Agood-looking film that makes you think

Rating: 9/10 (25 January 2008)

Firstly, I won't attempt to describe the plot, as, frankly, even after reading the Wikipedia article, I didn't fully understand it. However, I'd like to make a few comments:
1. It's a very good-looking film, which reminded me of the early films of Ridley Scott - from The Duellists (a personal favourite) through "Someone to Watch over me".
2. My main problem with the plot (or losing it!!) was what I now understand to be "the astronaut". I thought he was Buddha, or a Buddhist priest, and was completely confused. However, the working title of the film - The Last Man - suggests he maybe is the last human, and, like in "Sunshine", is on a mission to save humanity and, also like in "Sunshine", sacrifices himself to save The Tree - and humanity. Also, I think I remember him walking on water, after killing the Mayan priest, to reach The Tree. Another Jesus allusion?
3. All through the film there is a scene of the researcher refusing to go for a walk in the snow with his (terminally) ill wife. Robert Burns put it far better than I in his poem "Here's a bottle" with the verse:
"Catch the moments as they fly, and use them as ye ought, man; believe me, happiness is shy, and comes not aye when sought, man."
By the end of the film the researcher regrets not going for the walk.
4. Hugh Jackman plays the multiple roles - from "Buddha", to a swash-buckling conquistador, to an obsessive doctor like Jeremy Irons' dual role in "Dead Ringers" - brilliantly. Rachel Weisz, as the Queen, has never looked more beautiful.
I'll definitely watch this film again and, probably, again.