We found SP to be so interesting to understand and interpret that later we each individually read the reviews of the film to compare insights.We each then had the disappointment of finding those reviews to be superficial and critical ( mainly because the girls in the film are sexually objectified - yet that is part of the point the film is making visually, and their various outfits are not nearly as lewd or revealing as the reviewers repeatedly write) in the same repetitive way. Eventually there were one or two blogs with a perceptive translation of the film's many-layered and multiply coexisting possible realities. Yes the reviewers were potentially correct in their literal interpretations of the basic plot but failed to recognize or acknowledge the overlapping alternatives.
The Babydoll character might possibly be intended as real, and might really have fought off an attempted sexual assault only to find that this causes her sister to be the next victim who she then accidentally kills while trying to protect her.The gruesome mental institution might also possibly be real as might the rather one dimensional inmates.But there is something so archetypal about the characters and the setting that they would seem more likely to be metaphors for the psychological reactions which have occurred in a victim of sexual abuse. They are her defence mechanisms for the survival of her essential self. Since they represent different aspects of her personality and coping behaviour it is then no surprise that they have limited character development.The fearsome harshness of the building and its ludicrous name ("Lennox House for the Mentally Insane" - what other type of insanity is there?) represent her psychological reality.
Even the identity of the main protagonist is debatable, either Babydoll if you believe in the physical reality of the highly stylized story as presented, or Sweetpea who is suggested in voiceover and is the obvious survivor at the end.
There is also a theme of guardian angels such as the Wise Man who becomes the bus driver rescuer at the end, and may also include all of the girls with their different contributions to survival. The opening voiceover says"Everyone has an angel, a guardian who watches over us. We can't know what form they'll take: one day old man, next day little girl....... they are not here to fight our battles but to whisper from our heart, reminding that it is.....every one of us who holds the power over the worlds we create." Babydoll herself could be a real person, a real person who is also acting as an agent of a guardian angel, an actual guardian angel, or a survival mechanism which may represent her compliance with her own or her sister's abuse, her ability to block out her abuse or her courage in enduring the abuse.
The more obvious fantasy scenes of fighting back might be a type of psychological resistance but, contrary to the interpretation of most reviews, they are not a gallant direct defiance of her abuser since they occur during episodes strongly implying sexual violation. They seem designed to hide the defilement from her own awareness, since the viewer never sees what is really happening during those episodes. If Babydoll's battles represent her fight for emotional survival while still hiding the actual abuse behind the cloak of a mesmerising dance then her lobotomy at the conclusion of the film represents an end to this collusion and supports the notion that Sweetpea has made her real-life escape, or has made progress towards her psychological recovery by refusing to hide the crimes any more and allowing help to come. Help doesn't arrive until Babydoll, that unrealistic and inappropriate combination of the child-like and erotic,is gone. For the viewer who has become attached to her as a real character this is a bitterly unhappy ending, a metaphorical sucker punch, and a likely cause of some of the obvious dissatisfaction with the film.
As a whole the film shows how uncontrolled male aggression can threaten the very integrity of the female mind, causing it to fragment in order to survive. There is also a message that rescue may come too late for some.
In any case very little of this potential complexity was in any newspaper or established online film review. The film was accused of being a puerile and prurient form of pornography.I cannot recall one reviewer who described it as a film about a girl who is a victim of sexual abuse, yet that is the primary undeniable reality of the film. While I see it as a largely visual representation of her complex psychological response, I think that this failure to engage with the main theme supports the idea that most reviewers offer a glib and shallow dismissal of the film due to their discomfort with the underlying topic.
It is certainly bold for a man to write such a story and most likely presumptuous but that doesn't invalidate its truth, nor do the presence of similar structural and visual mannerisms to those of previous films, even including video game elements. It is disappointing to think that these uncomfortable opinions will influence assessments of this inventive film for a long time. I can only hope that eventually a more thoughtful appraisal will emerge.
As a consequence of this experience I use Sucker Punch as a way of judging the ability of a reviewer [the same as I quickly check the competence of a dictionary by looking up the definition of irony]. If I want an opinion I can respect then I look at their review of that film first. If they show some insight then I will be willing to look at the new film through their eyes. Unfortunately this technique wasn't possible with the reviewers of Tree of Life, since only the usual cliched criticisms of Sucker Punch were in their archives.So I watched the film without prejudice and read the reviews later.
Tree of Life presents the fragmented memories of a fiftyish man with worldly success but spiritual dissatisfaction who is contemplating the meaning of his life on what seems to be the anniversary of his brother's death long ago at nineteen years of age. It is not a conventional plot-driven mainstream theatre entertainment. It is an attempt to represent the great and subtle forces which compete to create our concept of ourselves as seen through the mind's eye of one man who is searching for enlightenment. As in any life many things are open to interpretation and many are personal and idiosyncratic.
