The Tree of Life (film)

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The Tree of Life
A series of images from the film arranged like mosaic tiles around the logo
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Terrence Malick
Produced by Dede Gardner
Sarah Green
Grant Hill
Brad Pitt
Bill Pohlad
Written by Terrence Malick
Starring Brad Pitt
Sean Penn
Jessica Chastain
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki
Editing by Hank Corwin
Jay Rabinowitz
Daniel Rezende
Billy Weber
Mark Yoshikawa
Studio Plan B Entertainment
River Road Entertainment
Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures
(United States)
EuropaCorp
(France)
Release date(s) May 16, 2011 (2011-05-16) (Cannes Film Festival)
May 27, 2011 (2011-05-27) (United States)
Running time 139 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $32 million[1]
Box office

$13,303,319 (domestic)
$41,000,000 (foreign)

$54,303,319 (total)[2]

The Tree of Life is a 2011 American drama film with experimental elements written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, and Jessica Chastain. Malick's film chronicles the origins and meaning of life by way of a middle-aged man's childhood memories of his family living in 1950s Texas, interspersed with imagery of the origins of the universe and the inception of life on Earth. After several years in development and missing 2009 and 2010 release dates, the film premiered in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or. The film received widespread critical acclaim, but also polarizing responses to Malick's use of technical and artistic imagery, directorial style, and fragmented non-linear narrative. In January 2012, the film received three Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography.[3]

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

The film opens with a quote from the Book of Job.

Afterwards, a mysterious, wavering light that resembles a flame flickers in the darkness. Mrs. O'Brien (Jessica Chastain) recalls a lesson taught to her that people must choose to either follow the path of grace or the path of nature. In the mid 1960s, she receives a telegram informing her of the death of her son, R.L., at age nineteen. Mr. O'Brien (Brad Pitt) is notified by telephone while at an airport. The family is thrown into turmoil.

In the 2000s, eldest son Jack O'Brien (Sean Penn) is adrift in his modern life as an architect. One day he has an argument with his father regarding R.L.'s death. Later, after Jack sees a tree being planted in front of a building, he begins to reminisce about his life as a young teenager during the 1950s.

The universe is formed, including the Milky Way galaxy and the Solar System. Voices ask various existential questions. On the newly formed Earth, volcanoes erupt and microbes begin to form. Early sea life is shown, then plants on land, then dinosaurs.[4] From the vantage point of space, an asteroid is seen impacting the Earth.

In a sprawling neighborhood in Waco, Texas, live the O'Briens. The young couple is enthralled by their new baby Jack and, later, his two brothers. When Jack (Hunter McCracken) reaches adolescence, he is faced with the conflict of accepting the way of grace or nature, as embodied by each of his parents. Mrs. O'Brien (grace) is gentle, nurturing, and authoritative, presenting the world to her children as a place of wonder. Mr. O'Brien (nature) is strict, authoritarian, and easily loses his temper as he struggles to reconcile his love for his sons with wanting to prepare them for a world he sees as corrupt and exploitative. He laments his decision to become an engineer rather than pursue his passion of becoming a musician. He tries to get ahead by filing patents for various inventions.

Jack's perceptions of the world begin to change after one of his friends drowns at the pool and another of his friends is burned in a house fire. He becomes angry at his father for his bullying behavior and begins to keep a running tally of Mr. O'Brien's various hypocrisies and misdeeds while lashing out at his mother for allowing the behavior.

One summer, Mr. O'Brien takes a long business trip. While he is away, the boys enjoy unfettered access to their mother, and Jack experiences the first twinges of rebelliousness. Goaded by other boys his age, Jack commits acts of vandalism and animal abuse. He later trespasses into a neighbor's house and steals her sheer nightgown. Jack is confused and angered by his feelings of sexuality and guilty trespass. He throws the stolen underwear into a river to rid himself of it. Mr. O'Brien returns home from his unsuccessful business trip. Shortly thereafter the plant that he works for closes and he is given the option of relocating to work a thankless position with the firm, or to be terminated. He and his family pack up to move to the new job location. He laments the course his life has taken, questioning whether he has been a good enough person. He reconciles with Jack, asking forgiveness for his harsh treatment of him.

