Austin360 blogs > Austin Movie Blog > Archives > 2011 > May > 16 > Entry
‘The Tree of Life’ in Cannes: The music
CANNES, France — Sound is always a key component of any Terrence Malick movie. And sound plays a huge role in “The Tree of Life.”
The most obvious Malick touch is the use of voiceovers, and in “The Tree of Life,” Jessica Chastain, who plays the mother of a 1950s Waco family, provides the narration.
In fact, Chastain was doing voiceover work months after the shooting schedule in Smithville had ended, doing some of it from Northern California, while visiting her parents for Thanksgiving.
But an even bigger part of the sound of “The Tree of Life” comes from its music. Much of it sounds like religious chorales, and this perhaps led some critics to the conclusion that the movie was overtly religious. But it seems rather clear that Malick was aiming to create a spiritual aura, not an overtly religious one. Then again, if one assumes that a movie is an experience, as Malick does, then one can assume that a religious interpretation would be equally valid.
Alexandre Desplat was in charge of the score, which has the overall resonance of a requiem. Desplat’s previous credits include “The King’s Speech” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”
Malick also contributed to the score, having chosen from the works of 19th-Century French Romantic Hector Berlioz and 20th-Century Hungarian Gyorgy Ligeti, who worked on “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
An extensive list of musical credits provided to the press in Cannes on Monday included the following: “Symphony No. 1” by Gustav Mahler; “Approaching,” by Arsenije Jovanovich; “Berlioz: 7. Domine Jesu Christe”; “Hymn to Dionysus,” by Gustav Holst; “Brahms: 2 Andante moderato”; “Symphony No. 3,” by Henryk Gorecki; and “Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major K. 545,” by Mozart.
The overall mood produced by this music is meditative, reflecting the theme of “The Tree of Life,” which is the search for meaning. And the catalyst for that search, in the case of the movie, is the premature death of a son.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Cannes
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.