Those who have not seen The Tree of Life, this is about as deep as it gets...

Seriously, there is about a minute of this bird business in the film. We are supposed to see it as the mystery of life. We behold the magic of existence. What invisible force directs these amazing birds? A woman suddenly floats up a tree. A door appears on a beach. A sea creature glows. Malick is not an atheist. He is a neo-vitalist. A true atheist knows life is not a mystery. Life is only living matter. Life is a dissipative process. We begin and end with the bush of living matter.