Watching The Tree of Life definitely answered my earlier question about scenes that aren’t directly relevant to the plot. The plot of this film is abstract at best, and there are entire sequences that don’t have anything at all to do with moving the plot forward. For example, the scenes with dinosaurs serve to illustrate abstract concepts, like dominance, rather than further the story in any specific way. The cosmic sequences lend an epic scale to the film, placing human stories and emotions in the context of the entire history of the universe. The boy’s parents fit into this as well, as they are essentially the living embodiment of Nature vs. Nurture. The mother is essentially the archetype of Love, warm, accepting, and unconditional. The father represents the harsh realities of the world, where everything must be won with a fight. As grown up Jack reflects on his childhood and the death of his younger brother, his emotions are mirrored and enhanced by epic shots of geological events, like the formation of the earth and the explosion of volcanoes. The Tree of Life helped me understand that emotions in film can be conveyed on a much wider and more abstract scale than I previously thought.
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