Talk:The Tree of Life (film)

The External Links Are A Mess
Someone, please fix the external links and then you may delete this note. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.139.7.203 (talk) 16:24, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

Ledger
Here it says that he dropped out... Didn't he die? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.87.76.189 (talk) 05:16, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

He dropped out in late November or early December 2007, more than a month before he died. Brad Pitt soon replaced him and he can be seen talking briefly about the film on a Dec. 2007 appearance on Charlie Rose. Here's an article for verification: http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/pitt_replacing_ledger_in_malicks_tree_of_life - tylerrad

Why does it say the film is based on a Midwestern boy if it is filmed in Texas? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Es2346 (talk • contribs) 04:36, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Citation dump
Some headlines to use for a Production section. — Erik (talk • contrib) - 20:03, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Some more:


 * Tree of Life: How Terrence Malick Made His Family
 * Thirty-Three Years of Principal Filming
 * J.D. (talk) 18:23, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

Release year
I wanted to make a note that there is no verifiable release information for Tree of Life. IMDb always makes an estimate about what year an upcoming film would come out, so it should not be cited. The film could very well be released in 2008 or experience a prolonged editing process and be released as late as 2010. For this reason, I've indicated that the release of this film is TBA. I'm sure we can argue that 2009 seems like the best bet, but it's too much of an assumption to incorporate into this Wikipedia article. — Erik (talk • contrib) - 16:34, 29 March 2008 (UTC)
 * That sounds like the right thing to do per WP:CRYSTAL. Malick is known for re-cutting his films again and again so it could be 2010 or later, but with an estimated budget of $175 million, I bet there is a lot of pressure to get it out on schedule so the investors can get payback! -Nv8200p talk 19:27, 29 March 2008 (UTC)


 * TBA seems to be the conclusion, so I've changed it into that.(Gillesvanleeuwen (talk) 19:16, 9 February 2009 (UTC))

The only sources close to the production I can find giving some sort of date for release are Jennifer Sipes, who says it won't be released until 2010. Jack Fisk has also commented and he said he could easily see Malick working on the film until at least early 2010. The current source for a 2009 release date is the fairly untrustworthy IMDB. Media sources have said it is aiming for 09, but these are largely older articles, and not as close to the production as Sipes or Fisk. Trustworthy sources say this is a 2010 film, so the article should be edited accordingly. --Krevans (talk) 09:48, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

I agrea with the 2010 release date and the fact that some trustworthy sources have said 2010, but I see no reason to put this november and september timeframes there. --Gillesvanleeuwen (talk) 21:50, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

For Australia, the release date is June 30 according to Icon's Website. I don't know how to reference properly. thanks. KevDog32 (talk) 18:05, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

Title Change
The title of the film - according to distributor Summit Entertainment and IMDB - is now The Tree of Life; therefore, the page's title should be altered. Also, being that new information has been released per the Summit Entertainment website, I've made several other alterations to the page. Tylerrad (talk) 02:36, 22 September 2008 (UTC)TylerRad

Title is Tree of Life or The Tree of Life? If the latter it should be moved. - 4.240.165.29 (talk) 06:16, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Good source
This article (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/126160-the-calm-before-the-tree-of-life) gives a very good overview of the (history of the) film. --Harac (talk) 19:59, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Genre
It was listed as science fiction. While I think it's supposed to have a very science-based section (birth of the universe, evolution of life on Earth), I don't think that necessarily qualifies it as a science fiction film. I went ahead and edited that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mgerb (talk • contribs) 01:03, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Better Synopsis
Can we get a better synopsis for this now that it's been released? The current one doesn't have a lot of info on it. 24.61.117.12 (talk) 01:59, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
 * I gave it a shot. I'm sure other people will come along and clean things up, but the plot is pretty straightforward.Trumpetrep (talk) 05:33, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

What does this sentence mean? "The film cuts to Mrs. O'Brien (Jessica Chastain) as she receives a telegram informing her of her son's death at age 19, preceeded by her third, youngest son drowning depicted at a later stage in the film." It makes no grammatical sense. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.231.61.2 (talk) 10:34, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Better Synopsis ? I'm not going to attempt that .. I'm here for help understanding who the brothers are (their names are rarely used - except for Jack). I have scanned the dvd multiple times to diagnose how many brothers there are; who drowned; and whos death was announced by telegram, it would seem it was the guitar playing son of Mr. O'Brien (and I can't put a name to who that would be). The drowning boy was named Taylor, or Tyler, so I'm not sure if its a playmate (mentioned another time as such) or the real life name of character brother Steve (thus a slip during filming). IMDB lists 3 brothers Jack, R.L., and Steve. Greg0658 (talk) 06:58, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