In the present, adult Jack leaves work. Riding the elevator down he experiences a vision of walking on rocky terrain while seeing images of death and the dead returning to life. The vision is intercut with scenes of the far distant future in which the Sun expands into a red giant, and even further when it is a feeble white dwarf.

Jack tentatively walks through a wooden door frame which is erected on the rocks. On a sandbar, Jack is reunited with his family and all the people who populate his memory. His father is happy to see him. Jack encounters his dead brother, whom he brings to his parents. Accompanied by a woman in white and her younger self, Mrs. O'Brien looks to the sky and whispers, "I give him to you. I give you my son."

Jack's vision ends and he leaves his building smiling.

The mysterious, wavering light continues to flicker in the darkness as the film cuts to black.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

[edit] Development

Terrence Malick pitched the concept of The Tree of Life to River Road Entertainment head Bill Pohlad while the two were collaborating on an early version of Che. Pohlad recalls initially thinking the idea was "crazy", but as the film concept evolved, he came to feel strongly about the idea;[5] he ended up financing the film.[6] Producer Grant Hill was also involved with the film at an early stage.[6] During a meeting on a different subject involving Malick, his producer Sarah Green, Brad Pitt, and Pitt's Plan B Entertainment production partner Dede Gardner, Malick brought up Tree of Life and the difficulties it was having getting made.[7] It was "much later on" that the decision was made for Pitt to be part of the cast.[7]

The Tree of Life was announced in late 2005, with Indian production company Percept Picture Company set to finance it and Donald Rosenfeld onboard as producer. The film was set to be shot partially in India, with pre-production scheduled to begin in January 2006.[8] Colin Farrell and Mel Gibson were at one stage attached to the project. Heath Ledger was also set to play the role of Mr. O'Brien before his death in early 2008.[9]

In an October 2008 interview, Fisk, a longtime Malick collaborator, suggested that the director was attempting something radical.[10] He also implied that details of the film were a close secret.[11] In early March 2009, visual effects artist Mike Fink revealed to Empire Magazine that he was working on scenes of prehistoric Earth for the film.[12] The similarity of the scenes Fink describes to descriptions of a hugely ambiguous project entitled Q that Malick worked on soon after Days of Heaven has led to speculation that The Tree of Life is a resurrection of that abandoned project.[13]

[edit] Filming

Filming began in Texas in 2008.[14] Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki returned to work with Malick after collaborating with him on The New World. Locations included Smithville, Houston, Matagorda,[15] Bastrop, Austin,[16] Dallas,[17] and Malick's hometown of Waco.[18]

The namesake of the film is a large live oak tree that was excavated from a property a few miles outside Smithville. The 65,000 pound tree and root ball was trucked into Smithville and replanted.[19][20][21]

[edit] Special effects

After nearly thirty years away from Hollywood, famed special effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull contributed to the visual effects work on The Tree of Life. Malick, a friend of Trumbull, approached him about the effects work and mentioned that he did not like the look of computer-generated imagery. Trumbull asked Malick, "Why not do it the old way? The way we did it in 2001?"[22]

Working with visual effects supervisor Dan Glass, Trumbull used a variety of materials for the creation of the universe sequence. “We worked with chemicals, paint, fluorescent dyes, smoke, liquids, CO2, flares, spin dishes, fluid dynamics, lighting and high speed photography to see how effective they might be,” said Trumbull. “It was a free-wheeling opportunity to explore, something that I have found extraordinarily hard to get in the movie business. Terry didn’t have any preconceived ideas of what something should look like. We did things like pour milk through a funnel into a narrow trough and shoot it with a high-speed camera and folded lens, lighting it carefully and using a frame rate that would give the right kind of flow characteristics to look cosmic, galactic, huge and epic.”[23] The team also included Double Negative in London, under the supervision of Paul Riddle, who handled the astrophysical aspects of the segment. Fluid-based effects were developed by Peter and Chris Parks, who had previously worked on similar effects for The Fountain.[24]

