cognitio: The Tree of Life

cognitio: The Tree of Life: Viewers’ experience As it happens all of sudden you look up to the sky on a starry night and get overwhelmed because for long you had no...

The Tree of Life

Viewers’ experience

As it happens all of sudden you look up to the sky on a starry night and get overwhelmed because for
long you had not got to do it. This film evokes the same sentiment in you after its two-and-half an hour
journey ends. It’s a rare cinematic phenomenon to have taken place in recent history. And nothing less
can be expected from a genius like Terrace Mullick. The way the writer-cum-director has conveyed
the philosophy that the whole universe is a unit and all matters and occurrences are interconnected.
The title of the film alludes to the concept of a tree of life used in biology to illustrate the evolutionary
relatedness among species and also used in philosophy, religion and mythology to elucidate the
interconnectedness of all life on earth. So our life and its happenings is not distinct from the universe
rather a constituent part of the vast expansive universe.

The motion is the theme of existence that has been marvelously interpreted to the rigour of cinema by
the auteur. The film traces the origin of universe and species on earth through encountering the agony,
beauty, love, anger and all the emotions that make up a family life. While watching this movie you are
haunted by many disturbing phenomenon of life like loss of innocence, confusing adulthood, streak of
rebelliousness, relevance of marriage, and death and meaning of being in this increasingly polarized
world. The beauty of The Tree of life is that it makes you think about life, universe and think about them
materialistically, in the process of evolution.

Watch it and share your own interpretation.