Tantalizing first look at Brad Pitt in Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life. The family tableau is official; the house on the right is an on location shot from flickr. Summit Entertainment description:
Our picture is a cosmic epic, a hymn to life.
We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, Jack, one of three brothers. At first all seems marvelous to the child. He sees as his mother does, with the eyes of his soul. She represents the way of love and mercy, where the father tries to teach his son the world’s way, of putting oneself first. Each parent contends for his allegiance, and Jack must reconcile their claims. The picture darkens as he has his first glimpses of sickness, suffering and death. The world, once a thing of glory, becomes a labyrinth.
(continued, with a bonus anecdote from an extra on the set)
Framing this story is that of adult Jack, a lost soul in a modern world, seeking to discover amid the changing scenes of time that which does not change: the eternal scheme of which we are a part. When he sees all that has gone into our world’s preparation, each thing appears a miracle — precious, incomparable. Jack, with his new understanding, is able to forgive his father and take his first steps on the path of life.
The story ends in hope, acknowledging the beauty and joy in all things, in the everyday and above all in the family — our first school — the only place that most of us learn the truth about the world and ourselves, or discover life’s single most important lesson, of unselfish love.
And this (via IMDb), from a pregnant mom who’s apparently featured as a body-double in the film:
Here are comments from an extra from TX who got to shoot a scene with Pitt. At the end she writes that Pitt was in 1940’s military uniform:
“Saturday she called me to tell me that they cast me in the part! Yay, I thought … assuming that they would have shots of my pregnant belly as the “stand in” for the actress. I have been hearing rumors about who was cast in the movie, but didn’t think they were slated to start shooting until March.
My shot was today – I arrived in Smithville at 9:30 am, filled out some paperwork, and ate a danish. They drove me to the set in a van and the Producer went over the shot with me. I wore my lowest pants so that they wouldn’t have to be removed to get a full belly shot … and he said just holding up my shirt to the bra line was fine – so no wardrobe was needed. He went over what the shot entailed ~ the “actor” would be caressing my stomach, putting his head on my stomach, and possibly kissing it ~ and wanted to know if I would be okay with that. I said “SURE” … whatever … I wasn’t uptight about any of that (plus I think I look pretty good for a giant preggers and have no shame in baring it all). He then said, “um, do you know who the “actor” is? I said no. He said……. “it’s Brad. BRAD PITT.”
“FREAKIN’ BRAD PITT WAS THE FATHER OF MY UNBORN BABY TODAY!!!!! He rubbed my belly, pressed his face to my belly, stared tenderly at my belly, and when Griffin kicked the crap out of him, smiled HUGELY and said “that’s so beautiful”. BRAD PITT THINKS IM BEAUTIFUL. Oh my God, I cannot stop smiling. I’m just on Cloud 9. Can you believe??????????????????????????????????????????? He spent 20 minutes about an inch away from all my sexual organs, lovingly rubbing my unborn child. Talk about a perfect day. ”
“And for your Brad Pitt Fix today: Did I mention that he was in full Military Blues Uniform????? It was supposed to be the 1940’s and he was all decked out in uniform with that Robert Redford haircut, clean shaven (SOFT FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and totally nice.”
Too much information?
57 Responses for "Terrence Malick, The Tree Of Life"
Fabulous post! And one that has me (and most of the other Awards Daily people salivating. Now here is a reclusive director who has caught fire in the later stage of his life after years of non-production. Then we get the likes of THE THIN RED LINE and THE NEW WORLD, and people have been asking questions about this upcoming film ever since TNW released.
I dare say nothing is more awaited than this!
Very, very exciting news!
it’ll be a purrrrrrty movie and it’ll be a bad movie just like all the ressssssssssssssst of his movies.
Richard Crawford….is that YOU again. Now it’s Malick that stinks, eh?
THE THIN RED LINE and DAYS OF HEAVEN stink?
Next, you’ll be telling me that my planned trip to MOMA on Sunday with the family to look at Van Gogh’s “Nightime Paintings” is a waste of time, and Van Gogh is a major hack. Or is it CITIZEN KANE or RULES OF THE GAME that are next up for your special divisive treatment?
How’s it’s going Richard? LOL!!!!
red line days of heaven both purty and purty bad
Let’s just stick to terry m., Sam. you’re making up the rest. you must be voting for McCain.
