The Tree | The Movie | The Mission

Eric Frei · 15th August 2010, 01:38 AM

The Tree in cinemas 30 September 2010 with early bird special screening for Scenic Rim rural cinemas soon.

Quote:

A MOVIE filmed near Boonah will showcase the Ipswich region’s spectacular countryside when it is released next month.

The Tree’s makers scoured Australia for the perfect Moreton Bay fig tree, before finally discovering the towering central character at a property near Boonah.

Based on Brisbane author Judy Pascoe’s debut novel, Our Father Who Art in The Tree, the film tells the story of a woman who, after her husband suddenly dies, discovers one of her children talks to her deceased father in the tree at the back of the garden.

Actress Charlotte Gainsbourg (The Science of Sleep and 21 Grams) plays the mother Dawn and seven-year-old Morgana Davies made her acting debut playing the young girl Simone.

The Tree was filmed on location at Boonah, Kalbar, Teviotville (north of Boonah) and Ipswich.

Producer Sue Taylor said the region could expect an international tourist boon following the film’s release.

“This part of Queensland is somewhat off the usual tourist path but The Tree reveals its incredible beauty,” Taylor said.

“The production was based in Boonah for three months, including both the Australian crew and our French crew and cast and their families.

“We were all warmly welcomed to the area and I know international tourists will also appreciate the warmth and hospitality of the locals.”

The epic search for the perfect tree took scouts, director Julie Bertuccelli and producers Taylor and Yael Fogiel, on a journey up and down the east coast of Australia for two years.

“We had always envisaged a Moreton Bay fig tree and, as the book was set on the outskirts of Brisbane, that seemed like a good place to start,” Taylor said.

“But there are lots of Moreton Bay fig trees out there.

“Finding the right tree was the most important thing and it was a very substantial challenge.”

The Tree will release nationally, including at Ipswich cinemas, on September 30.

It's kicked off already in France after it's success at the Cannes Film Festival.

Quote:

The Tree gets 230 screens in France

The French/Australian co-production The Tree, directed by Julie Bertucelli, will open in 230 screens in France this week.

“This is a huge release for an independent Australian film in France, one of the largest ever,” said producer Sue Taylor in a statement. It is the largest Australian review since Adam Elliott’s Mary & Max.

Taylro also anticipated an “international tourist boom” for Boonah, Kalbar, Teviotville and Ipswich in South East Queensland, where the film was shot.

“This part of Queensland is somewhat off the usual tourist path but The Tree reveals its incredible beauty. The production was based in Boonah for three months, including both the Australian crew and our French crew and cast and their families. We were all warmly welcomed to the area and I know international tourists will also appreciate the warmth and hospitality of the locals,” she argued.

The film will face competition from Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me, the romantic comedy Leap Year and seven other local/international new releases.

The Tree will be released in Australia on September 30 by Paramount/Transmission.

So today after reading and hearing so much about this tree I had to find it, and get the other story.

I must say, it's a stunning tree and rare. The location is ideal and the owners .... fantastic country folk. We chatted and had a coffee, 2 hours passed in no time, it was a great day.

Here's my video about the tree, the size and is it a Moreton Bay Fig? Well, you'll have to see, in HD.

You Tube

Jeff Darby · 15th August 2010, 02:46 PM

It's great to see a movie like this out there, it's a beautiful old tree this one showing some signs of it's age.... however I wish I still look that good at 130 years old.

I can imagine the making of this movie has bolstered the local economy and helped to bring tourists into the area for a look see of this areas natural beauty.

JayD

jmcg.insight.gardens · 15th August 2010, 07:30 PM

Wow

that is a lovely old fig.

That would have been a good experience Eric, standing under the Ficus after hearing about it and then hunting it out. Unusual how low the branches are..like to see it in fruit bearing season.

I love figs, I asked my daughter 'what was she going to choose to plant over me when I kick the bucket', to my pleasure and surprise, she said a fig tree like down the road, which is like the one in the movie. She climbed it when smaller.

