A rendering of the end of Earth as depicted in Terrence Malick’s new film Voyage of Time.
As Brad Pitt's pleasant voice lulls you into an appreciation of a deep meaning you can't quite grasp, vast images of the exploding cosmos, the primordial oceans and the original plains fill the giant screen. Terrence Malick's Voyage of Time, a lyrical account of Earth's evolution, seems perfect for Imax, allowing a viewer's eye to wander around startlingly real images of floating nebulas, bubbling geysers and towering cliffs. The film is considered a companion piece to the eccentric American director's 2011 fictional feature The Tree of Life, which included a similar account of creation. Here, the poetic science lesson successfully stands on its own – until the CGI dinosaurs appear, soon to be followed by early humans, dressed in skins and hunting for ostrich eggs. By the time we make it to the present, oddly represented by a towering digitized city and a handful of white children playing in an idyllic American setting, it becomes clear Mallick has little space for the multifaceted human race in his gorgeous cosmos.
Voyage of Time plays Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto.
Kate Taylor