Discuss The Tree of Life
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Who died? Spoilers
posted by Badlands1STAFFMOD on March 1, 2017 at 9:57 PM
Which son died at "19yrs old"? I thought the movie was great (I hated it when I saw it as a kid) but respect it as an adult.
The evolution/astronomy scene was epic, and well done. But the ending made no sense, which son was Penn, which son commited suicide and how? I guess Malick feels these topics aren't important. Yet they were the main situations of the movie.
Reply by NoVaNY-Cinematico
on March 2, 2017 at 8:10 AM
There was no suicide. There was just a death. (But the film is dedicated to Terrence Malick's deceased brothers, one of whom took his own life).
The middle child, the one who plays the guitar, is the one who dies. After we learn of the death at the beginning of the film, the camera lingers around in a bedroom where a guitar is clearly visible.
Penn is the adult version of the oldest son, in scenes that take place 20+ years after the death of his brother. It is unclear what the final sequence is really about. Is it meant to depict an afterlife? Who's? (IMdB message posts have interpreted the beeping of the elevator as the beeping of a hospital machine). Is it a manifestation of Penn's mind at that juncture ?
Hope this helps.