See, there is hope for the next generation.............

Will go to see that movie now, might be nice to take the daughter.

sueann · 15th August 2010, 08:31 PM

It is a gorgeous tree! that movie looks great and looks like it might actually have a good story! lot's don't now, but I did love Avatar.

dov · 15th August 2010, 11:22 PM

My housemates have used up all the peak time internet allowance... After I put in a media server for them and everything! Will check out the youtube link before work tomorrow in the off peak.

dov · 16th August 2010, 10:13 AM

It is a fantastic tree. Storyline lf the film looks a bit kitsch.

TheTreeFilm · 16th August 2010, 09:23 PM

Wow! Ekka, we are very impressed with how quickly you completed your mission and found and measured our beautiful tree in so much detail.

As you can imagine, we are big fans of the tree, and the lovely, and patient, owners who allowed us to take over their tree and property for the whole of the shoot last year.

Will you help us settle an argument here in the film production office? The producers of the film swear that they had an Arborist out to the location to assess the tree, and it was this person that told them it was a Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla). However, they could be wrong! What are the distinguishing features of this Ficus that define it as not a Moreton Bay variety?

Eric Frei · 16th August 2010, 11:28 PM

Well, there's a few tell tale things.

The most clear is that the leaves of the true Moreton Bay Fig are discoloured and much larger, as large as your hand. They are very thick and stiff. They are a different colour underneath to on top. This picture shows it clearly, they are a rusty colour underneath.

The Moreton Bay Fig will have a lot larger buttresses, more vertical and pronounced as seen here.

The fruit is also larger.

So there's a few distinct differences, but the attempt to exacerbate the buttress roots for the film to make it look more Moreton Bay Fig like was cool, but notice-able to us true tree people, buttresses seldom make a dive then a rise as seen in that video at @ 0.41seconds to the left of the girl .... a bit obvious to me anyway.

Many people confuse the Moreton Bay Fig with the Port Jackson Fig, I understand that one. But these figs are plentiful, just like the eucalyptus, over 750 in the species.

It does get tough to ID them, they do vary a little depending on local climate and environment.

So the dead set give away that it is not a Moreton bay fig is the size of the leaves, no rusty colour underneath and the less pronounced buttresses. The specific fig it is, well that's another story but I reckon I'm on the right track from seeing others.

We did a bit of work in this thread on these figs. In post 34 on the second page I bumped into a fig tree just like yours and ID'd it at the botanic gardens.

Ficus rubiginosa / Port Jackson fig

I must say that cinematography and the stunning pictures plus book you left the owners was incredible to see, extremely detailed and beautiful work. When the picture delivers emotion you know you have caught the moment, stunning work.

pabllo · 18th August 2010, 06:47 AM

It looks to be a new great movie Ekka

Though a hard language barrier　exists, I really longing to watch the movie soon

Eric Frei · 18th September 2010, 11:05 AM

Tree puts Boonah on map | Ipswich News | Local News in Ipswich | Ipswich Queensland Times

Quote:

16th September 2010

BOONAH and the Scenic Rim are expecting an influx of tourists when independent film The Tree begins screening later this month.

The Tree was filmed in the Scenic Rim after scouts discovered the perfect Moreton Bay fig on a property near Boonah and tells the story of an eight-year-old girl who is convinced her dead father whispers to her through the tree.

Scenic Rim Tourism Association president David McMaugh said the film, starring Anglo-French actress Charlotte Gainsbourgh, was a great story and he expected “quite a bit of interest” from tourists.

“I think it'll give us a spurt,” Mr McMaugh said.

Mr McMaugh said the beautiful Scenic Rim was the perfect destination for travellers with something for everyone from bushwalking in national parks and fishing to splashing out on a luxury getaway or checking out a country pub.

“And there are now 10 vineyards and wineries,” he said.

