As close to a commentary on pandeism as I've seen in a film....

Rating: 10/10 (5 December 2009)

There is an underlying theme hinted at in this film, that being pandeism, the theological theory that the Creator not only created the Universe, but in fact became the Universe. This is reflected in several ideas within the film, the boldest of which is that the First Father of the Mayan legend recounted here actually became the world, through the vessel of the tree of life. A second hint is in the apparent reincarnation of the main protagonist -- Tomas, Tommy, Tom, through levels where he is first animalistic and blood-thirsty/power-hungry conquistador, then a scientist driven to conquer death itself, and finally a space traveler given to meditation and personal revelation. In each level, he is something of a more advanced model of humankind, culminating in his rejection of the quest for immortality, and acceptance of death. It is hard to imagine this not being intended to reflect the path of pandeism towards transhumanism, and the acceptance of death as a mere return to oneness with the Universe. The "return to nature" is reflected far more literally and brutally in the conclusion of the conquistador story.
Some other aspects that add to this interpretation: it is (again, intentionally) never wholly clear whether the conquistador story is intended as a true history of the characters, or as a fiction-within-the-fiction, and this makes the space travel story that balances it equally hazy in its realism relative to the main arc -- but this merely reminds us that maybe all things are merely imagined, from a certain point of view. There are moments, too, the planting of a seed, the jangled horrors done in the name of the theistic faithful, the revelation of a discovery that will change the world for countless among the afflicted, but which comes too late to save the one person for whom it was sought, the breaking off in a moment of altered time. The carriage of these ideas is so fresh and subtle that I can not help but consider this among the best films ever made.