Too bad Brad Pitt is not a good actor. I watched meet joe black and troy and I don’t understand why this overrated man gets cast in so many movies. I guess the hype will be good for box office.
He gets a constipated look on his face when he’s trying to be serious. it’s horrible.
Actually Richard that would a hard thing to do, since I am a die-hard, left wing (lifetime) liberal Democrat! I supported Obama against Hillary, and I love Dennis Kucinich.
Few serious film lovers would even try to argue against the films you are now arbitrarily dismissing. I am frankly in shock, but in view of some of our past disagreements I can’t say I’m surprised.
DAYS OF HEAVEN and THE THIN RED LINE are great American films, and the extended cut of THE NEW WORLD makes a strong claim to the same.
Malick is God.
Richard… the thing about malik is that you are not watching a movie, you are watching poetry in motion… so, if you are not into art and more into power rangers, then its not your cup of tea….
and Cleopatra… Pitt not being a good actor?? im not even gonna argue with such a stupid statement…
Sonny, go watch Troy and meet joe black and please explain why he’s a good actor. All I see is constipation face and bad acting.
I think he has a way of tricking people into thinking he’s good when he does smaller roles, but when it’s just him in the lead? Constipation face takes over. If he is not the most overrate male movie star right now, who is?
Cleopatra, you’re watching the wrong pictures. everybody in the business has lesser days. Meet Joe Black is Pitt’s worst movie/performance and Troy is highly flawed. you need to watch the following before you can judge:
Fight Club, Seven, Twelve Monkeys, Snatch, The Assassination of Jesse James, Kalifronia, A River Runs Through It.
these are Pitt’s best performances
I’m very excited about this movie. It sounds great. My sister-in-law did some location scouting for it, actually, and received a nice letter from Malick for her help.
That anecdote is hysterical. Very funny.
ok… lets be fair then… two regular movies, but then you have 12 monkeys, snatch, interview with the vampire, legends of the fall, seven, sleepers, FIGHT CLUB, spy game, the ocean series, BABEL, JESSE JAMES, BURN AFTER READING… and even his fucking cameo in true romance is amazing…
do you really want to discuss this???
and for the record i did like both Troy and Meet Joe Black, the acting was mediocre, i give you that, but they were ok…
Fight Club = he’s okay but overrated. ED Norton was MUCH better than pitt in that film.
Seven= am i the only one who laughs at the end when he’s screaming “what’s in the box?” Seriously mediocre acting.
twelve monkeys= small role he’s good in.
Assassination of jessie james = mediocre acting lots of constipation face. Casey Affleck is a much better actor than Pitt.
Once again I say he’s the most overrate male movie star. Over hyped as an actor and EXTREMELY over hyped as a sex symbol. He’s been pushed down our throats by the media for like 20 freaking years now. BLECK!
I think Pitt has both good and bad. In some movies, such as Troy and Babel (ugh), he can actually be pretty bad. Somehow, he manages to pull off some amazing performances in others, such as Fight Club, the Oceans movies, Jesse James and Burn after Reading. I think he’ll also probably do well in Ben Button.
I can’t decide whether i really like him or not.
Interview with a vampire= Tom Cruise stomps all over Pitt’s acting in that movie.
Cruise was excellent in that movie. Pitt mediocre.
cleopatra… you are a fool
LOL Casey. You made my day. I don’t think Brad Pitt is a bad actor at all and he was terrific in Babel.
he was terrific in babel, easily best part of a decent at best movie.
Cleopatra it’s your opinion, but I think Brad Pitt proves he’s a good actor with the right material. Unleast is better that many other actors in the film business (aghh-Tom Cruise & Kevin Costner):
*Snatch: The Best Performance of the film easily.
*12 Monkeys: Fantastic
*Babel
*The Assassination of Jesse James: Maybe you think Casey gives a better performance in that film, but he hasn’t a better career instead Pitt… Both are fantastic in that film.
*Johnny Suede
*Interview with a Vampire: Sorry, but I think you’re the first person who thinks Cruise is better that pitt in that movie…
*Burn After Reading: Funny
*Fight Club: Easily a duet group. I don’t think Norton IS better that Pitt. Both are equal…
Brad Pitt is always solid, but whenever he’s cast in something like this I kind of roll my eyes, he usually wins me over but I think there are so many actors much more exciting to watch
True, jjj, no shortage of exciting actors.
