Tree of Life is, in fact, a mini-journey -- not through Heaven and Hell -- but through time and space: we witness the creation of the world, a segment of life in 1956 Texas, and the Resurrection at the end of the world. Watching Tree of Life is less like watching a film than it is like contemplating and meditating upon the meaning of life itself. As Roger Ebert said, the film is a prayer -- and for that reason, one's engagement with it depends upon one's desire to communicate with the Divinity, whose presence is at the heart of the narrative.

The narrative of Tree of Life is another thing that is non-traditional. The plot is non-linear: it flashes through points in time in disorienting ways to show that time itself is fleeting and that only the soul is eternal -- therefore, prime importance should be given to the...
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