[edit] Release

In March 2009 Empire magazine's website quoted visual effects supervisor Mike Fink as saying that a version of the film will be released for IMAX cinemas along with two versions for traditional cinemas.[12] The IMAX film has been revealed to be The Voyage of Time, a documentary expanding on the 'history of the universe' scenes in The Tree Of Life, which the producers decided to focus on releasing at a later date so as not to cannibalise its release.[25]

[edit] Delays and distribution issues

By May 2009, The Tree of Life had been sold to a number of international distributors, including Europacorp in France, TriPictures in Spain, and Icon in the UK and Australia,[26] but lacked a US distributor. In August 2009, it was announced that the film would be released in the US through Apparition, a new distributor founded by River Road Entertainment head Bill Pohlad and former Picturehouse chief Bob Berney.[27] A tentative date of December 25, 2009 was announced, but the film was not complete in time.[28] Organisers of the Cannes Film Festival made negotiations to secure a premiere at Cannes 2010, resulting in Malick sending an early version of the film to Thierry Fremaux and the Cannes selection committee.[29] Though Fremaux warmly received the cut and was eager to screen the film at his festival,[29] Malick ultimately told him that he felt the film was not ready.[30] On the eve of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Berney suddenly announced his departure from Apparition, leaving the company's future uncertain.[31] Pohlad decided to keep The Tree of Life at Apparition, and after significant restructuring, hired Tom Ortenberg to act as a consultant on its release. A tentative plan was made to release it in late 2010, in time for awards consideration.[32] Ultimately, Pohlad decided to close Apparition and sell rights to the film.[33] Private screenings of the film to interested parties Fox Searchlight Pictures and Sony Pictures Classics took place at the 2010 Telluride Film Festival.[34] On September 9, Fox Searchlight announced their acquisition of the film from Pohlad's River Road Entertainment.[35] The film opened in limited release in the United States on May 27, 2011.[36]

On March 28, 2011, UK magazine Empire reported that UK distributor Icon Entertainment were planning to release the film on May 4, 2011. This would make the UK the first region in the world to see the film,[37] preempting the expected Cannes Film Festival premiere on May 11. This would disqualify the film from inclusion at Cannes.[38] As a result, a surge of interest in the story developed on international film news sites.[37] After film blogger Jeff Wells was told by a Fox Searchlight representative that this was "unlikely",[39] and Anne Thompson received similar word from Searchlight and outright denial from Summit,[40][41] Helen O'Hara from Empire received a confirmation from Icon that they intended to stick with the May 4 release.[37] On March 31, Jeff Wells was told by Jill Jones, Summit's senior VP of international marketing and publicity, that Icon has lost the right to distribute The Tree of Life in the UK, due to defaulting on its agreement, with the matter pending arbitration at a tribunal in Los Angeles.[42] On June 9, it was announced that The Tree of Life would be released in the UK on July 8, 2011, after Fox Searchlight Pictures picked up the UK rights from Icon.[43]

[edit] Home media

The Tree of Life was released on Blu-ray disc in the United States and Canada on October 11, 2011, it includes a DVD of the film with the Blu-ray but there is no separate DVD release of the film yet. Both DVD and Blu-ray are available in the UK.[44]

[edit] Reception

Brad Pitt promoting the film at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Early reviews for The Tree of Life at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival were polarized. After being met with both boos [45] and applause [46] at its premiere at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, the film received very mixed early reviews.[47][48] The film went on to be awarded the prestigious Palme d'Or. Two of the film's producers, Bill Pohlad and Sarah Green, accepted the prize on behalf of the reclusive Malick.[49] The Tree of Life is the first American film to win the Palme d'Or since Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004.[49] Head of the jury, Robert De Niro, said it was difficult to choose a winner, but The Tree of Life "ultimately fit the bill".[49] De Niro explained, "It had the size, the importance, the intention, whatever you want to call it, that seemed to fit the prize."[49][50]

