I liked this statement by Terrence Malick. It's another way of saying cliches are cliches because they have a grain of truth to them.
When people express what is most important to them, it often comes out in clichés. That doesn't make them laughable; it's something tender about them. As though in struggling to reach what's most personal about them they could only come up with what's most public.
-Terrence Malick, director of the much lauded and anticipated film, Tree of Life
From what I've read, Malick is a very reclusive director. His interview with New York Magazine was pretty short, and he is one of Hollywood's famously private elite. His most recent film, Tree of Life, received the Palm d'Or, the most prestigious award given at the Cannes Film Festival. Past recipients of the award include...I just wikipedia-ed it, and I don't know any of them! Except for Michael Moore for Fahrenheit 9/11 and Roman Polanski for The Pianist.
For a very rare glimpse at the movie, you can watch this clip exclusively revealed to EW.com. The trailer was released more recently, and I've included it below.
You can read reviews about the film here.
NY Magazine ('Terrence Malick’s overblown, goofy, slightly ridiculous The Tree of Life should be seen immediately.')
Rogert Ebert (It's too difficult to identify a quotation from this piece. I recommend reading the entry in its entirety. I don't think you'll regret it. Ebert's an excellent writer.)
NYT ('“The Tree of Life” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Birth, death, the end of the world." These end bits of NYT film reviews are my favorite. Sometimes they get kind of snarky, which is always fun.)
