A moving, creative, visually stunning, metaphysical look at love and life

Rating: 10/10 (25 April 2011)

Leave it to me to love this often trashed film even more than Aronofsky's strong 'Requiem for a Dream' . (and a solid minority of critics went for it too).
Just as experimental as 'Requiem' and 'Pi', but with a more complex, humanistic, metaphysical message.
Here all Aronofsky's visual pyrotechnics (and the film does look amazing) feel like a means to an end not an end in themselves.
A love story that takes place in 3 time frames (the 1500s as a conquistador hunts for the source of life, the 'fountain of youth', the present where the same man, now a scientist tries to find a cure for cancer before his beloved wife dies and 500 years in the future, where the same man again is with his love, who is now a tree, still looking for eternal life.
(possible spoilers ahead)
The fact that the past and future segments are part of a fairy tale book started by the dying woman and finished by the scientist seemed very obvious to me, but seemed to leave a shocking number of critics scratching their heads,confused as to which story is 'real'. Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weitz are terrific, and I the score is creative and effective. Ultimately a very moving look at the nature of life and death. Yes there are a few pretentious moments, but I'll take slightly flawed grand ambitions to explore something in a new way over the same old same old every time.