Boonah Mayor John Brent said he was excited to showcase the beauty of the Scenic Rim to visitors.

“I understand all accommodation options in Boonah were booked out for over a year as the film-making process progressed so the benefits of the film reach far beyond those directly involved,” Cr Brent.

Prominent landmarks shown in The Tree include the Harrisville cemetery, Boonah shops and the pub and main street of Rosewood.

The film used about 100 locals from Boonah and the surrounding region who worked as extras, built props, worked as nannies and drivers and in hospitality.

Producer Sue Taylor said Boonah residents were very welcoming during filming and she was amazed by the region's stunning landscape.

“The whole of the Scenic Rim area is incredibly special,” Mrs Taylor said.

The film opens across Australia on September 30.

Eric Frei · 25th September 2010, 04:34 PM

Arboreal mystery | The Australian

Quote:

The Tree (M)
4 stars
National release on Thursday

TO borrow a line from American poet Joyce Kilmer, I think that I shall never see a film as lovely as The Tree. Well, perhaps I exaggerate.

There have been other films as lovely as The Tree, but for haunting beauty and strangeness, this Australian-French co-production, directed by Julie Bertuccelli and shot in a bare stretch of countryside in Queensland, is hard to beat.

The last Australian-French co-production I remember was Jane Campion's The Piano (which New Zealand also claimed some credit for), and the two films have much in common: an atmosphere of mystery and barely suppressed eroticism, their stories told from a woman's point of view and set in forlorn environments.

And both, incidentally, did well at Cannes. The Piano won the Palme d'Or for Campion in 1993, and The Tree was chosen as the closing night film for the festival this year.

It's a story of grief and renewal. The source, a novel by Judy Pascoe, is about an Australian family dealing with the unexpected death of a loved one and learning to move on.

Bertuccelli first explored the idea of grief in Since Otar Left (which also won accolades in France). Like The Tree, it builds its story on the power of the imagination. Two sisters conceal from their mother the news of their father's death, and the mother survives in a world of pretence.

For Bertuccelli, there was no such consolation in real life. A press kit informs us that while preparing to film The Tree, she received news of the death of her husband and father of her children. I would not normally mention this wholly personal misfortune, but since The Tree is also about the death of a husband and father, it is difficult not to speculate on how much of its power can be traced to the director's bereavement.

Dawn (Charlotte Gainsbourg) lives with her husband, Peter (Aden Young), in a lonely, tumbledown farmhouse. Of their four children, Simone (Morgana Davies) is her father's favourite. Returning home one day with Simone, Peter suffers a heart attack at the wheel of his truck, which careers off the road and comes to rest amid the tangled roots of a Moreton Bay fig growing next to their house. Simone is convinced that her dead father's spirit lives on in the tree. She talks to him at night. She hears his voice. And Dawn, somewhat reluctantly, goes along with the pretence.

The tree becomes the film's central character, a forbidding and sinister presence (as bizarre and inescapable as the looming piano in Campion's film). Not only are its leafy branches pressed against the sweet-smelling earth, its roots are pressed against the foundations of Dawn's house. Sooner or later the house will give way or the tree will have to go. Meanwhile, leafy arms are creeping through windows and verandas; a branch crashes through the roof into Dawn's bedroom. Drains are clogged.

Something must be done. On a visit to town, Dawn seeks the services of George (Marton Csokas, whom I last saw in Romulus, My Father). George runs a business selling bathroom fittings, and is only too happy to stand in as a plumber for a widow as attractive as Dawn. He also offers her a job. The two are drawn to each other, much to the dismay of Simone, who remains loyal to her father's memory. Simone spends more and more time in the tree, climbing to ever higher branches and refusing to come down.

Australian filmmakers have a good record with spooky stories in the wild. Peter Weir showed the way with Picnic at Hanging Rock; there was Colin Eggleston's wonderfully creepy, and largely forgotten, Long Weekend, Samantha Lang's The Well and James Bogle's enigmatic In the Winter Dark.