But let’s take a minute to consider that The Tree of Life, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button might not ever have found financing without Brad Pitt as the lead.
Cleopatra – you need to give Brad Pitt a break where “Meet Joe Black” is concerned. His father had a heart attack while he was filming that movie and he literally didn’t know if his father was going to survive. He was a bit pre-occupied with something more important to his real life.
Malick’s film usually doesn’t make money.
Then Brad’s production company and Sean Penn needed to finance his film.
Without them this film may not be made.
i’m on the verge of tears…
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I remember when Mel Gibson and Colin Farrell were attached to this. I wish it could’ve been them instead, but I realize projects often get delayed… still. I wish.
Colin Farrell??? Please… most of his movies SUCK!!!
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I have to say, that’s a real pointless and shitty way to get more traffic to your website…Thanks for wasting 10 seconds of my life.
I knew the haters would ambush this post and I know they are being more cocky and obnoxious than ever because they have momentum over the fact The Changeling is going to be a flop. I am not even going to try to argue with delusional people who think he is a bad person and a bad actor because they chose to believe a lie and the entire misportrayal that came along with it. Brad is a good actor who made a couple of career mistakes…he will just improve with time though it will be pointless because people like Jen1, Cleopatra, and Richard Crawford make up the majority. How can you give a rebuttal to them, especially towards comments like Cleopatra’s when it is just crazy crap. His movies and acting will be panned regardless. Most of his movies were elevated or even defined by his performance and presence. He manages to bring life to underwritten characters and has made so many movies memorable and gave them a cinematic longevity. He is a national treasure. I am in a very pessimistic state of mind right now. Their upcoming films will all be flops and failures. He will be forced to retire. I will miss him when that happens but I think he is too good for Hollywood and he needs to leave this black hole of an industry.
Harry, do you want to explain what you’re ticked off about? I don’t know how to address your gripe because I don’t see the problem.
This is as much information as super-secretive publicity-shy Malick ever lets leak. It’s slim information about a movie that’s months away from a release date. I ran across this advance glimpse by accident, looking for details about the new extended cut of The New World (the DVD is out this month).
I figured anything about Malick would be worth sharing with our readers, and looks like plenty of people are interested.
If I wanted to create a sensationalist traffic magnet, I might’ve splashed the headline “Secrets of Brad Pitt’s Unborn Lovechild Revealed!”
Sorry you think it’s a waste of your time but if it makes you feel better to waste some of ours, congratulations, you’ve done so.
Good Lord there have been some crazies on this site the last couple of days. Whitley you have no idea if Changeling will be a flop but let’s say it is. So what? All actors and actresses have flops but still go on to work. Jolie has the benefit of having starred in Kung Fu Panda and Wanted this year. You can actually say Jolie is doing what Matt Damon does. His silly and action pack movies make money and his serious movies don’t. I don’t think you would say his career is ending soon.
As for Brad, he has made good and bad movies. But I think he picks interesting scripts and is very good in the majority of them. Brad is not a national treasure. He is a good actor that did not fall in the trap like Matthew McConaughey .
Agh, I hate that what started out as a post featuring the first details about this fascinating, little-known project by Terrence Malick, the most enigmatic and one of the most interesting of the modern cinema greats, has ended up just being about Brad Pitt. I guess that’s star power for you.
As far as Pitt goes, I think he’s making some bold choices these days. Who thought first of Brad Pitt to play Jesse James in the least Hollywood, most contemplative treatment of the outlaw? Not the most obvious choice. Now he’s followed up the Andrew Dominick picture with a completely different role for the Coens, next this one for Terrence Malick, then leads for Darren Arenofsky and Quentin Tarentino, with several more rumored projects in development. He’s making bold choices and working with some pretty damn good auteurs. As far as his acting chops, sure financing’s a factor, but I bet that’s not the only reason all these auteurs want to work with him.
I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next.
Let’s get back on track here… No more Brad Pitt. Terrence Malick is an absolutely fabulous director. His small body of work shows that he is not all about cranking out mediocre films. He falls in love with his projects and you can see that aesthetically in his movies. Yeah they may not have the most engaging plots but it is about the flow. He reminds me very much of Werner Herzog as a director. They both make absolutely beautiful films and we should be blessed whenever a new Malick film comes out.
