It took years of planning and painstaking work before Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life could receive its thunderous reception Monday at the Cannes Film Festival.
It was actually supposed to premiere here at the 2010 fest, but the meticulous Texas auteur felt he needed more time to tinker.
Yet the actual filming of Tree of Life was “all about capturing an accident,” to quote Jessica Chastain, who plays Brad Pitt’s wife in the movie.
“There’s a section (in the film) where a butterfly lands on my hand,” she told a news conference following the world-premiere morning screening.
“We didn’t put anything on my hand to make it land there . . . It’s because (Malick) creates a set where he allows those moments to happen that he’s able to capture them.”
Pitt also made a butterfly reference to describe Malick’s unique working style, which included taking over an entire street in an Austin, Tex., suburb to keep the set free of distractions.
“He never wanted to do what he called ‘hammer and tong’ a scene as it’s written,” Pitt said.
“He’s more interested in capturing what was happening on the day. It was like a guy sitting with a butterfly net, waiting for that moment of truth to go by.”
One thing that wasn’t at all accidental was Malick’s no-show at the presser. It’s almost unheard-of for a director, barring ill health or urgent family matter, not to show up at Cannes to help promote a film that’s competing for the Palme d’Or in Sunday’s closing prize gala.
Also missing was Pitt’s and Chastain’s co-star Sean Penn, but he had the good excuse of being in Haiti to assist with the ongoing earthquake relief efforts there, something he’s been very involved with. He’s expected at Cannes later this week for another film he’s in.
The notoriously press-averse Malick didn’t come because “he’s very shy,” said Sarah Green, one of several of the film’s producers at Cannes.
“And I would say that I think his work speaks for him.”
Actor Pitt also put on his producer’s hat to help get the film made, and he also defended Malick’s reluctance to publicly stump for The Tree of Life.
“It is an odd thing that an artist who starts something (has to) end up as a salesman,” Pitt said.
“If you have a favourite song and you hear the band talking about what the lyrics are about, aren’t you a little disappointed?”
Fortunately, Pitt and the others were in a chatty mood, even describing what it’s like to work with Malick, after moderator Henri Behar asked aloud if the reclusive, bearded filmmaker acts at all human on the set.
“Yes, he does eat — he even goes to the bathroom!” Pitt replied, laughing.
“He’s quite jovial. He’s incredibly sweet and he’s laughing most of the day . . . he finds pleasure in the day, is my point.”
Writer/director Malick is actually a very laid-back guy, Pitt said, to the point where he’d just show up with dialogue a page or two at a time and largely let the actors improvise.
Pitt found the process challenging but also energizing.
“It’s changed everything I’ve done since . . . I’ve found in the past that what I thought were the best moments were not preconceived, not planned. They were the ‘happy accidents’ that Jessica was describing.
“So I’ve tried since to go more in that direction . . . try to go off-script, see what happens.”
Chastain, who also co-stars in the Sundance hit Take Shelter that is having its European premiere here, feels exactly the same way.
“I went to visit (Malick) a couple of times and he suggested paintings that I might look at (to see) a quality of grace.
“But actually making the film, it’s really a huge lesson into just completely letting go all control of what you expect the outcome to be. That was a great lesson that I took away from it, just absolutely being in the moment.”
The highly impressionistic Tree of Life deals with matters of faith and the question of whether or not there’s a benign God in the universe.
Pitt is comfortable with such talk — he was raised a Christian, just like Malick — but he admitted he struggles with thoughts about an omnipotent deity, just as characters in the film do.
“Just as far as a faith that I grew up with, being told that God is going to take care of everything, it doesn’t always work out that way. And when it doesn’t work out that way, well, ‘it’s God’s will.’ I got my issues, man, you don’t want to get me started.”
Pitt also had a few initial qualms with taking the role of Mr. O’Brien, the hard-nosed 1950s father in the film who rules his family with an iron fist.
The actor has six children — ages 2 to 10 — with his actress wife Angelina Jolie, all of whom are here with him in Cannes. Pitt wasn’t wild at first about his kids seeing him playing a cold and harsh father. But he got over it, because the film was so important to him. And he expects his kids will, too.
