Shallow reasons many like this film

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Pretty much nailed it. Just dont bother posting on forums like this, cause the hounds will come running in to blindly defend their favorite bone.

My god, nearly every comment in this thread is someone who thinks their opinion is right above all else. Do not push it all at knoxfan. Listen to yourselves. Just the fact that "The Tree Of Life" inspires such heated debate from both sides shows it is something worthy to discuss. I am more of the opinion of knoxfan (not the condescending parts) in that I think this is a film of little substance, of little originality but is beautiful to look at a portion of the time. I also think to spend this much money on something like this is very selfish in this world we live in. I understand he has a vision. However, if his vision is one he caters so smugly (like many comments here) to his internal clock, a vastly more modest budget would make him seem a lot more like someone who cares about showing his vision to the audience and letting them interpret their emotions from it. I apologize for the run-on sentence! I think the film makes him seem like a "better-than-thou" elitist who feels his opinion is correct regardless (like nearly everyone on this board). Don't get me wrong- I think it is wonderful that so many found celebration in this and something that touched them and made them feel so passionate. I am also glad knoxfan shared his opinions that related somewhat to mine and was equally passionate. We all need to see that..first and foremost. No one's opinion is the right opinion and no one's interpretation is the right one either. That is the beauty of personal experience and art. What you got from this is just as valid an opinion as what I feel was an arrogant hack-job of other's work. You may disagree as I disagree with you but that is life..and NO ONE (not even Malick) is perfectly correct. Choosing to be an artist is choosing to put your vision out there and let OTHERS interpret it also. Calling any art meaningless is also as smug a statement as saying your opinion is the right one. Everyone has something to say..even Donald Trump (and I wished like hell he would stop telling us). In any case, much love to all and I hope this came through as what I meant and not more pushy bs. It will be open to interpretation and that is OK. ;) That is life. It is also fair to say if anyone here does the research this was on top ten lists AND top ten worst lists. That, in itself, makes it an interesting topic- one with multiple answers and none of them the right one..including mine.

Hello there,

First time posting here; and that too 3 years after the original post. I don't know a lot about films or art or generally anything, but I can try and tell you what I feel about this film, what I felt while watching it.
I have only watched this film once and that too on a laptop. During that viewing, I didn't focus on the visuals in the first few minutes, I just took it in. And then there were flashbacks to the Sean Penn's character's childhood. That's where I was particularly moved. It's difficult to articulate what I felt. Those scenes 'triggered'certain things in me. A visit to my childhood as well. That's where I loved the cinematography. Particularly, those scenes where the father was stern and abusive. I didn't hate the man. It made me remember instances from my own youth. See, in India, beating one's child isn't necessarily considered taboo or illegal. The children learn to accept it and love their parents nevertheless. So even when they show the father as being short tempered and abusive at times, I could relate to what the boy felt and not judge the father for what he did.
And then there were those scenes between Chastain and the boys. Boy, did I find them intimate. Those scenes had my eyes brimming with tears. It 'triggered' in my mind the past, what-if scenarios, etc. You know what? Scenes from other films ran through my head.
For eg.- When Agatha tells John and his wife, 'There was so much love in this house' from Minority Report; The scene in Watchmen where Dr Manhattan tells Silk Spectre- "Miracles. Events with astronomical odds of occurring, like oxygen turning into gold. I've longed to witness such an event, and yet I neglect that in human coupling, millions upon millions of cells compete to create life, for generation after generation until, finally, your mother loves a man, Edward Blake, the Comedian, a man she has every reason to hate, and out of that contradiction, against unfathomable odds, it's you - only you - that emerged. To distill so specific a form, from all that chaos. It's like turning air into gold. A miracle. And so... I was wrong."

I didn't watch this film with prior knowledge about Terrence Malik or his body of work.. So I think I can honestly say that I didn't like it because it was cool or hip to like it, or because Malik directed it. It made me feel things that an ordinary movie didn't. To feel emotion on such a level, to feel a connect, sometimes when a movie can do that, isn't that...something?
And another thing, I didn't completely understand the film (but have been quite intrigued by the interpretations and explanations that I have read on the internet).

So, 2 years after I saw this for the first time and having watched a few more films and read so much on the message boards here, I am going to watch it a second time. And see how I feel now. Sorry if I came off as a bit sentimental. I am writing this whole thing from my office and surprisingly, I still feel a bit emotional about the film.

Its Twilight for the 'intellectual' hipsters.