A Young Man's Magnum Opus

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2007)

This film runs 96 minutes but the viewing experience feels closer to 4 or 5 hours. In a good way. THE FOUNTAIN is a testament to storytelling and the power of it, the way that an auteur uses those around him to explain and explicate the unthinkable. The imagery, the emotions and the bridging of reality with imagination with surreality - it is all extremely well done. I could not have had higher expectations for this film. Aronofsky is a stand alone director of his generation, in a class of his own as he's created his own style in a matter of two extremely low budget films. Make no mistake by this film's 35M budget - it is an epic independent film. An indie in the sense that it is concerned more with its own passion and images than its adherences to any act structures or crowd-pleasing moments. It took him 6 years to make this movie, two casts and two different takes of the movie. It is based on his parents' having cancer, stars his wife as the heroe's wife, and the "finish it" mentality of the leads finishing a story-within-a-story that extends beyond their lives brilliantly parallels Aronofsky's overall undertaking of the film. It is no coincidence then, or maybe it's ironic one would say, that the let-down of the film is the same let-down that happens within the movie. You have to accept THE FOUNTAIN as it is, and it has to end like all other films do. It is not an easy movie to digest or simply love at first sight. Like its context, it will take future viewings and a lot of rumination. But like Hugh Jackman's character throughout, there is greater understanding and beauty within it.