This charming if unusual Australian French co-production, which premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is another in this country’s cannon of films depicting grief. Yet, adapted from the novel Our Father Who Art in the Tree by Judy Pascoe, it’s just as much about life, filled with both sunny and somber moments.
After the sudden death of her husband Peter (Aden Young, Mao’s Last Dancer) Dawn (import Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antichrist) is immobilised by grief, struggling to care for her four children including the wise-beyond-her-years Simone (newcomer Morgana Davies).
Inside their rural Queensland house time stands still, as domestic mess accrues and flowers of sympathy whither. But outside, something mystical is at play. Simone believes her father watches over them, that she can hear him whispering through the branches of a giant Moreton Bay Fig tree. Dawn is unsure what to believe. Slowly emerging from her cocoon of grief, she begins a romance with local plumber George (Marton Csokas, South Solitary) much to the indignation of Simone and the tree simultaneously flourishes, its roots and branches pervading the house.
No doubt a challenge for The Tree’s makers is how to have the audience suspend disbelief and engage with this eponymous, quaint centerpiece of the story as a nurturing, if invasive force of nature, a conduit for healing and change. The production’s attention to detail helps no end; from the evocative sound design of screeching inhabitant bats to the luminous cinematography of bull ants scampering up the tree’s branches, amongst the rustic country of Boonah, Queensland.
That’s matched by uniformly impressive performances. Davies is the beating heart of the film, a natural performer (she was only seven at the time of filming) with a wealth of spirit. Gainsbourg is emotionally affecting while Young is a warm presence in his small but crucial role.
French writer/director Julie Bertuccelli (Since Otar Left) unquestionably brings an intimate understanding of grief and single motherhood, having lost her husband in 2006. But as she says, The Tree becomes more about living than death. It contrasts Dawn’s initial stricken state with the determined positivity of Simone. “You have a choice to be happy or sad,” she says. “And I choose to be happy.”
There is an earthy sense of humour too amongst the sadness and charming moments of childhood joy – from riding in the back of a ute wind blowing in hair to sucking on ice blocks on a sticky day.
The Tree is a ponderous film and may not be to everyone’s taste but it avoids the ‘kitchen sink drama’ tag through its original premise. It’s a ruminative, universal exploration of grief and the life force that can flow from it. Quite literally, life taking over.
The Tree opens nationally in Australia on the 30th of September.
Director: Julie Bertuccelli.
Cast: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Marton Csokas, Aden Young, Morgana Davies.
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