This Film Is Blasphemy!!

Rating: Null/10 (26 June 2013)

Just kidding.
It is, however, a little melodramatic and preachy in places, and the same slow, mournful string concertos played over and over again in the background tend to overdo the intended mood of THE FOUNTAIN. Another thing: Most of the setting is in the darkness of a medical lab, outdoors at night, or in the depths of outer space. There are reasons for this, of course, but all the darkness requires the audience to adjust their senses and heightens the somber mood even more. Just a little more daylight and humor in key places would have been a plus.
Nevertheless, THE FOUNTAIN intelligently takes on some big heady concepts, most importantly, our desire for immortality. As medical researcher Tommy explains, "Death is a disease, just like any other. There is a cure, and I will find it!" Does he succeed? It's all debatable, and THE FOUNTAIN does a nice job of showing and telling us just enough while also leaving just enough for the individual viewer to interpret. There are a number of interesting hints regarding the possibility of reincarnation and, barring that, how we live on regardless of whether we continue to live physically and literally.
THE FOUNTAIN seems like another obscurantist trying-too-hard-to-be-brilliant film at first, but if you stick with it past the initial 10-15 minutes, the three interrelated past-present-future stories come together very well. A number of other reviewers have described this film as "a poem," and I agree. That being the case, it should appeal to people who like poetry, but those who want a standard movie-film may be a little disconcerted by THE FOUNTAIN.