A lot of Posters Didnt See This
There is no way most of the posters commenting on this board saw this film in its entirety. No bloody way. There were quite a few I read claiming its one long calvin klein commercial - they obviously tuned out after the first 15 or 20 minutes because the film takes a very different turn from what is show in the beginning.
My thoughts on it. (Disclaimer: I am a Malick fan so I am used to him films and his pacing).
A wonderfully shot film with amazing music and goes in step with Malick's quality of film making. There were quite a few shots and angles that I could have sworne I have seem other film makers steal those shot compositions and use them in their own films in recently. I will let you try to figure out which they were if you see it.
I think "To The Wonder" came together a little better than "Tree of Life". Its about the way humans fall in and out of love. Its about the the bad things humans do to each other sometimes. Its about the desire and pull in humans to be in love and to be free. There is also a very strong spiritual theme running throughout the film.
As others have stated, the film is paced and structured very differently. Its a very visual film with strong music soundtrack (a mix of classical and contemporary orchestral soundtrack -- I even saw Danial Lanois name in the credits as adding sonics.. ). There is some sparse narration and very little dialogue. Its the sort of film you have to sit and watch and get sucked into. At the end you have to come to your own conclusions about what certain scenes meant and how you interpret them. There is a story but its presented in a very different and unconventional way to what people are accustomed to seeing. It peters on art film in a lot of respects.
Happy watching. Definitely one of the most beautifully shot films I have seen in a very long time.
"Oh, Mama, can this really be the end, to be stuck inside of mobile
with the memphis blues again"