Brad Pitt's 'The Tree of Life': Facts that you might have missed about the epic saga

The Tree of Life is a movie that came out in 2011 and is still at the centrefold of conversations. The profoundly philosophical movie leaves people in deep thought. Immortalised by brilliant performances by Brad Pitt and his co-stars Sean Penn, Hunter McCracken, Laramie Eppler, Jessica Chastain, and Tye Sheridan, the movie goes deep into the origin of life and its meaning. The entire movie holds a montage of the origins of the universe to the inception of life on the planet. There are so many spectacular details that not many fans of the movie know of. Here's a list of a few facts about the movie that may come as a surprise: 

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1. Brad Pitt was not the original choice 

Brad Pitt was not the original choice for the role of Mr O'Brien. The director and producers wanted Heath Ledger to play the iconic role. Heath Ledger was already set in to play the role but unfortunately, he died before the movie could have been made and the iconic role was then assigned to Brad Pitt. 

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2. Biblical references

The entire movie holds some kind of Biblical reference in every scene. Even at the start of the movie, the birth of the universe section, the voyages of time and many more sequences have some kind of reference taken from the Bible. Even though the movie is a kind of a science-fiction, the twist of religious faith adds a strong base to the movie.

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3. The CGI butterfly

One of the most beautiful scenes in the movie is where a butterfly lands on Mrs O'Brien's (Jessica Chastain) hands. Many people made the mistake of thinking that the butterfly was actually CGI but it wasn't. The butterfly was real and was spotted by Terrence Malick while looking over rehearsals. Terrence then asked Jessica to run-up to the butterfly, while the crew ran behind her.

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4. 2001: Space Odyssey (1968) 

Terrence Malick wasn't very impressed with the visual effects that were being produced in the film. So he left out to find the veteran artist who had done the effects for the 1968 classic 2001:Space Odyssey.  2001:Space Odyssey is one of the most revolutionary space-themed movies to be made. 

5. Confused audiences 

In many of the theatres across America, many cinemas had to put the sign of no refund outside as people would come out confused. Many times, people thought that only half the movie is shown or the reel was damaged. Reportedly, this only happened in the opening week. 

Promo Pic Courtesy: TOL's Instagram