by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
A Rated R 96 min
There are two schools of thought regarding this film, written and directed by Darren Aronofsky. First, its premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival was met with boos and scathing reviews. Canadian critics bashed the film as “hippy-trippy-weepy psychobabble.”And, second, the one to which I ascribe, views it as a masterpiece of visual metaphors and spiritual enlightenment, spanning a thousand years. The protagonist Tomas/Tommy/Tom Creo eats the bark of the Tree of Life, and like Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s Billy Pilgrim in Slaughter House Five, lives all parts of his life simultaneously.
Tomas’ existence is divided into three parallel lives. In his first incarnation, he battles Mayan natives to find the Fountain of Youth, as a Conquistador for Queen Isabel. His second life is that of a research doctor looking for a cure for his wife’s brain tumor, using the sap from the same tree. And, finally, he floats in a bubble with the Tree of Life into a nebula, where stars die, longing to join his long dead wife, Izzi Creo ( Rachel Weiss).
Viewers will debate this film endlessly as they leave the theater. But it’s open to interpretation like the end of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. What does it mean? Well, it means whatever the viewer perceives it to mean. Indeed, this style of artistic filmmaking is rarely seen today. Finding financial backing for such risky projects is difficult if not impossible. Sadly, in such a limited financial milieu, the next Kubricks or Fellinis will never emerge from the shadows of the indie world.
Aronofsky burst onto the art house scene with his much ballyhooed Pi, about a paranoid math genius looking for the key number that will unlock the secret pattern found in nature. His Requiem for a Dream was another daring film that impressed pundits. But in Hollywood, it labeled him as a brilliant but pretentious filmmaker. Aronofsky was courted for several mainstream products, such as The Watchman and even Batman Begins, but for whatever reasons, the deals fell apart.
Nonetheless, I admire Aronofsky for his uncompromising artistic position, however untenable it may be in the mainstream film business. This work transcends the mundane and makes the viewer think about spirituality, unrestricted by religious dogma. Aronofsky is presenting an understandable Zen, which views death as the beginning of one’s journey. Clearly, immortality is not desirable, as Tomas finds out. But he was able to hang onto the fundamental truth that love conquers all, and in the end, love is all that matters.
In the middle story, Tomas is a research scientist who uses the chemical from the tree of life on a primate. His wife Izzi is dying of a brain tumor. The treatment has an amazing effect on the primate. His aging is reversed by the drug. However, at first the tumor stays the same. Tomas/Tom only cares about a tumor reduction effect to save his wife. He is driven and obsessed with saving his wife’s life. She, on the other had, has accepted her death and is at peace.
The three parallel stories vacillate between time frames, flashing back and forward. But, it becomes clear that Tomas regrets finding the Tree of Life. In effect, it has allowed him to expand the range of the physical universe but he is trapped in the bubble, unable to connect with his wife on the other side.
Hugh Jackman portrays Thomas in all stages of his long life with great skill and insight. He relives the events of his thousand year life as if it was happening in that moment. As a 16th Century Conquistador, Jackman as Tomas has to fight the Mayan protector of the Tree of Life. Then the Mayan soldier sees Thomas floating as a spirit. So overwhelmed by this vision, he allows Tomas to slit his throat to join him in the spirit world. The way Thomas lives all his lives simultaneously, like Billy Pilgrim, can be confusing to the viewer.
The fact that this strangely engrossing film was released at all is encouraging. We must have choices at the cinema and there is definitely a market for this type of art film. Rachel Weiss, who is married to Aronofsky, portrays her role with a brilliant nuanced performance. Throughout his long painful life in the physical reality, Thomas’ love for Izzy transcends time and space. Think of this film as a love story on a grandiose scale.
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