But there is nothing of the supernatural in Bertuccelli's film: everything can be rationally explained, which makes it at once more unsettling and more moving. The temptation to make a ghost story has been resisted. Even so, when Simone and her mother call out Peter's name and the camera dwells on the dark tangled innards of the tree, we find ourselves listening for some faint answering sound. Was that the murmur of the wind, the rustling of leaves?

The performances seem to me flawless. Gainsbourg has played tougher roles before (in Alejandro Inarritu's horrendous 21 Grams and Lars von Trier's Antichrist), but her wiry good looks seem thoroughly at home in an Australian setting, despite traces of an English accent. Csokas projects a natural warmth and charm.

But the film belongs to Davies, who was seven when she played Simone. I am constantly astonished by the work of child actors these days. Where do seven-year-olds (and younger) learn their acting skills? How do they manage such artlessness, such conviction, such naturalism, such depths of understanding?

I have an old fogey's theory that, raised in an era of audiovisual marvels, they are always comfortable in the presence of cameras. It's not a theory that explains everything, but it's the best I can do. Praise is due also to The Tree's other child actors: Christian Byers and Tom Russell, as Simone's older brothers, and little Gabriel Gotting, as the silent, traumatised Charlie.

The Tree stands high on any list of fine Australian films of recent years, even if the French are entitled to some credit. There is a message of hope and happiness, of course, never more vividly conveyed than in the scene during a beach holiday when Dawn and Simone play together in the surf (like everything else, Nigel Bluck's wide-screen camerawork is consistently satisfying). We are left to conclude that happiness is something we can acquire for ourselves, whatever cards have been dealt. As Dawn says: "I choose to be happy, and I am happy." She may be too much of an optimist, but we love her for it. In its alternating moods of light and darkness, realism and mystery, gladness and sorrow, this modest film comes close to perfection.

Eric Frei · 21st February 2011, 07:53 PM

The Tree finds US distributor | Encore Magazine

Quote:

The France/Australia co-production The Tree has been acquired by Zeitgeist Films in the US, for release in New York and Los Angeles during the northern hemisphere summer.

“Charlotte Gainsbourg and Julie Bertucelli have large and loyal followings in the US and Zeitgeist is the perfect distributor to look after this film. We’ve now sold to over 30 countries, right across Europe, South America, Asia and the Middle East, so it’s great to add the US to the list. We’ll start with seasons in Los Angeles and New York and then expand the release across the country,” said producer Sue Taylor.The distributor also released director Julie Bertucelli’s debut Since Otar Left.

The Tree was released in France and Australia last year. It was nominated for seven AFI Awards, and it is currently nominated for three César Awards in France, for Best Actress (Charlotte Gainsbourg), Best Adapted Screenplay (Bertucelli) and Best Original Music (Gregoire Hetzel).

The film will be released on DVD on March 3.

15th August 2010, 02:46 PM	#2
Jeff Darby Moderator - Previously known as JayD Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: TreeWorld, Sydney Australia Posts: 2,025	Re: The Tree \| The Movie \| The Mission It's great to see a movie like this out there, it's a beautiful old tree this one showing some signs of it's age.... however I wish I still look that good at 130 years old. I can imagine the making of this movie has bolstered the local economy and helped to bring tourists into the area for a look see of this areas natural beauty. JayD __________________ Member: Australian Tree Association Join the Australian Tree Association...Have your voice heard ! Arboriculture, A life long study for some, a passing phase for others © Jeffrey J Darby 2011

15th August 2010, 07:30 PM	#3
jmcg.insight.gardens Over mature heritage tree Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Mannering Park, Australia Posts: 623	Re: The Tree \| The Movie \| The Mission Wow that is a lovely old fig. That would have been a good experience Eric, standing under the Ficus after hearing about it and then hunting it out. Unusual how low the branches are..like to see it in fruit bearing season. I love figs, I asked my daughter 'what was she going to choose to plant over me when I kick the bucket', to my pleasure and surprise, she said a fig tree like down the road, which is like the one in the movie. She climbed it when smaller. See, there is hope for the next generation............. Will go to see that movie now, might be nice to take the daughter.

