tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post4598268446677962555..comments2024-03-28T07:20:58.419-04:00Comments on They live by night: Shall We Gather at the River: How "Christian" is The Tree of Life?Bilge Ebirihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483062082914593902noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post-66687720173891699442023-05-28T18:05:03.622-04:002023-05-28T18:05:03.622-04:00I'm new to this field, and this is the most am...I'm new to this field, and this is the most amazing article I've ever read. Thank you so much for your excellent work. By sharing this wonderful blog, you literally made my day. Keep it up, please.<br /> <a href="https://srislawyer.com/abogado-de-divorcio-en-virginia-abogados-de-divorcio-virginia/" rel="nofollow">Abogado De Divorcio En Virginia</a><br /><a href="https://srislawyer.com/divorce-attorney-leesburg-va-immigration-attorney-leesburg-va/" rel="nofollow">Leesburg Divorce Lawyer</a><br />johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01981028974349841175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post-16662685242549679262022-04-13T07:46:00.069-04:002022-04-13T07:46:00.069-04:00Procurement Resource presents the detailed price t...Procurement Resource presents the detailed price trends of over 500 products in Various Categories Including <a href="https://www.procurementresource.com/resource-center/met-coke-price-trends" rel="nofollow">met coke price</a>. that are frequently updated. Procurement Resourcehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01179808252585597319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post-50418340584817156412013-01-28T14:28:30.263-05:002013-01-28T14:28:30.263-05:00I came across a link to your blog today, and after...I came across a link to your blog today, and after poking around, reading this post as well as seeing your high praise for "The Grey," I am most certainly bookmarking you. Cheers!Halhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10311605990167115734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post-29530903980374985632012-03-27T21:54:25.358-04:002012-03-27T21:54:25.358-04:00The end is not "a different state of affairs ...The end is not "a different state of affairs than the traditional Judeo-Christian concept of Heaven" because “all who have ever lived,” gathered together in the finale, appear not to be souls or spirits, but corporeal bodies awakened from a great sleep. One need not be an "expert on eschatology" to see how closely this corresponds to "the resurrection of the dead." <br /><br />PBS aired a very insightful segment about Malick and THE TREE OF LIFE on "Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly," admitting in the copy for the program that "Terrence Malick's new movie is a meditation on traditional Christian questions about evil, suffering, grace, and beauty": <br /><br />http://video.pbs.org/video/2045614200/Binx Bollingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post-49519967447387257722011-09-26T17:52:11.407-04:002011-09-26T17:52:11.407-04:00I never saw a film less Christian. And probably th...I never saw a film less Christian. And probably the president of American Atheists is more Christian than Malick.<br />R.L.: “Tell us a story from before we can remember”<br />Mother: “I went for a ride in a plane once. It was a graduation present.” <br /><br />"Once when I was young<br />I went for a ride on a plane<br />And I stopped believing.<br />For where else can Heaven be<br />If not on the tops of clouds?<br />A kingdom that vast,<br />Cannot be invisible.<br />Angels are not cruel enough to hide.<br />Where did the castle made of clouds<br />And miracles go?<br />Was it ever even there?"<br /><br />("Ashley"=T.R., 2006)<br /><br />There were two porcelain angels in the dead son’s room, by the window. In the architect’s dream, we see something against the sky that I would called the “disappeared house”. It could also be properly named the “castle made of clouds”. It even has something in the front that resembles a drawbridge. Holly and Kit go on the plane as prisoners. And what is Badlands’ last shot? The tops of the clouds. <br /><br />Malick is only true in cinema. But you have to be methodic to understand about what Tree of Life he is talking about. And you must think like a kid. Do you like games? He does:<br /><br />"Grey, my friend, is every theory <br />And green is Life’s golden tree."<br />(Faust)<br /><br />Leave the grey theories if you want to understand why Brad Pitt promised in the trailer: “Someday you will fall down and weep. You will understand it all. All things.” <br /><br />Look carefully to that shore of eternity.<br />There is a bit of every movie Malick did: the mountains (Badlands), an indian man (The New World), the beach filmed from a low angle, R.L. entering the water with mother and a “tree” (The Thin Red Line), the beach pavilion (Days of Heaven). There must be an inspiration in Fellini’s 8½ famous end.<br /><br />“Brother, mother – it was they who led me to your door”.<br />What is RL? The River of Life. (You read the script: "a river – living, flowing – the pure waters of the river life rushing down from a mountain peak.")<br />What is "mother"? Cinema.<br /><br />"Long have I loved you and for my own delight<br />Would call you mother, give you an artless song,<br />You, of all towns in our country<br />The loveliest that ever I saw.<br /><br />As the forest bird crosses the peaks in flight,<br />Over the river shimmering past your floats<br />Airy and strong the bridge,<br />Humming with sounds of traffic and people.<br /><br />Once, as if it were sent by gods, enchantment<br />Seized me as I was passing over the bridge<br />And the distance with its allure<br />Shone into the mountainscape.