While Terrence Malick’s latest film “Tree Of Life” won’t be playing Cannes, that hasn’t stopped even more details about the year’s most anticipated film (sorry, “Inception”) hitting the web over the weekend.
The source is an anonymous commenter named “Stan” who posted some intriguing info about the film in the comments section of a /Film story about Vincent Gallo. The subject turned to Malick and shortly after “camera” revealed there was a secret screening for the film in Austin, “Stan” replied with details of what went down. While this could be total bullshit, the general level-headedness of the comments combined with the details within make us believe its true. And hell, we’re excited for this film so we’ll take any news about it anywhere we can find it. Anyway, here is what “Stan” had to say:
[The secret screening has] already occurred. He screened it to an audience of about thirty, and it’s literally 97% done. Our boss was able to see it, and called it the best film of his since “Badlands.” [‘Tree Of Life’ cinematographer] Emmanuel Lubezki was in attendance, as was some vfx gurus (one of which was my boss).
It will not make Cannes. The visual effects aren’t done, but the footage that we’ve worked on is near complete. The reason for the delay in post is because of the amount of detail IMAX 70 MM requires. I can assure you that the results are worth the wait.Our house is referring to [the IMAX footage] as “Voyage of Time.” I don’t know if it will be a separate documentary. Terrence has made sure that we work on footage without knowing too much of the plot or reason behind it. It’s always about a feeling or an emotion. He is definitely the most interesting director we’ve had the pleasure of working with, and probably the only who’s interacted with the digital artists themselves. He has never settled for results less than immaculate, but is humble and patient about it.
This is the first real news on the status of the film after earlier in the year Apparition head Bill Pohlad said the film “is in fact finished” while acquistions honcho Sara Rose said the film is “almost certainly headed for Cannes.” It looks like those statements were a little premature. It seems like the notoriously meticulous Malick is still putting the final details and effects in place for his film and won’t rush that last 3% to get the film in a cannister and fly it to the south of France.
Our guess is that the small test screening was to see what the overall shape of the film is looking like, and help Malick indicate where he finds to fine tune. As for the parallel documentary “Voyage Of Time,” there is some speculation that it might just be a code word for the IMAX footage of “Tree Of Life,” but as “Stan” notes, Malick is keeping his cards close to the chest in terms of what that footage is actually for so we’ll leave it as supposition for now.
As our readers have pointed out in, this isn’t the first screening the film has had. According to an article in La Monde, Cannes head Theirry Fremaux saw the film nearly a month ago and invited it to the Croisette (obviously, he had to see it before inviting it), while French distributors EuropaCorp have also seen it with General Director Pierre-Ange Le Pogom saying, “Already, the story is very beautiful. And I can tell you that this film, whose story takes place over several decades, fully deserved its place in Cannes!”. Just a reminder, the comment regarding the time-spanning nature of the film makes sense as “Tree Of Life” tracks a father (Brad Pitt)/son (Sean Penn) relationship over several decades.
However, with the film only a few inches away from the goal line, a Venice or Toronto unveiling is looking more and more likely and a fall release date a near certainty. Sorry Cannes, maybe next time.
ToL will be done in june, according to this :
http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2010/04/18/terrence-malick-grand-absent-du-festival-de-cannes_1335208_3246.html
LeMonde.fr has published this morning some comments on the Tree of Life from Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, COO ("directeur général") of its French distributor, EuropaCorp. Is the screening he is refering too, the same screening Stan is speaking about… ?
http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2010/04/18/terrence-malick-grand-absent-du-festival-de-cannes_1335208_3246.html
And is Cannes' Frémaud screening "one month ago, in the United States"evoked in the beginning of the article the same screening that Le Pogam or "Stan" took part?
To sum up, one or multiple screenings ?
Thanks for the heads up guys.
Frémaux said on french radio this friday that the film was almost finished, and that he would even be happy to "screen a dvd of the film" but that Malick was so precise that he doubted the film would screen to the festival.
As I read the commentary from "Stan", maybe Frémaux wanted to say that the film is watchable now and that the only thing preventing Malick to send it was that the 70 mm were not quite ready (I mean, it wouldn't be a matter of editing or whole effects scenes left to do, just a matter of image and effects definition).
Anyway, Frémaux will apparently reveal the 5 or 6 films which will complete the official selection TTOMORROW so we'll see.
What's the dinosaur status at this point? Are there still dinosaurs in this movie? Are they only in the IMAX part that may or may not be a real thing? I'm so confused.
The movie starts like this:
A monkey climbs out of the primordial soup, he fights for survival in pre-historic times.
We see him make babies and families and then that stuff eventually transitions to Brad Pitt's father character and then we realize Pitt is a long, down-the-road ancestor of the monkey.
Then, he's Sean Penn's father, he's prolly a jerk, etc.
We cut to 40-50 years later when Penn has grown up and has all this resent and hatred for his father because [redacted redacted].After much existential struggle he then dies in an accident and goes to heaven, where he meets up with his father (and the ancestral monkey men) in an afterlife sequence and loving reunion, forgiveness.
We then pan up into space for a 30 minute shot of the celestial heavens that fades back into shots of nature for 45 minutes. THE END.
(that's my jokey guess of what the movie is).
Sounds awesome. Especially the ending.
While he lacks the public name recognition, Malick has kind of taken over for Kubrick as the undisputed master filmmaker whose films need to be seen.
Inception will be the best popcorn movie of the year, I have no doubt, but I do doubt it will match what Malick has put together.
I don't think I trust someone who thinks Badlands was Malick's best ever. The most conventional, least Malickian entry in Malick's filmography? Why watch him at all if your favorite of his is the least original one he ever made?
@Anonymous 3
You are utterly mistaken. Try this: http://www.rouge.com.au/10/malick.html
Malick needs to get himself an editor with some balls to cut his films down and make them at least semi-coherent. The guy's proven over and over again that he's clueless when it comes to editting.
Malick's true vocation lies as a cinematographer as opposed to a screenwriter. He's great at visually filming a movie but lousy at forming character and narrative.
You guys truly are sad. Malick is the smartest film director alive, possibly ever, and he is well beyond the stage of feeling like he has to edit stories for idiots like you. If he did what you think he should, there would be nothing unique about his work, thus he wouldn't even be working in film. Get an education in life, then post.