TREE OF LIFE GETS BOOES AT CANNES: ITS A MASTERPIECE
Yeah, I’m bored.
Maybe the booers were not french?
So…was Beloved any good? Anyone hear?
Well, I remember hearing /reading (it had a 57% rating after all the Cannes reviews came out on RottenTomatoes) about the dislike for Inglourious Basterds at Cannes a couple of years ago. Then it was wide released some months later to rave reviews…Ironically, Brad Pitt also starred…
“Yeah, I’m bored.”
Go eat a sandwich.
Do we really need to be reacting (even satirically) to random audience reaction to a film that we’ve not even seen yet?
How many times does the monolith appear in Malick’s film?
Get ready to start shoveling folks, because it is going to be over your boot tops pretty quickly.
This is exactly what happened a few years ago with Southland Tales at Cannes. Booed by the French plebeians, who likely had too many baguettes in their pockets, blocking their view of the genius on screen, but later discovered as the 2nd greatest film of all times (all the lists that put it in this position were anticipating [correctly so] that Tree of Life would take 1st place upon its release).
OMG L’avventura effect…
If you read the account of that viewing, it was just a couple of boos and it was met by counter-applause.
But let’s not let reality get in the way of the beginning of a great myth. Another booed masterpiece!
It sounds like you don’t know how to read there Christofer. “Counter-applause” is clearly intended to suggest that the applause was in the minority and came as a defense from the fans to “counter” the booing. Now go back to your little classroom and doodle ducks on your chalkboard.
As noted in another post I received an email from someone who was at the press screening and he said about a third of the audience boo’d. That is expected with a film such as this. Big hype, big themes. etc.
It is worth noting too that Cannes is not open to the public. It does not have regular or normal festival going audiences. Only people in the press and the market [producers, film buyers, film biz people] can attend screenings. So when you have nothing but insiders you get a completely different atmosphere than you would at Sundance or Toronto or certainly at the local art house.
Elmer, what’s your problem? Don’t answer, I’m not interested.
Matt, very intelligent post. Very appreciated.
Are you sure they booed?
Maybe they mooed.
^ I was saying Boo-URNS.
I told my friend that if TOL sucked I would spend the rest of my life in quietly smug satisfaction. I’m waiting for more reviews and then I will go to my room and meditate on the phrase “I told you so”…
Seriously though I’ve heard murmerings from a movie critic friend that many were underwhelmed but it IS truly too early to tell. Cannes boos are infamously unreliable.
@Christopher Pierson
It’s lame but I can’t stop thinking that people should now “moo” after films, en masse. That would really make me laugh.
The thought is making me laugh right now!
I think that mooing should be the opposite of booing – moo instead of applaud. People would start laughing, everybody would have a great time!
Ooooh… although now that I think about it, it would become awfully difficult to distinguish between the booers and the mooers…
I’m pretty confident about it now. It’s no worry that some booed, it’s good that it’s dividing audiences.
and some trustworthy reviews from the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/may/16/cannes-2011-the-tree-of-life-review
They’re just mad the U.S. arrested DSK.
So … has anyone actually seen this film yet?
If so, dish.
If not, why are we even talking about this?
BOO-urns.
I’ve just watched the film from a press screening. The cinematography is unbelievably lush and fluid. I’m not sure if I believe the film actually lives up to its own grandiose ambitions.
This always happens with Malick’s films. You never fully appreciate them until years later. They’re those type of films.
A couple weeks after its release, The New World was sitting at 47% on Rotten Tomatoes and now it’s regarded as a masterpiece.
I don’t remember when A Thin Red Line came out, but I bet that year nobody even talked about it and only talked about Saving Private Ryan. But now, The Thin Red Line is regarded as a masterpiece and Saving Private Ryan is thought of as nothing more than a couple of cool scenes.
I also don’t think Malick’s films are meant to be seen with an audience. They are personal. They’re better watched by yourself.
Whatever this is all just part of the Cannes hype machine. He’s a brilliant Director. I’m sure the film will be nothing short of amazing like his other achievements. Reviews are mixed says Yahoo source.
http://blog.movies.yahoo.com/blog/1337-tree-of-life-sparks-mixed-frenzy-of-boos-applause-glowing-reviews
The trailer looks good, but why does Brad Pitt play in the movie? He’s not really a good actor, and he’s the most overused actor in modern film.
StefR
I also don’t think Malick’s films are meant to be seen with an audience. They are personal. They’re better watched by yourself.
This is a statement you could not have written 30 years ago. I would agree that Malik’s films are not crowd pleasing movies and they are personal films but I would not go so far as to say they are better seen by yourself, because not many of us have access to our own personal full-sized movie theater screen – which is how Malick’s films should be seen.
^ Yes.
I’ve seen Badlands, Days of Heaven, and The New World in a theatre, and it’s the best way to see ‘em. It’s unfortunate that I didn’t have the foresight to see The Thin Red Line at a theatre when I had the chance my senior year.
Kabang
Brad Pitt … he’s the most overused actor in modern film.
Not true.
Pitt has been in 15 movies in the last 10 years.
By comparison over the same period:
Samuel L Jakcson 28 movies
Paul Giamatti 27 movies
Morgan Freeman 27 movies
Owen Wilson 23 movies
Michael Caine 23 movies
Anthony Hopkins 21 movies
Joseph Gordon Levitt 20 movies
John C Reilly 20 movies
Adam Sandler 16 movies
[Not including TV movies, short films or voice-over work. All on IMDB]
sandwiches
If there’s anything we know about Cannes, is that their pinkies are far too raised to appreciate truly innovative cinema and we scoff at their narrow-minded years later when the film finally achieves universal acclaim.There’s too much french “ressentiment” for them to able to face the reality that an American has made the greatest film of all times.
Discuss.