Brad Pitt and Sean Penn filmed Tree of Life with Terrence Malick back in the Spring of 2008 – and barely anything has been heard of it since. Malick is a famously reclusive, elusive director, and no one, no studio, no star, no producer will get him to budge if he doesn’t want to move. There was a rumor that Brad really wanted Malick to finish editing Tree of Life so that promotion could start this year, at the Cannes Film Festival. That never happened. But, it looks like the film finally got a release date – May of 2011, and apparently, the trailer was in front of this weekend’s screenings of Black Swan. There’s a bootleg, low-quality version of the trailer at the end of the post.

Malick did allow two production stills to be released, one of Brad, one of Sean. I still don’t really know what this damn film is about. Brad plays a father in the 1950s and…uh…er…

From the Desk of Terrence Malick….

We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, JACK, one of three brothers. At first all seems marvelous to the child. He sees as his mother does with the eyes of his soul. She represents the way of love and mercy, where the father tries to teach his son the world’s way of putting oneself first. Each parent contends for his allegiance, and Jack must reconcile their claims. The picture darkens as he has his first glimpses of sickness, suffering and death. The world, once a thing of glory, becomes a labyrinth.

From this story is that of adult Jack, a lost soul in a modern world, seeking to discover amid the changing scenes of time that which does not change: the eternal scheme of which we are a part. When he sees all that has gone into our world’s preparation, each thing appears a miracle—precious, incomparable. Jack, with his new understanding, is able to forgive his father and take his first steps on the path of life.

The story ends in hope, acknowledging the beauty and joy in all things, in the everyday and above all in the family—our first school—the only place that most of us learn the truth about the world and ourselves, or discover life’s single most important lesson, of unselfish love.

[Malick‘s statement, courtesy of Collider]

The budget-quality trailer is below. It really doesn’t make any sense to me – it’s like a Hallmark commercial, like it’s designed to make you wistful and sad and broody all at once. Where’s the plot, exactly?

Thanks to Celebuzz for the heads up!