<br /><br />And that strong youth, the river, was rushing on down<br />To the plain, sorrowing-glad, like the heart that overflows<br />With beauty and hurls itself,<br />To die of love, into the floods of time.<br />..."<br />(Holderlin, Heidelberg, the poem that inspired the film)<br /><br />Some thoughts about this here:<br /><br />http://reviewingtreeoflife.blogspot.com/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post-17209963504182381412011-08-01T12:13:35.014-04:002011-08-01T12:13:35.014-04:00Is there a transcript or full video available of t...Is there a transcript or full video available of the panel discussion you mention in your article?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post-77441068237616524592011-07-31T23:26:37.192-04:002011-07-31T23:26:37.192-04:00Hi, Hi Dr. Nick: That's a really interesting q...Hi, Hi Dr. Nick: That's a really interesting question. I guess I wouldn't classify TTRL and TNW as Christian films, though they obviously do have spiritual content. TNW specifically has an animist quality -- if it reflects any specific spiritual belief, it is probably that of the Native American characters in the film. <br /><br />So I guess with TOL the case is more that the characters are Christian, the filmmaker is Christian, and the film delves rather heavily into spiritual and sometimes overtly religious themes. That said, as I try to say in the piece, I'm not really sure the movie is all that Christian to begin with. It's more Universalist.Bilge Ebirihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12483062082914593902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post-23195662744038613462011-07-31T18:17:18.598-04:002011-07-31T18:17:18.598-04:00Question: If TREE OF LIFE can be considered a Chri...Question: If TREE OF LIFE can be considered a Christian movie because Malick is a Christian, then can THIN RED LINE and THE NEW WORLD also be considered Christian movies? They do also deal with spiritual themes after all.Hi Dr. Nicknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post-85787528953819476162011-07-30T23:01:20.632-04:002011-07-30T23:01:20.632-04:00Silverman seems like an interesting guy, but perha...Silverman seems like an interesting guy, but perhaps somewhat literal-minded. I guess his response might be what I'd expect from a professional atheist -- that is to say, a public advocate for atheism. I dunno. I prefer the kind of atheism that can still make and appreciate movies like THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW and THE HAWKS AND THE SPARROWS.<br /><br />I've had little problem recommending THE TREE OF LIFE to atheist friends, most of whom seem to like it. I thought my religious friends would like it more, but they get more hung up on the whole no-plot/what-on-earth-am-I-watching-here thing.Bilge Ebirihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12483062082914593902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post-5097845282149639352011-07-30T22:32:55.744-04:002011-07-30T22:32:55.744-04:00Silverman seems a little too intent on saying that...Silverman seems a little too intent on saying that this heaven is a "Christian" heaven, but I don't think "faith in Jesus Christ" is an issue ever addressed, to say nothing of faith (he's also a little too intent on the "objective," when this film is about subjectivity, and few things are more subjective than the colors of one's religion). His reaction is very understandable, however, and representative of why I'm weary of recommending the picture to my own friends (most of whom are also atheists). It's not faith I see at the end, but wonder and awe, the intelligent design being in our own perception reflecting on what we're encountering.The Niles Fileshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14946624404181582605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post-55738961786095832572011-07-30T18:22:03.407-04:002011-07-30T18:22:03.407-04:00Indeed, and one of the things Malick seems intent ...Indeed, and one of the things Malick seems intent on doing is trying to take that political angle out of questions of spirituality and eternity -- something that certainly comes into play in The Thin Red Line and The New World.<br /><br />What strikes me as odd is the notion that someone who is not religious cannot accept a religious reading of the film, or must reject those parts of the film that seems to border on the religious.<br /><br />To paraphrase what I said above: I do not believe aliens were responsible for prehistoric man's ability to use tools. Nevertheless, I can accept 2001 as a profound work of art that speaks to the innermost depths of my soul. I see no incompatibility between those two statements. Because the operative word is not "aliens," but "art."Bilge Ebirihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12483062082914593902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9135701834929668413.post-63472233373754734192011-07-30T16:07:55.866-04:002011-07-30T16:07:55.866-04:00I saw the ending as the instinctual return to life...I saw the ending as the instinctual return to life's origins. Life began in the shallow seas and perhaps we all feel this in our DNA when we go to the sea, stare at it, wonder at what it contains, feel the awe. As an atheist I'm a little annoyed when other atheists "feel uncomfortable" when anything verging on Christian brushes up against them. It's a symptom of how everything has become political. I think Malick made a Christian film but one that recognizes Christianity as but one way of experiencing "The whole God Thing" which is not unique to Christianity but instead the ineffable thing all religious and spiritual practices seek.Branan Edgenshttp://www.brananedgens.comnoreply@blogger.com