Dir. Terrence Malick. 2011, 139 mins. 35mm. With Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken, Larramie Eppler, Tye Sheridan. A symphonic vision of a boy’s coming-of-age in suburban 1950s Texas, Terrence Malick’s toweringly ambitious, time-spanning Palme d’Or-winner nonetheless retains the intimacy of a personal confession. A middle-aged architect (Penn) scans the memories of his childhood to recover the spirit of his lost brother, only to exhume his troubled relationship with his father (a monstrously vulnerable Pitt) and an idealized image of his mother (Chastain). Malick’s poetic form reaches a new level of refinement here. Aided by D.P. Emmanuel Lubezki, a team of editors, and a classical soundtrack comprised of over 30 pieces from Bach to Mahler, Malick renders each moment of young Jack’s upbringing as a journey through light and shadow, of revelation and mystery, from innocence to experience.

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