Soundtrack
Anything about it??? Tonyjeff (talk) 05:26, 23 July 2011 (UTC) I recommend enabling the subtitle option on Blu-ray to help follow the cryptic dialogue, which at times is difficult to hear.Woodhawk (talk) 23:36, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Music is a central element of the movement and definitely deserves a discussion. Marriex (talk) 08:17, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

I thing that in the main article about the soundtrack one more piece should be mentioned: Lacrimosa by Zbigniew Preisner, soprano by Elżbieta Towarnicka. It is a very appreciated piece and often viewed on Youtube getting best reviews. On the origin of Lactrimosa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_for_My_Friend_(Preisner) On the composer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Preisner On the soprano: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elżbieta_Towarnicka — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.18.32.227 (talk) 10:54, 31 December 2021 (UTC)

Parasaurolophus and Troodon dinosaurs sequence
From my semiotic point of view, the scene where the Parasaurolophus refrain from killing/eating the Trodon is actually showing the evolution of the thanatosis behaviour, where an animal 'play dead' and don't attract the appetite of the predator who is wired to chase its running evading prey... Bigfootpegrande (talk) 22:17, 4 August 2011 (UTC) Bigfootpegrande — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bigfootpegrande (talk • contribs) 22:13, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Does the mother talk?
Whilst reflecting on the movie, I was trying to recall if the boys' mother actually talks? I think there are rather too many scenes of her swooning around and sitting silently at the dinner table and perhaps there should have been more dialogue in her role.

Overall, although of epic proportions, I found that Space Odyssey 2001 was better constructed in its blend of everyday reality and fantasy. Although parts of Tree of Life were absorbing, there were to many overly long, interspersed scenes of the evolution of life on planet earth that did not synch entirely smoothly with the family drama presented to the viewer.

I think a truly great film is one that you can watch two or three times again in one's life and still enjoy it. I don't think I will be doing it with this film. Ivankinsman (talk) 13:08, 23 August 2011 (UTC)
 * When I saw the title of this section I thought it was a misplaced bit of Tears for Fears fandom. Oh well ... we can work it out. Daniel Case (talk) 22:40, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

FIPRESCI
The film won the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) annual Best film award (for 2011). Not sure where to put this in the article. The awards table seems broken. --Accursius (talk) 14:19, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

Top Ten Lists
I split the top ten lists off from reception into a subsection. The list should be expanded to include other critics, since the list currently only shows up to #3. But, some of the critics currently listed do not seem all that notable, more like internet "critics" who would not pass muster as reliable sources. Anyone have any thoughts on this? ---  RepublicanJacobite  TheFortyFive 16:06, 24 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Strangely I also had to do this too, someone must have removed the subheading. The Reception section is a little disorganized and repetitive at the moment unfortunately. -- 109.79.163.125 (talk) 19:39, 21 August 2019 (UTC)

Starring
The actor that plays the boy should be listed. Not just "stars" star in movies. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 113.22.8.178 (talk) 04:41, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

film soundtrack list
A soundtrack album exists:
 * The Tree of Life Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat is a Lakeshore Records release. Although billed as the movie "soundtrack" only a few minutes of this album are to be found in the film.

The actual film music is listed here:
 * www.imdb.com/title/tt0478304/soundtrack
 * blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/music_list_all_37_songs_features_in_terrence_malicks_the_tree_of_life?page=2#blogPostHeaderPanel
 * Music List: All 37 Songs Featured In Terrence Malick's 'The Tree Of Life'

-96.233.19.238 (talk) 16:20, 20 March 2013 (UTC)
 * 1) Mother's childhood/Meet the family 'Funeral Canticle' Written John Tavener and Mother Thekla, George Mosley, Paul Goodwin, and The Academy of Ancient Music 2'53
 * 12) O'Briens in love/A child is born 'Siciliana Da Antiche Danze Ed Arie Suite III' Written Ottorino Respighi The National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland Conducted Rico Saccani 3'19
 * 44) Father's choice 'Siciliana Da Antiche Danze Ed Arie Suite III' Written Ottorino Respighi Hanan Townshend 2'35
 * 50) Closing Credits - Fortunatas (Welcome, happy morning) (Hanan Townshend) piano solo 1'27

Chapter list
Chapter list - entertainment.kmart.com/tree-of-life/024543749349#!?tabnum=1


 * Disc #1 -- Tree of Life
 * Release Date: 10/11/2011
 * UPC: 024543749349
 * Distributor/Studio: 20th Century Fox