On August 19, 2011 it was announced that the film had won the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Big Prize for the Best Film Of the Year. The award will be presented on September 16, during the opening ceremony of the 59th San Sebastián International Film Festival.[51] Malick released a statement of thanks for the award.[52] On November 28, it was announced that the film had won the Gotham Award for Best Feature, shared with Beginners.[53]

The Tree of Life currently holds an 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 227 reviews, with an 88% among "Top Critics". The site's consensus is that "Terrence Malick's singularly deliberate style may prove unrewarding for some, but for patient viewers, Tree of Life is an emotional as well as visual treat."[54] At Metacritic which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 85 based on 43 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[55]

Roger Ebert gave the film four stars of four and wrote, "The Tree of Life is a film of vast ambition and deep humility, attempting no less than to encompass all of existence and view it through the prism of a few infinitesimal lives. The only other film I've seen with this boldness of vision is Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and it lacked Malick's fierce evocation of human feeling. There were once several directors who yearned to make no less than a masterpiece, but now there are only a few. Malick has stayed true to that hope ever since his first feature in 1973."[56] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gives it a perfect five stars and states it is an "unashamedly epic reflection on love and loss" and a "mad and magnificent film."[57] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter states "Brandishing an ambition it’s likely no film, including this one, could entirely fulfill, The Tree of Life is nonetheless a singular work, an impressionistic metaphysical inquiry into mankind’s place in the grand scheme of things that releases waves of insights amidst its narrative imprecisions."[58] Justin Chang of Variety states the film "represents something extraordinary" and "is in many ways his simplest yet most challenging work, a transfixing odyssey through time and memory that melds a young boy's 1950s upbringing with a magisterial rumination on the Earth's origins."[59] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone states "Shot with a poet's eye, Malick's film is a groundbreaker, a personal vision that dares to reach for the stars."[60] A.O. Scott of the New York Times gave the film much praise and stated, "The sheer beauty of this film is almost overwhelming, but as with other works of religiously minded art, its aesthetic glories are tethered to a humble and exalted purpose, which is to shine the light of the sacred on secular reality". Total Film gave the film a five-star review (denoting 'outstanding'): "The Tree Of Life is beautiful. Ridiculously, rapturously beautiful. You could press ‘pause’ at any second and hang the frame on your wall."[61] Ross Miller of Blog Critics said, "to say that Terrence Malick’s Palme d’Or winning fifth film is ambitious would be to make the understatement of this young 21st cinematic century... an epic, meditative exploration of life, including the meaning of it, The Tree of Life is Malick doing what he does best but on a scale even he hasn’t attempted before."[62] Richard Corliss of Time named it one of the Top 10 Best Movies of 2011.[63]

On the other hand, Sukhdev Sandhu, chief film critic of the Daily Telegraph describes the movie as "self-absorbed," and "achingly slow, almost buckling under the weight of its swoony poetry."[64] Lee Marshall's review for Screen Daily followed a similar line, seeing the film as "a cinematic credo about spiritual transcendence which, while often shot through with poetic yearning, preaches too directly to its audience."[65] Stephanie Zacharek of Movieline praised the technical aspects of the film, such as the "gorgeous photography", however states nonetheless it is "a gargantuan work of pretension and cleverly concealed self-absorption."[66]

Sean Penn has said, "The screenplay is the most magnificent one that I've ever read but I couldn't find that same emotion on screen. [...] A clearer and more conventional narrative would have helped the film without, in my opinion, lessening its beauty and its impact."[67] He further clarified his reservations about the film by adding, "But it’s a film I recommend, as long as you go in without any preconceived ideas. It’s up to each person to find their own personal, emotional or spiritual connection to it. Those that do generally emerge very moved."[68]

The Tree of Life was voted best film of 2011 in the annual Sight & Sound critic poll, earning one and a half times as many votes as runner up A Separation.[69] The film was voted the best released film of 2011 by Film Comment,[70] and it also topped the indieWire annual critics survey for 2011,[71] as well as the LA Weekly Film Poll 2011.[72] The film has appeared on over 70 critics' year-end top ten lists, including 15 first place rankings.[73]

