FIPRESCI names 'The Tree of Life' best film of the year

It's been three months now since I first wrote here about Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life. I saw the film just a couple of hours after it had been awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. I thought then, and I still think now, that it was a wise decision, forThe Tree of Life is an extraordinary film in every sense, worthy of that or any other award recognition.

Malick's latest effort is a complex, slow-paced, fragmented work that requires a conscious effort from the viewer. However, the impression that it left on me when I first saw it has only increased over the time, mainly because childhood (a subject which is so often romanticized, trivialized and, maybe inevitably, infantilized) is depicted here with arresting genuineness and honesty. As I predicted three months ago, I have forgotten the excessive digressions, the inner monologues about the meaning of life and the dinosaurs of the film, but the domestic images of that Texan middle class family are poignantly etched on my memory.

Now, FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Press Critics, has awarded its annual Grand Prix as best film of year to The Tree of Life, after more than 200 critics from throughout the world responded to the FIPRESCI's annual poll. The award will be presented on September 16, during the opening ceremony of the 59th San Sebastián International Film Festival. The Spanish event, where Malick’s Badlands won the Golden Shell in 1974, hosts the FIPRESCI Grand Prix since its creation in 1999.

The eligibility period differs from most of the film awards handed out throughout the year, since the FIPRESCI Grand Prix distinguishes a feature-length film premièred since July of the previous year, so Cannes champs are usually fresh in the memory of the voters. Just to give you an idea, here are the winners since the creation of the FIPRESCI Grand Prix in 1999:

1999 'All About My Mother', Pedro Almodóvar
2000 'Magnolia', Paul Thomas Anderson
2001 'The Circle', Jafar Panahi
2002 'The Man Without a Past',  Aki Kaurismäki
2003 'Uzak',  Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2004 'Notre Musique', Jean-Luc Godard
2005 '3-Iron',  Kim Ki-duk
2006 'Volver',  Pedro Almodóvar
2007 '4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days', Cristian Mungiu
2008 'There Will Be Blood', Paul Thomas Anderson
2009 'The White Ribbon',  Michael Haneke
2010 'The Ghost Writer', Roman Polanski
2011 'The Tree of Life', Terrence Malick

Cristian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon had bagged the Palme d'Or at Cannes prior to being recognized by FIPRESCI, while Kaurismäki's The Man Without a Past and Ceylan's Uzak had been awarded the Cannes Grand Prix (effectively a runner-up's award of sorts). Almodóvar was named Best Director for All About My Mother, while Penélope Cruz and the female cast o fVolver shared the Best Actress prize.

It all goes to show that Cannes accolades have a big impact on the FIPRESCI award and, consequently, the effect of the latter on the rest of the awards season shouldn't be overestimated. 

Be that as it may, I'm glad about their decision (Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi's A Separation is the only film that, right now, comes to mind as possible alternative to The Tree of Life for the FIPRESCI) and, looking back at the comparatively short history of the award, few critics' groups can boast a more consistent and distinguished bunch of winners.

Comments

[FilmStar]

I don't get the love for this film. It's simply boring, the biggest pile of merde I've seen this year.

[Imitation of Life]

@FilmStar Well, as I say in the post, it's a film that will inevitably put off some viewers on account of its structure and subject-matter, but I still think it's a great piece of work.
I get your point (who wouldn't when exposed so bluntly :-)) about it being boring. I guess it's like buying a novel and finding out there's 100-page-long poem embedded in the text. I guess you would have the right to claim your money back, just as some theaters in the UK were promising to do with Malick's film.