 * Audio
 * English 5.1 Dolby Digital
 * English 2.0 Dolby Surround


 * Subtitles
 * English For The Deaf and Hard of Hearing
 * Español

1. The Two Ways [4:10] 2. Grief [7:02] 3. The City [8:26] 4. Creation [17:17] 5. Innocence [11:39] 6. Jack is now 12 [6:47] 7. Mother [3:23] 8. Father [10:37] 9. School [1:24] 10. Drowning [4:56] 11. Weeds [4:00] 12. "Be Quiet" [5:09] 13. Dad's Away [1:31] 14. Robert [3:59] 15. Mrs. Kimball [6:43] 16. "I Trust You" [2:28] 17. I Do What I Hate [1:52] 18. Father Returns [5:32] 19. BB Gun [6:49] 20. "They're Closing the Plant" [4:14] 21. Moving Away [2:31] 22. Eternity [11:04] 23. Was it a Dream? [1:14] 24. End Titles [5:49]

For this film, the chapter titles well summarize the film contents; perhaps it would be appropriate to include them in some form in the article.-96.233.19.238 (talk) 14:08, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

"In military service"
Per Forrest Wickman's column in Slate, in which he notes that while viewers commonly assume character died in Vietnam there is nothing in the film to support this assumption, in which he specifically calls out this article, I have removed that phrase from the article. Daniel Case (talk) 22:47, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

"Fantasy"
The Tree Of Life a "fantasy drama" film? Like...really? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.26.52.36 (talk) 11:34, 8 November 2013 (UTC)

Requested Move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: The Tree of Life redirected back to Tree of life. Favonian (talk) 10:51, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

The Tree of Life (film) → The Tree of Life – Since The Tree of Life just redirects here anyway, what’s the point of having a needless redirect? Why not just have this be the main article for The Tree of Life? 184.5.177.103 (talk) 02:48, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Oppose it should point to Tree of life (disambiguation) where many "The Tree of Life"s are listed -- 76.65.128.222 (talk) 03:36, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Comment as this was only repointed here in late 2012, and the redirect has existed since before the film was made, from 2006, clearly, this is a usurpation of use, since it pointed to tree of life for much of its history. So I am boldly restoring the target -- 76.65.128.222 (talk) 03:38, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Oppose - and thank you 76.65.128.222 for restoring redirect. In ictu oculi (talk) 03:51, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Oppose the move proposed above and support edits made by the user from IP 76.65.128.222. The metaphysical Tree of Life (using any capitalization) is the correct primary meaning of this term. 168.12.253.66 (talk) 15:45, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Oppose – The Tree of Life shouldn't redirect here either. --Article editor (talk) 02:56, 13 July 2013 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Press Kit Info
The Press kit for the film found on the Cannes Website, provides a lot of information that could be put into the article. https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/films/the-tree-of-life https://cdn-media.festival-cannes.com/film_film/0001/71/4c358ab1708d615e8bb72e31772e51e990cd9466.pdf — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pineapple4321 (talk • contribs) 00:33, 1 August 2020 (UTC)

Tree of Life Film Enthusiast Links do not work
The links send you to a wordpress page where it asks you to log in. Also, would that website be considered a good source by wikipedia? 24.61.194.122 (talk) 16:17, 4 January 2021 (UTC)

Progress to Good article status
I think this article is getting closer to good article status. I have gone through the review and tried to update the article.

Lead- I believe the lead has been expanded but I don't remember what the lead was when this review was done. This could easily be expanded more if we needed to. Plot- The word count of the plot is now under 700 words, meaning it should now pass Production- has been greatly expanded to talk more about the filmmaking and editing process. Image was shrunk. We may need a bit more variety in the images shown. Accolades- fixed the reviewer's problem with the section References- This is where there needs to be a lot more help. I'm not sure Tree of Life Enthusiast page is considered a reliable source. Also how do you archive sources? Could somebody help with that? Other- Themes section has been added. Haven't fully checked for past tense.

The biggest challenge currently to this becoming a good article seems to be archiving all the sources. Could somebody help with this? Pineapple4321 (talk) 22:22, 8 January 2021 (UTC)

Should we renominate the page for good article status?
The WikiProjectFilm page said articles don't need their sources archived for good article status. Should we renominate the page then, as I think the article has been improved a lot since then. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pineapple4321 (talk • contribs) 19:18, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

I am going to nominate it, since nobody has objected. Pineapple4321 (talk) 20:06, 18 January 2021 (UTC)

"The Tree of Life (film" listed at Redirects for discussion
The redirect [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Tree_of_Life_(film&redirect=no The Tree of Life (film] has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached. Utopes (talk / cont) 20:41, 21 February 2024 (UTC)