When the next Australian film to hit cinemas is a French co-production that features beautiful scenery, impressive performances and paranormal themes, it would be reasonable to expect something exciting is heading our way. But don’t hold your breath; Julie Bertuccelli’s The Tree is yet another ponderous Aussie film structured around well-trodden themes of death and family dysfunction.
The film follows Dawn (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a French born woman living in picturesque country Australia with her husband and four children. Unfortunately, the idyllic life Dawn once lived is shattered when her husband suffers a heart attack in their backyard and dies. What once was a carefree existence becomes a careless one as Dawn loses her grip on the family and must find a way to escape an emotional abyss.
Meanwhile, Dawn’s eight year old daughter Simone (Morgana Davies) believes her father’s spirit has inhabited the enormous Moreton Bay Fig in their backyard. Simone decorates the tree and talks to it every day, a seemingly effective coping mechanism. However, her relationship with the tree is met with mixed reception from the family, particularly when Dawn begins to foster a relationship with her new boss, George (Marton Csokas) – something Simone finds insulting to her father’s spirit. This problem is exacerbated by the tree’s mysterious growing pattern, which begins to threaten the family home.
Based on Judy Pascoe’s debut novel Our Father Who Art in the Tree, Julie Bertuccelli’s screen adaptation isn’t nearly as emotionally involving as you would expect, especially considering the predictability of events. Bertuccelli invests too much time into moments of inertia, such as lingering silence and static photography in which very little subtext can be drawn. Even the apparent magical relationship between Simone and the tree, arguably the most thematically interesting aspect of the film, is terribly underplayed. With so many Australian dramas addressing similarly depressing themes on death and family in a similar style, a greater sense of spectacle and fantasy could have set this film apart.
Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist, 21 Grams) is excellent as Dawn, convincing in her unconventional maternalism, while newcommer Morgana Davies (Green Fire Envy) exudes maturity as Simone, impressively sustaining eloquent dialogue that is well beyond her years. While the character of George brings some degree of conflict to the story, Marton Csokas’ (Alice in Wonderland, Kingdom of Heaven) portrayal certainly allows you to empathise with his tentative position in the family.
Cinematographer Nigel Bluck does an excellent job with the limited country setting, capturing the surrounding landscape beautifully. Being a French co-production, I expect international viewers may feel a sense of “magic” through the exotic nature of the land, furthered by prominent appearances of Australian wildlife. Unfortunately, Australian viewers may be a little too desensitised to this imagery to draw upon the fantasy of it.
Strong performances and beautiful visuals aside, The Tree is a humdrum experience, delivering little more than a simple and predictable narrative that suffers from numerous clichés found all too often in Australian dramas. As well intentioned as it may be, the film doesn’t even attempt to break the mould plaguing our industry, furthering the public perception that our productions are aimed squarely at latte-sipping, middle-class arts folk.