Tree of Life tries to visually express the almost incomprehensible magnitude of the evolution of the universe and life towards the unlikely but inevitable truth of our individual existence, an idea simultaneously trite and awesome. Is the little dinosaur our ancestor, and is it spared because nature does not kill for the sake of it (unlike people); or because the unexpected reprieve is just part of the enormous cosmic chance that formed us; or was this critical few seconds in the creation of our species influenced by a higher power? This presentation illuminates, and contrasts with, the mundane events of a daily life which can serve to distract us from the astonishing fact of our existence.
There is an interplay of mother and father, right and wrong, kindness and selfishness, peace and aggression, nature and construction, heart and mind, life and death, grace and nature. His parents symbolize a choice between spirituality and materialism as his memories play out. They are no doubt selective and perhaps even unrepresentative of the true nature of his parents as individuals but they truly symbolize that choice for him. In his memory his mother is beatific and ethereal; spontaneous, kind, sensual and spiritual. She represents the interconnectedness of nature and spirit. And yet young Jack chooses his father's path, becoming an architect who enforces man's designs over nature. The film has many striking but rigid, cold and desolate architectural constructions, contrasting with recurring natural themes of trees and water. Again, it may be obvious, but the film openly implies that many people in our society, men in particular, are profoundly unhappy and disconnected, and need to change their way of relating to the world.
The cinematography is beautiful, carrying the message of the film's creator without words. A tree is planted and comes to flower. Trees connect as they grow, and reach towards the sky or heaven. They need water to grow.There are images of the mother washing her feet, at the same time evoking the watering of a tree and the biblical humility of the washing of the feet, the water representing the nourishment of our spiritual growth. The scene with the DDT truck, both shocking and visually beautiful, shows our folly when we try to defeat rather than work with the natural world.
The story parallels the myth of the castle of the Fisher King. Of the many variations of the tale there is a common theme of a young man (such as Parsifal) who one day in his youthful enthusiasm comes upon a castle (such as the castle of the Fisher King) where he has a mysterious and overwhelming experience in the court of a wounded king. Too soon the castle is gone, leaving the young man yearning for understanding and the opportunity to return.He feels lost and also wounded. He can only find personal fulfilment when he finds the castle again, but for many years, during which he is matured by his many life experiences, it evades him, until one day he finds it again. With his hard-won manhood he can enter the castle and it is told that he is now able to heal the king after which the waters flow and the lands of the king come to life. The castle never disappears again.
The psychoanalyst Robert A. Johnson believes that such myths have survived because they contain important truths about human nature. This legend is deemed to hold particular meaning for men (or, if you want to be really clever, for the masculine component of our personality).It is held that men, in contrast to women, do not easily feel an empathy with nature or the interconnectedness of everything. They feel isolated, that something is missing. At some time in their youth most men have momentarily felt at one with life, perhaps stimulated by the beauty of nature in a sunrise or perhaps a moment of pure unguarded love.They have entered the castle for the first time. But it doesn't last, and it is painful to lose it. The castle has disappeared. They search in vain for it. Eventually with maturity they find it again, and it stays with them from that time.They find it in themselves, in my opinion, through an unconditional love that, for those fortunate enough, was planted and watered by the grace of their mothers before they went out into the world. It heals their damaged masculinity.
There is a lot of evidence of immature masculinity in our society. Unnecessary impatience, anger and selfishness assault us when simply driving a car. It must be unpleasant to live in such a state of tension. Pointless urgency creates a false projection of self-importance, only desired by those who feel unimportant, who feel no connection to the true power. Real masculinity does not posture, and it is not unkind . It is humble but not weak. It works for justice not praise.
We have an image of a real man and it is not the heavyweight boxing champion, although it might be him later when he is broken down but finally wise. It is not the rich or the famous, tainted as they are by self- concern. It is no accident that To Kill A Mockingbird is still among the most popular books and films ever made, for it contains likeness of that hero.
Written by a woman, it demonstrates the qualities that we recognize and admire in a fully realized man.He works hard to be skilled. He stands for justice. He doesn't boast : even his own children are unaware of his expertise with a gun until it is needed to kill the rabid dog. He is willing to do what is right to protect his community regardless of personal risk, either confronting a rabid dog or standing up for justice. He is not prejudiced against those who are different. And, as illustrated when he is spat upon in the street, he is humble and forgiving if only his dignity is at stake. He would not go to war over an insult, and would take no more than is fair. Atticus is capable of genuine masculine aggression but only when required for the good of others. A real man has self-control. He keeps his powder dry.The role model is there for us all, and comes from a the sense that we are all a part of something greater .
That greater something does not necessarily belong to any particular religion. It may be found by an openness to grace. It is what the grown-up Young Jack is looking for in his recollections of childhood, of his spiritual mother and forgiving brother. It is shown on the beach at the end when his mother offers up the life of her son, his brother. And it is the image of our humble little dinosaur ancestor, submitting itself to the divine judgment of life, unaware of the extent of its powerful destiny.
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