Criterion’s ‘Tree Of Life’: Terrence Malick’s 3-Hour Version Expands A Vision Of Grace, Loss & Family

“Toscanini once recorded a piece [of music] sixty-five times. You know what he said when he finished?” the stern, often mean Mr. O’Brien (Brad Pitt) says to his son eldest son Jack (Hunter McCracken) in Terrence Malick’s“The Tree of Life” (2011) and once again in “The Tree Of Life (Extended Version)” (2018). “‘It could be better,’ he answers before pausing for effect, “Think about it.”

Malick, presumably modeled after Jack’s character in the film, may have been talking to a version of himself through his father played by a world-famous actor—‘Tree Of Life’ is intensely autobiographical—but he may also have been unintentionally reaffirming his own manifesto. Something can always be better, one can always work to better or tweak a piece of art.

That said, this new version of Malick’s rapturous pièce de résistance is no George Lucas or Francis Ford Coppola-esque overhauling of a classic, and more of an ongoing noodling. While the Criterion Collection release this month of “The Tree Of Life“— which comes with a new cut of the movie made exclusively for the boutique label’s Blu-Ray and DVD edition of the film— insists that the 2011 theatrical cut of the movie is the director’s preferred version, this is, in some ways, the fourth iteration of the movie. That is, if you cheat a little and count the two versions of “Voyage Of Time”— Malick’s IMAX Discovery Channel-like documentary about the creation of the universe lifted right out of (and expanded from) the creation of the universe segments from “The Tree Of Life” (incidentally, the second version of “Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey” has never been officially released*).

The point is, Terrence Malick likes to tinker and toy with his art. He’s done it already in a very similar fashion with 2005’s “The New World” (of which there are three cuts of on the 2016 Criterion release), and he’ll likely do it again. Maybe even one day with “The Tree Of Life”** Perhaps for Malick, you need sixty-five-odd tries before being fully satisfied with something. And or you can’t let go. Or, you just like to continue to play and evolve with art. Maybe a little bit of all of the above?

READ MORE: Emmanuel Lubezki Says “A Whole Other Movie” About Sean Penn Could Be Made From Cut ‘Tree Of Life’ Footage

“The Tree Of Life” is Terrence Malick’s longtime coming magnum opus; an epic tone poem about life, love, loss and the creation of the universe that he’d been working on, or incubating in his mind, since his two-decades-long hiatus from cinema and public life that began around 1980 (it was then known as “Q”). It’s a masterpiece. It’s also frustrating, difficult, uneven; not quite the masterwork of divinity we had all hoped for and yet, still a powerful, towering piece of cinema that would go on to win the Palme d’Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival (though feeling like more of a lifetime achievement award rather than a full-blown hands-down victory; such is the complexities of juries).

READ MORE: 10 Actors Cut From Terrence Malick Films & How They Reacted

So, “The Tree Of Life” Extended Version? Well, first off, if you’ve come to experience a radical recut of the movie, newly reinstated actors who were left on the cutting room floor (ala “The Thin Red Line” or “To The Wonder“), or a secretly hidden masterpiece always living inside of ‘Tree Of Life’ somewhere, you’ve come to the wrong place. For the most part, “The Tree Of Life” is the same movie, with even the same scenes and same order (though this is much easier to tell once you rewatch the original). What Malick has done has added new scenes, extended previously-seen sequences and given the film a different rhythm and flow.

In case you’re somehow unaware at this point, “The Tree Of Life,” is a luminous story tracing childhood, wonder, and loss while contemplating space and time. It follows the journey of Jack (Hunter McCracken), the eldest son in a family of five through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a challenging relationship with his strict, bullying father (Brad Pitt). Primarily set on the anniversary of his brother’s death—though taking place in several timelines and fragments of memory— the adult Jack (Sean Penn) finds himself looking back at his life and family; a lost soul seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the faith that guided him as a child. Through Malick’s inimitable visual bravura and beauty, the audience sees how brute nature and spiritual grace shape not only Jack and his brothers but also all life on earth.

READ MORE: 12 Things You Need To Know About The Making Of Terrence Malick’s ‘The Tree Of Life’

Watching the new version of “The Tree Of Life” is an enthralling and ultimately exhausting experience. Watching the film engenders a sensation of déjà vu; much of the new sequences seem like fragments of things you’ve sworn you’ve experienced before, which perhaps speaks to how organic the new elements are. And watching “The Tree Of Life,” back to back with the original theatrical cut is also a bit of a head-trip, an experience that makes the initial version somewhat rushed and disjointed in comparison and the new one less mysterious.

On the next page, I’m going to get into more detailed, granular changes between the new version and the old version.