Malick. :drool:
love malick but brad pitt?!?!? ick! think i’ll pass. sick of the whole freaky circus that he & angelina obviously court! sorry, it sounds shallow but i just can’t get past their uber rightousness they’ve been rubbing in people’s faces.
Ha…sorry about that Ryan, I should have been more specific…I was griping about the dude who linked an article that was basically an Awards Daily re-post that in turn linked back to this site. Very pointless and added nothing.
As for the Malick hate, I get it and I don’t. I get why someone might react negatively to the hype some people bestow upon Malick. I don’t get why one would hate Malick based on his actual work which is pretty good and never awful.
I am not the one who is crazy. You have most of the world being involved in a craziness involving him. You don’t understand what is going on. You have a couple of bastards posing as fans who reacted grossly towards two other people who had the chutzpah to discuss the truth on another recent post about him and that provoked a slew of haters and horrid responses who share a false perspective. Now I expect every article’s feedback relating to him and Angelina to be contaminated with malicious slander from his haters who are more motivated than ever to spout their trash because that boundary and barrier was crossed and broken. I was really praying and hoping this website would not succumb to that but it has now thanks to Get Your Facts Straight who doesn’t know what the facts are at all. Offering a comeback to such a greatly manipulative post filled with deceit would be a waste of time because people have developed an aversion to what is true. I know the rest of you wish people like me would just shut up and go away but I will never, ever stop pointing out what is real and I will always defend him. Going along with everybody else would have been the easier route but my conscience would not let me do that. Me and my friends will not be visiting this site anymore. I know we have promised that in the past but we will keep our promise this time. I think posting here will just do more harm than good now. This is not an insult directed towards Ryan Adams or the other webmasters. You run a very good site, this is directed towards some of the other people who post here. The community here would just lash out at us at every turn. I lost my temper on another post, I would like to apologize for that. We can’t handle the abuse anymore with most of you treating us like we were deranged maniacs when we were just trying to mitigate the negativity that comes from the bias.
He is a national treasure and I am not just talking about his impact and contribution to the world of cinema. By flop, I was not referring just to the box office. She was referring to a different and more important standard of success: the critical reception, the potential for award nominations, and public response to the film. Her and Brad’s situation is different from other celebrities. The box office success of those other B-grade films don’t really have much relevance with their situation. It is the success of the good films that matters.
I also doubt there will be any more box office hits unless she plays it safe and picks animated movies. If this continues, they will be in a dire position with their careers which is exactly what they wanted. A few people might know who I mean by they. If there isn’t some revolution of perspective where the situation changes or improves, then their movies and career will suffer and eventually be conquered by the people devoted to their destruction. Chew them up and spit them out when the industry doesn’t need them anymore , that is what will happen. There is no point in having a positive outlook and anticipation towards any of their movies anymore. The situation has become hopeless and all of their good films will have to deal with that backlash. It would be great if Tree of Life manages to triumph but I am not banking on it. It is also unfair how Terence Malick, Clint Eastwood, and perhaps David Fincher..everybody associated with has to suffer along with this travesty.
Wow, over-react much? Ryan, methinks you and Sasha need to incorporate a nice candy dish of chill pills onto the site.
Everyone’s opinion is of course subjective, and no one is beloved by everyone, but I think that Brad Pitt’s career is probably on pretty secure ground, even with the occasional haters out there or people who think he (an altruistic, Oscar nominated multi-millionaire A-lister who has been named The Sexiest Man Alive and is one half of the most famous celebrity couple in the world) is overrated.
I’ve been posting on this site for years and years, and in my experience, the only opinions that aren’t welcome are those that are delivered with rudeness, intolerance or excessive immaturity. Diverse points of view are one of the reasons I love Awards Daily. Histrionics by fans who get too personally wrapped up defending their favorite films or actors’ reputations are not.
That’s just my perspective, though. Could be wrong.
“Wow, over-react much? “
um… is every day “much,” jenneybee?
sorry Harry, that’s what happens when I read the comments in reverse order from inside my Fortress of Solitude backstage, instead of following them chronologically out here.
Plus, your comments are always level-headed, so I worried for 20 minutes about what it was that made this post so “shitty” for you.
