. We look at life - all of its brokenness and chaos - and think that we are so important. But if we take a moment to consider the majesty and sublime beauty of God we can do nothing but tremble.

In the end, God is found. He provides a vision to adult Jack. Jacks himself in the afterlife with his brother R.L. and his parents. They are reunited and come to terms with what has past them in life. They have found paradise and forgiveness in the eyes of God.

But then he awakes again. He has seen what will pass. This universe will pass away, but on the other side, there is glory and life to the fullest in the presence of God.

It’s just not here yet.

All we are to do is wait. Wait in the silence searching for God.

Works Cited:

Malick, Terrence. The Tree of Life (Screenplay: First Draft). Writers Guild of America. 2007.

The Tree of Life. Directed by Terrence Malick, performances by Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Sean Bean, Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2011.