I link the two films together, for the very same reason. That tree in The Fountain. Also, the fluid-based visual effects developed for The Tree of Life by Peter and Chris Parks were reminiscent of their similar effects in working on The Fountain.
I've never been much of an Aronofsky fan. His first film Pi, I did like, I found it interesting. Was never really sure what to make of Requiem for a Dream and whether I liked it or not. And I thought The Wrestler and Black Swan, though not bad films, were massively overrated. Noah was hot garbage, better left unmentioned.
That being said. I quite liked The Fountain. Something about it just caught my attention, perhaps its boldness. It was a rather beautiful film too. The soundtrack with Clint Mansell, Kronos Quartet, and Mogwai was excellent. And for it's quite modest budget, the cinematography and visuals were, as I said, rather beautiful. Jackman and Weisz in lead roles in this sort of film, could have perhaps been improved upon, although I don't think they did a bad job, they were quite good in fact.
Some critics complained about the confusion arising from the blending of Mayan, Biblical, Buddhist, Taoist and New Age iconography... The jumping from storyline to storyline, flashback, to future, to present, repeated, and so on. I found it to be seductive, this golden mist of confusion. I like how daring and bold it was. I like how Aronofsky stays away from the middle distance shots of everyday life, and instead seems to oscillate between close-up and distance. It makes for a lovely juxtaposition. Anyways, it's the only film of Aronofsky that I really do like, and I understand how it's gained a bit of cult following, since initially being met with rather mixed reactions.
Malick, is another that I'm not a huge fan of, for the most part. To The Wonder; Days of Heaven; Badlands; The New World are all mediocre films in my opinion, even if Days of Heaven is gorgeously shot.
But The Tree of Life and The Thin Red Line are stunning films. Malick makes beautiful films, with stunning visuals and cinematography. The four films I mentioned were lacking in other areas. These last two though, they're brilliant. Bold, ambitious, massive, and about similar themes of life and death, gain and loss. Both these films were ridiculously beautiful in my opinion. I just don't see how anyone could suggest otherwise. The Tree of Life might not be someone's cup of tea for various reasons, but at the very least there should be respect for just how stunningly beautiful the film is.
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