A moving treatise on life and death

Rating: 10/10 (22 November 2006)

Aronofsky's thoughts on the nature of life and death certainly do not disappoint. I'm shocked, however, that the studio chose to release this film on thanksgiving weekend to little fanfare, where it will almost certainly get slaughtered. At any rate, the film is great and flirts with being tremendous. Matthew Libatique's cinematography never fails to be anything less than breathtaking, and it certainly is here. There are striking, majestic images, and the film truly does look amazing. The film uses silence to great effect, but when Clint Mansell's score does show up, it is fitting and powerful as well. Jackman's performance I thought was strong, and is certainly light years away from his turn as Wolverine in X-men. After seeing the film I can't really imagine Brad Pitt playing this part, as he was originally intended to. That being said, this certainly isn't a movie for everyone, and is probably less accessible than either Pi or Requiem. For those who might not quite "get it", the following is my interpretation of the film, with **SPOILERS**.
The film's theme, at it's very heart, is that holding desperately onto life can lead only to death, while accepting death as a form of life and creation, can make life come alive. There are three story lines, the only one that may really be "real" is the one in the present, but it doesn't matter much as they all end up saying the same thing. In the present, Jackman's wife Izzy has brain cancer and is on her way out, and he is a doctor studying cancer treatments, desperately trying to find one that will save her. All through their interaction in the present, he is obsessed with holding onto her, with finding a way to make her live. He ignores things that she says in conversation, focusing only on the things that he think may allow her to live. He is absolutely terrified about her impending doom. At one point while he is in a hospital room with her, he even exclaims "I just want to be with you!" and her reply to this is "You ARE with me, right now!" But his obsession with finding some way to prolong her life blinds him to most everything else (one notable scene illustrating this is when he walks down the road to a completely silent audio track, even as ambulances drive by with sirens flashing), even to his remaining time with her. What leads to his eventual liberation is what Izzy found so fascinating, and even wrote her story on, the Mayan mythology. Their creation story contains the "first man" who sacrificed himself in order to create the world. It is a common theme throughout all mythology across all cultures, life out of death. There cannot be life without death. We come from the earth, our bodies are built out of it, and when we die we return to it so that new forms can be created. Stars are formed from accumulations of gases and dust, and when they explode with unbelievable grandeur, they spew these components out into the void, where they will form new stars. Izzy was able to find peace in this notion, that her life and death were part of the great mystery of life, and she was able to identify with this great cosmic energy that pervades everything. Jackman's character cannot accept this, and he decries death as a disease, which he will work to cure. But in the end, this is fruitless. Man cannot live forever, and what's more, even if it WERE possible, it would serve only to rob life of its meaning. He realizes this, as in the final chapter of Izzy's book, he has the conquistador taste the sap of the tree, and he then immediately returns to the earth. In this sense he can "live forever", but not in the way that he had hoped as his consciousness perishes. In the future (which to me seemed like a generalization of the present storyline, i.e. the tree of life dying wasn't JUST Izzy dying, but represented life in general) the Jackman character laughs when, after the tree has died, he realizes that he too will finally perish. As the star explodes, we see him rise upwards, identifying with the fact that he will die, and thus transcending it, even AS he dies. And the tree of life blooms, again, life out of death. I would like to quote one of my friends who I think summed the concept up brilliantly: "these things point the way to reveling in and revering the passions we experience in life. In the spirit of these revels, we are engaged, connected, conscious, and wholly (and holy-ly) participating in the moment rather than scheming on how we can prolong, guard, or perpetually keep the moment, all for ourselves (eternal exclusivity being the province of ego), never allowing change to transmute these pinnacles of human-ness we are fortunate enough to find ourselves experiencing. In the words of another wise teacher, "Love is the middle way between attachment and detachment." If we are living from, in, and with love, where will we find the need to hold on, to form an attachment, when we are surrounded, enveloped, and fully part of an energy that is exponentially more powerful?" and thus, why should we be afraid of death. This is why Jackman goes back, and chooses to spend time with his wife, choosing to life his life NOW. This is, in the end, all that we can do, and by recognizing that we WILL die, and identifying with that, EVERY moment that we DO have, necessarily becomes so important, becomes truly alive.
Definitely check this film out, and if you enjoy it, spread the word. Pi and Requiem signaled the arrival of a major talent in Aronofsky, but after The Fountain I positively cannot wait to see what he does next.