The film tells the story of an American family in a small town in the 1950's experiencing birth, death and love as a mother and father raise their three sons. Sean Penn plays the American a corporate executive of today in a city of soulless glass towers who looks back on the innocence of that mythical childhood in 1950's small town America that was his own childhood.
There is a sense of deeply shared human feelings and a sense of place and of belonging that has been lost in the fast-lane, superficial America of today. The film pays careful attention to the details of the American 1950's family experience down to the food on the family's plates and the games the children play. It is often these small details that evoke poignant memories and emotions in the viewer. Like any myth the characters are archtypes who convey universal truths that are not always clear to the audience and have to be puzzled out an interpreted within the scope of one's own experiences.
Most of all the film manages to capture the real feelings of remembered American childhood. Malick uses every detail to evoke feelings that transcend a mere historical or nostalgia pic and make this film one that examines the very meaning of existence from a truly American perspective. He comes as close as any director has ever come so far in defining what is the American soul. Malick explores the sense of deeply rooted connections to place and family that defined today's American. He also goes a long way to explaining the reasons for the confusion and violence in today's rootless American society that lost not only its innocence but its sense of connection to its own emotional self. Malick brings together the common values and experiences that shaped today's American nation in a way that it is doubtful a European audience can fully understand or relate to. As Sean Penn looks bank on his childhood and his family he senses that what has been lost is warmth, love and human feelings as he seeks and questions the meaning of life. The film conveys a tremendous sense of loss and sadness.
The film suffers from overlong sequences of cosmic swirls and 2001: A Space Odyessy like scenes that would have had far more impact if they were reduced to a much shorter time span. But Malick never falters with his small town American family. The juxtaposition of the infinity of the universe and the deep childhood feelings and experiences of the moment seem to offer us Malick's answer to his universal questions. That to experience fully the moment as one does only in childhood is in itself timeless and the closest we ever come to infinity and immortality.
The father, mother and children form not characters but arch-types. Brad Pitt as the father of the family, Mr O'Brien, especially reminds us that he became a star not just because he is a pretty face but an outstandingly talented actor. His character is at first seemingly a simply one as seen through Penn's early childhood memories but as the sons grow older the complexity of their father's character and his place in the world is revealed. O'Brien straight-forward American male in fact simmers with the disappointment of unrealized dreams, frustration and sometimes violence. Pitt turns in one of the best performances since the early days of his career and his casting in the role of the father makes us feel that no one else could have played this part. Visually the film is stunning as the characters and the places of their shared emotions and experiences are bathed in a glow of light that is both other-worldly and beautiful. The film fills us with a sense of awe and tackles a topic no less profound that what is man's place in the universe.
Credits:
Director and Screenplay: Terrence Malick
Cast: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastian, Hunter McCracken
Production: River Road Entertainment (USA), Plan B Entertainment (USA), Brace Cover Productions (USA)
Foreign Sales: Summit Entertainment