[edit] Awards and nominations

List of Accolades
Award / Film Festival Category Recipient(s) Result
2011 AACTA International Awards[74] Best Film – International Dede Gardner, Sarah Green, Grant Hill, Brad Pitt, Bill Pohlad Nominated
Best Direction – International Terrence Malick Nominated
84th Academy Awards Best Picture Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner, Grant Hill Pending
Best Director Terrence Malick Pending
Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki Pending
11th American Film Institute Awards Movie of the Year Bill Pohlad, Sarah Green, Grant Hill, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner Won
26th American Society of Cinematographers Awards[75] Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Feature Film Emmanuel Lubezki Pending
9th African-American Film Critics Association Awards Best Film The Tree of Life Won
7th Austin Film Critics Association Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki Won
Breakthrough Artist Jessica Chastain Won
32nd Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki Won
17th Broadcast Film Critics Choice Awards Best Picture The Tree of Life Nominated
Best Cinematography Emanuel Lubezki Won
Best Art Direction Jack Fisk (Production Designer), David Crank (Art Director) Nominated
Best Visual Effects The Tree of Life Nominated
Best Sound The Tree of Life Nominated
64th Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Terrence Malick Won
10th Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards Actor of the Year Jessica Chastain Won
Actor of the Year Brad Pitt Won
Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain Nominated
23rd Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Best Film The Tree of Life Won
Best Director Terrence Malick Won
Best Original Screenplay Terrence Malick Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Brad Pitt Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain Won
Best Cinematography Emanuel Lubezki Won
Most Promising Performer Hunter McCracken Nominated
62nd Cinema Writers Circle Awards Best Foreign Film The Tree of Life Nominated
18th Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards Best Cinematography Emanuel Lubezki Won
Best Director Terrence Mallick Nominated
Best Film The Tree of Life Nominated
3rd Denver Film Critics Society Best Film The Tree of Life Won
Best Director Terrence Malick (tie with Michel Hazanavicius) Won
Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain Nominated
5th Detroit Film Critics Society Awards Best Film The Tree of Life Nominated
Best Director Terrence Malick Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain Nominated
16th Florida Film Critics Circle Awards Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki Won
12th Golden Trailer Awards Best Independent Mark Woollen Won
Most Original Mark Woollen Nominated
Best of Show Mark Woollen Nominated
21st Gotham Independent Film Awards Best Feature Terrence Malick, Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardener, Grant Hill Won
15th Hollywood Film Festival Hollywood Breakthrough Award - Actress of the Year Jessica Chastain (Also for Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter) Won
5th Houston Film Critics Society Awards Best Picture The Tree of Life Nominated
Best Direction of a Motion Picture Terrence Malick Nominated
Best Cinematography Emanuel Lubezki Won
3rd Indiana Film Critics Association Awards Best Director Terrence Malick Runner-up
Original Vision Award The Tree of Life Won
46th Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards Best Director Terrence Malick Won
Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain Won
15th Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards Best Cinematography Emanuel Lubezki Won
32nd London Film Critics' Circle Awards Film of the Year The Tree of Life Nominated
Director of the Year Terrence Malick Nominated
37th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Picture The Tree of Life Runner-up
Best Director Terrence Malick Won
Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain (Also for Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields) Won
Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki Won
83rd National Board of Review Awards Top Films The Tree of Life Won
46th National Society of Film Critics Awards Best Director Terrence Malick Won
Best Actor Brad Pitt (Also for Moneyball) Won
Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain Won
Best Cinematography Emanuel Lubezki Won
77th New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Actor Brad Pitt (also for Moneyball) Won
Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain (also for The Help and Take Shelter) Won
Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki Won
11th New York Film Critics Online Awards Breakthrough Performer Jessica Chastain Won
Best Cinematography Emanuel Lubezki Won
15th Online Film Critics Society Awards Best Picture The Tree of Life Won
Best Director Terrence Malick Won
Best Original Screenplay Terrence Malick Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Brad Pitt Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain Won
Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki Won
Best Editing Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa Won
23rd Palm Springs International Film Festival Breakthrough Performance Award Jessica Chastain Won
Desert Palm Achievement Award Brad Pitt Won
Spotlight Award Jessica Chastain Won
12th Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki Won
Best Editing Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber and Mark Yoshikawa Nominated
Best Film The Tree of Life Nominated
15th San Diego Film Critics Society Awards Best Film The Tree of Life Nominated
Best Director Terrence Malick Nominated
Best Cimenatography Emanuel Lubezki Won
Best Editing Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa Nominated
10th San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards Best Film The Tree of Life Won
Best Director Terrence Malick Won
Best Cinematography Emanuel Lubezki Won
59th San Sebastián International Film Festival FIPRESCI Grand Prix 2011 Terrence Malick Won
16th Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain Won
Best Original Screenplay Terrence Malick Won
Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki Nominated
20th Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki Won
15th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards Best Film The Tree of Life Won
Best Director Terrence Malick Won
Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain Nominated
12th Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards Best Film The Tree of Life Nominated
Best Director Terrence Malick Won
Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain Won
10th Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki Won
Best Art Direction Jack Fisk (Production Designer), David Crank (Art Director) Nominated
11th World Soundtrack Awards Film Composer of the Year Alexandre Desplat (Also for Largo Winch II, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, A Better Life, The King's Speech, La Fille du Puisatier, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2) Won