“They know me as a dad, so I hope they’ll just think I’m pretty good as an actor!”
It was actually supposed to premiere here at the 2010 fest, but the meticulous Texas auteur felt he needed more time to tinker.
Yet the actual filming of Tree of Life was “all about capturing an accident,” to quote Jessica Chastain, who plays Brad Pitt’s wife in the movie.
“There’s a section (in the film) where a butterfly lands on my hand,” she told a news conference following the world-premiere morning screening.
“We didn’t put anything on my hand to make it land there . . . It’s because (Malick) creates a set where he allows those moments to happen that he’s able to capture them.”
Pitt also made a butterfly reference to describe Malick’s unique working style, which included taking over an entire street in an Austin, Tex., suburb to keep the set free of distractions.
“He never wanted to do what he called ‘hammer and tong’ a scene as it’s written,” Pitt said.
“He’s more interested in capturing what was happening on the day. It was like a guy sitting with a butterfly net, waiting for that moment of truth to go by.”
One thing that wasn’t at all accidental was Malick’s no-show at the presser. It’s almost unheard-of for a director, barring ill health or urgent family matter, not to show up at Cannes to help promote a film that’s competing for the Palme d’Or in Sunday’s closing prize gala.
Also missing was Pitt’s and Chastain’s co-star Sean Penn, but he had the good excuse of being in Haiti to assist with the ongoing earthquake relief efforts there, something he’s been very involved with. He’s expected at Cannes later this week for another film he’s in.
The notoriously press-averse Malick didn’t come because “he’s very shy,” said Sarah Green, one of several of the film’s producers at Cannes.
“And I would say that I think his work speaks for him.”
Actor Pitt also put on his producer’s hat to help get the film made, and he also defended Malick’s reluctance to publicly stump for The Tree of Life.
“It is an odd thing that an artist who starts something (has to) end up as a salesman,” Pitt said.
“If you have a favourite song and you hear the band talking about what the lyrics are about, aren’t you a little disappointed?”
Fortunately, Pitt and the others were in a chatty mood, even describing what it’s like to work with Malick, after moderator Henri Behar asked aloud if the reclusive, bearded filmmaker acts at all human on the set.
“Yes, he does eat — he even goes to the bathroom!” Pitt replied, laughing.
“He’s quite jovial. He’s incredibly sweet and he’s laughing most of the day . . . he finds pleasure in the day, is my point.”
Writer/director Malick is actually a very laid-back guy, Pitt said, to the point where he’d just show up with dialogue a page or two at a time and largely let the actors improvise.
Pitt found the process challenging but also energizing.
“It’s changed everything I’ve done since . . . I’ve found in the past that what I thought were the best moments were not preconceived, not planned. They were the ‘happy accidents’ that Jessica was describing.
“So I’ve tried since to go more in that direction . . . try to go off-script, see what happens.”
Chastain, who also co-stars in the Sundance hit Take Shelter that is having its European premiere here, feels exactly the same way.
“I went to visit (Malick) a couple of times and he suggested paintings that I might look at (to see) a quality of grace.
“But actually making the film, it’s really a huge lesson into just completely letting go all control of what you expect the outcome to be. That was a great lesson that I took away from it, just absolutely being in the moment.”
The highly impressionistic Tree of Life deals with matters of faith and the question of whether or not there’s a benign God in the universe.
Pitt is comfortable with such talk — he was raised a Christian, just like Malick — but he admitted he struggles with thoughts about an omnipotent deity, just as characters in the film do.
“Just as far as a faith that I grew up with, being told that God is going to take care of everything, it doesn’t always work out that way. And when it doesn’t work out that way, well, ‘it’s God’s will.’ I got my issues, man, you don’t want to get me started.”
The actor has six children — ages 2 to 10 — with his actress wife Angelina Jolie, all of whom are here with him in Cannes. Pitt wasn’t wild at first about his kids seeing him playing a cold and harsh father. But he got over it, because the film was so important to him. And he expects his kids will, too.
“They know me as a dad, so I hope they’ll just think I’m pretty good as an actor!”
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