At least maybe it’s good to know that I take what you guys say seriously. (Even though I think everything is always All About Me.)
As for the passionate fans, the histrionics are ok with me, but I wish the era of real-time video-comments would hurry up and get here.
JennyBee meant Harry, not Ryan. And Harry, glad you explained yourself. I may guilty of driving people here under false pretenses but Ryan never does so. He is an honorable person who really just posts what he thinks is interesting and what the readers find interesting.
Actually, no, I meant Whitley, but she and her friends have apparently left the site in protest over the trashing of Brad Pitt by other commenters that will apparently lead to the ruin of both his and Angelina’s careers, so I don’t suppose it matters.
I think Sasha and Ryan are both honorable. Harry, too.
For the record, I like this site and have been following it with interest for sometime. I don’t take the Oscars as seriously as I once did, but I still like following them.
I tend to think you guys have found the right mix right now in coverage to make it more than just a niche site for me.
leave britney alone!!!!
Well said el_barto!
Why people would get so worked up about an opinion based on 2 films out over 30 is beyond me.
The fact that Cleopatra freely admits her limitations and then quickly applies the same judgment, when she is educated is proof of her intentions.
Hate him or love him, Brad Pitt is a good actor. Be it a small role, like True Romance or Burn After Reading; lead in Seven, Jesse James or part of ensemble as in Babel, Oceans; he gives a solid performance.
And I have to agree ?Ryan? I like Troy and Meet Joe Black. Not his best but it was still watchable.
AM looking forward to his new films Benjamin Button; Tree of Life and mostly Inglorious Basterds.
I have no issue with Brad and actually like him and Angelina. But, as an actor I find him too calculated (not always, however). My two least favourite performances of his include Babel and Burn After Reading. In Babel he tried so hard to be over-wrought that it turned me off (didn’t help that the film was shit…too bad because Rinko Kikuchi was Oscar worthy in a hard-wrenching role). And in Burn After Reading, he tried so hard to be funny. Frances McDormand was funny without trying…and because they acted together in most of the movie, it showed where Pitt struggled. McDormand is a natural, and that is the kind of acting I like.
But, that is not to say that Pitt has no good performances.
Is there any way I can get a small part in this movie? Brad Pitt likes an original poem about how the roots of a palm tree help the tree survive during a storm. He decided to star in this movie after reading this poem. I don’t have a problem with his close friendship with Clooney.
The Pregnant Mother must not have read the papers she signed. They were all about keeping quiet about anything that happened. Duh…
[...] Terrence Malick, The Tree Of Life – He spent 20 minutes about an inch away from all my sexual organs, lovingly rubbing my unborn child. Talk about a perfect day. [...]
Great glimpse into on set shooting – regarding Terrence Mallick – I have seen all of his films and enjoyed their juxtaposition of visual beauty with the sometimes cruelty and selfishness that human nature can bring out in people – looking forward to his newest piece – I have always liked Brad Pitt and yes, he has made some bad movie choices but who hasn’t – it goes with the territory, yet by and large he has taken some chances in more good roles and shown some wonderful range – esp. playing down his great looks which is hard to do – in my opinion -
i just wanted to say, a lot people come here saying terrence malick film is not good! people come here on this web site because they like him. if you dont like him go else where. his latest films are about love and spiritual.
If those of you who dislike Brad Pitt – or his movies – are that disgusted with him, WHY are you on a site that features him?!?!?
Same holds true for those who dislike Terrence Malick’s films – why are you on the site? JUST to sound off with negativity? Don’t you think there is enough of that in our society these days? This particular film has not been released yet, and already you are passing judgement…on Terrence Malick and Brad Pitt.
Personal opinion – I love Brad Pitt, and have enjoyed Terrence Malick’s latest films. Maybe those who feel as I do are “poor ignorant things” in your estimation – but let us enjoy without your negativity. Take it elsewhere.
I’m from Italy (sorry for my poor english).
I’m waiting for the new film TREE OF LIFE with great curiosity.
Watching a Malick’s film for me is like have a mystical experience, sometimes i put on one of his four films and i have a total satisfaction of my soul.
[...] this reportage has got me hugely excited, the details on Malick however remain reassuringly elusive. Next up, Kaufman’s long awaited [...]
[...] na szczegóły fabuły filmu “Tree of life”: We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, [...]
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