[edit] References

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  4. ^ Desowitz, Bill (June 1, 2011). "Giving VFX Birth to Tree of Life". Animation World Network. http://www.awn.com/articles/article/giving-vfx-birth-tree-life. Retrieved November 16, 2011. 
  5. ^ Abele, Robert (September 9, 2009). "Pohlad holds out hope". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118008347.html?categoryid=3720&cs=1&nid=2562. Retrieved October 26, 2010. 
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  13. ^ Terrence Malick's THE TREE OF LIFE To Go IMAX? With Dinosaurs?, aintitcool.com, March 2, 2009
  14. ^ McNary, Dave (April 15, 2008). "Chastain to star opposite Pitt in 'Tree'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117984099.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved April 19, 2008. 
  15. ^ Garcia, Chris (2008-03-25). "Gracia, Chris. "'Tree of Life' uprooted, briefly". ''austin360.com''". Austin360.com. http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/austinmovies/entries/2008/03/25/michael_corocoran_our_cub_repo.html. Retrieved 2012-01-26. 
  16. ^ "Filming locations for Tree of Life" Internet Movie Database
  17. ^ Wilonsky, Robert (2010-12-16). "Terrence Malick Shot Tree of Life All Over Texas. Including, Turns Out, in Downtown.". DallasObserver.com. http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/12/terrence_malick_shot_tree_of_life_all_over_texas_including_turns_out_in_downtown_dallas.php. Retrieved 2012-01-26. 
  18. ^ "Ingram, Emily. "Part of downtown Waco shut down for film shoot". wacotrib.com". http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/05/10/05102008wactreeoflife.html. Retrieved 2012-01-26. [dead link]
  19. ^ Hagerty, Terry. "Oak in 'Tree of Life' moved to downtown Smithville". The Bastrop Advertiser, February 9, 2008, pp 1A, 2A.
  20. ^ Tree of Life. 2008-02-16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOfKsg7SH8c. 
  21. ^ Planting the Tree of Life. 2008-02-17. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG8vWX5VRes. 
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  23. ^ Hart, Hugh (June 17, 2011). "Video: Tree of Life Visualizes the Cosmos Without CGI". Wired (magazine). http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/06/tree-of-life-douglas-trumbull/. 
  24. ^ "Animation World Network: Giving VFX Birth to Tree of Life". http://www.awn.com/articles/article/giving-vfx-birth-tree-life. 
  25. ^ Horn, John (May 25, 2011). "Terrence Malick looks to IMAX to extend 'Tree of Life' explorations". LA Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/05/terrence-malick-looks-to-imax-documentary-to-extend-tree-of-life-explorations.html. Retrieved May 28, 2011. 
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