A member of the Home Theater Forum was treated to an early screening of Terrence Malick’s long-awaited Tree of Life last night “at work.” I’d love to have his job. You can check out his impressions below a long with possible release news.

Saw TREE OF LIFE the other night at work and it really is amazing. Hypnotic, more like. I won’t give anything about it away here, but yes it is long and there has already been talk in the news about Malick releasing it, then re-cutting it, then re-releasing it, etc.

The main bulk of the film is about his childhood growing up in Texas (reels 3-7 out of 9!). The “creation” footage is outstanding, absolutely jawdropping, and does indeed feel like 2001 – a lot of the effects are practical and your eyes can see that, which makes it really fascinating to watch. I don’t have a problem with the creation footage being connected to his boyhood, after all, most boys love dinosaurs, so that’s how I looked at it.

The story is framed around the death of his middle brother (in Korea?? We never know) and is a reflection on the circle of life, the evolution of life out of the mess of the Big Bang, but also about life itself (the strained relationship with his severe father, a stunning performance by Brad Pitt, just stunning), and the end of the Universe. I still haven’t given anything away that hasn’t already been said in the press. The film just has to be seen to be believed! One feels like a child again, seeing the world through young wide eyes.

On possible release and runtime:

Yes, it is finished! I believe it releases in October but it may be a limited release. And yes again it’s about 3 hours! There is talk of a cut down version, which Malick did for New World as well, but nothing confirmed.

There you have it. Take it with a grain of salt, since it is just a forum post, but it is better than nothing for what is my most anticipated film of the year. If they do actually plan to release in October, I’m surprised we haven’t heard anything. Stay tuned to TFS for more Tree of Life details as they come.

What do you think of the early impressions?