AFTER YEARS of delays, Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, a story of fathers and their sons set in Texas, finally opened at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday. The press conference was more of an event than usual.
Brad Pitt, who plays the lead, is always a draw. But, for cinéastes, the chance to glimpse Malick, the reclusive director of classics such as Badlandsand Days of Heaven, was even more enticing. He never gives interviews. For some years, rumours circulated that he might have died.
To nobody’s great surprise, despite talk of a sighting, Malick didn’t appear. Pitt, predictably charming, made excuses. “I believe I can speak for him. He sees himself as building a house,” the star said. “I don’t know why it’s accepted that people who make things in our business – artisans and artists – are now expected to sell them. And I don’t think it computes with him. He wants to focus on making things, not on the real estate.”
A deeply peculiar epic, The Tree of Lifetakes in a brief history of the Earth before settling down to tell the story of a troubled family in central Texas.
The film was shot over two years ago and unsurprisingly, expectations were high and the famously volatile Cannes crowd noisily displayed its divided feelings. There was loud booing at the packed press screening when the credits rolled. This was followed by vigorous applause.
Pitt mainly talked about the film, but risked giving irony-free tabloids a scoop when answering a question about his parenting techniques. The character he plays is a brutally harsh dad. “I beat my kids regularly,” he said with a straight face. “That seems to do the trick. I also deprive them of meals.”