Dir.
Darren Aronofsky, US, 2006, 97 mins
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz
Review by Carol Allen
This film is the sort of thing the hippies
might have once described as “a real trip, man!” Its
subject matter is the stuff of one of humankind’s dreams
and desires from the time we first became conscious beings – the
search for the fountain of youth, which somewhat ambiguously
in this story, seems to reside in the tree of life. The story
also takes in eternal life and love and reincarnation.
Jackman and Weisz play lovers in three different eras. In
the 16th century, Weisz is Spanish Queen Isabel, threatened
by the inquisition, who sends her conquistador Tomas (Jackman)
off to the New World in search of the fountain/tree jealously
guarded by the Mayas, which will enable her and her lover
to be together forever.
In the present day Jackman is Tommy Creo – “creo” being
Spanish for “I believe”. Tommy is a scientist
who is desperately searching for a cure for the brain tumour,
which is killing his wife Izzi (Weisz). In the course of
his research, he comes across a drug made from the bark of
a South American tree, which has rejuvenating properties.
Izzi meanwhile is writing, by hand, a book about the Maya.
And in the third scenario a now bald headed Jackman appears
to be meditating on a different plane or possibly in a different
world centuries in the future, where again he is attacking
that tree for its secret, while tormented periodically by
visions of Izzi from the past. This last scenario is in some
ways philosophically though not visually reminiscent of the
enigmatic closing scenes of Kubrick’s 2001.
If you’re interested in ideas about the meaning of
life, this is a fascinating and engrossing movie, as the
three scenarios crisscross back and forward in time. Two
key phrases in the movie are Tommy’s view that “death
is a disease and there’s a cure” and the statement
that “death is an act of creation”.
Aronovsky is attempting the difficult task of putting complex
and fantastical ideas and theories into feature film format.
He doesn’t totally succeed but he gets pretty close
with his use of striking visual images, such as a heart stopping
moment when Tomas is absorbed into the tree of life. His
two main actors are more pawns in his philosophical argument
than developing characters. Jackman spends most of the time
looking intense and agonised, Weisz serene and enigmatic.
In contrast the normally delicate looking Ellen Burstyn injects
some down-to-earth energy as Tommy’s commonsense boss.
People who like straight forward linear storytelling will
probably find the film irritating and confusing but if you
sit back with an open mind and accept the film on its own
terms, you should have a mindblowing trip, man.
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