15th August 2010, 08:31 PM	#4
sueann Former Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Hunter Valley Australia Posts: 599	Re: The Tree \| The Movie \| The Mission It is a gorgeous tree! that movie looks great and looks like it might actually have a good story! lot's don't now, but I did love Avatar.

15th August 2010, 11:22 PM	#5
dov Over mature heritage tree Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Melbourne Posts: 651	Re: The Tree \| The Movie \| The Mission My housemates have used up all the peak time internet allowance... After I put in a media server for them and everything! Will check out the youtube link before work tomorrow in the off peak. __________________

16th August 2010, 10:13 AM	#6
dov Over mature heritage tree Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Melbourne Posts: 651	Re: The Tree \| The Movie \| The Mission It is a fantastic tree. Storyline lf the film looks a bit kitsch. __________________

16th August 2010, 09:23 PM	#7
TheTreeFilm I'm new here so be nice Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Boonah Posts: 3	Re: The Tree \| The Movie \| The Mission Wow! Ekka, we are very impressed with how quickly you completed your mission and found and measured our beautiful tree in so much detail. As you can imagine, we are big fans of the tree, and the lovely, and patient, owners who allowed us to take over their tree and property for the whole of the shoot last year. Will you help us settle an argument here in the film production office? The producers of the film swear that they had an Arborist out to the location to assess the tree, and it was this person that told them it was a Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla). However, they could be wrong! What are the distinguishing features of this Ficus that define it as not a Moreton Bay variety?

16th August 2010, 11:28 PM	#8
Eric Frei Admin - Razor sharp and independent 2 X Diploma Level 5 qualified arborist Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 12,792	Re: The Tree \| The Movie \| The Mission Well, there's a few tell tale things. The most clear is that the leaves of the true Moreton Bay Fig are discoloured and much larger, as large as your hand. They are very thick and stiff. They are a different colour underneath to on top. This picture shows it clearly, they are a rusty colour underneath. The Moreton Bay Fig will have a lot larger buttresses, more vertical and pronounced as seen here. The fruit is also larger. So there's a few distinct differences, but the attempt to exacerbate the buttress roots for the film to make it look more Moreton Bay Fig like was cool, but notice-able to us true tree people, buttresses seldom make a dive then a rise as seen in that video at @ 0.41seconds to the left of the girl .... a bit obvious to me anyway. Many people confuse the Moreton Bay Fig with the Port Jackson Fig, I understand that one. But these figs are plentiful, just like the eucalyptus, over 750 in the species. It does get tough to ID them, they do vary a little depending on local climate and environment. So the dead set give away that it is not a Moreton bay fig is the size of the leaves, no rusty colour underneath and the less pronounced buttresses. The specific fig it is, well that's another story but I reckon I'm on the right track from seeing others. We did a bit of work in this thread on these figs. In post 34 on the second page I bumped into a fig tree just like yours and ID'd it at the botanic gardens. Ficus rubiginosa / Port Jackson fig I must say that cinematography and the stunning pictures plus book you left the owners was incredible to see, extremely detailed and beautiful work. When the picture delivers emotion you know you have caught the moment, stunning work. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Protect your rights to work - Join Australian Tree Association My businesses:- Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping \| Stump Grinding Brisbane \| Brisbane - Gold Coast Consulting Arborist

18th August 2010, 06:47 AM	#9
pabllo Sappling Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Japan Posts: 19	Re: The Tree \| The Movie \| The Mission It looks to be a new great movie Ekka Though a hard language barrier　exists, I really longing to watch the movie soon

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