A Fountain of Artistic Mastery

Rating: 9/10 (16 June 2007)

Aronofsky is an artist, and "The Fountain" is his latest masterpiece. It's a work of art and a film at the same time, and the art element of it deserves a perfect score, while the film aspect deserves probably an eight star score.
"The Fountain" tells three parallel stories in no particular order, often melding them together. The core story is the tale of Tommy (Hugh Jackman), a determined scientist who tries desperately to find a cure for his wife Izzy (Rachel Weisz), who has a serious case of cancer. Izzy is almost finished writing a novel called "The Fountain." the plot of this novel is the second story, which takes place in Span in the 1500s, and chronicles the journey of a conquistador named Tomas (Jackman) to find the Fountain of Youth. He does this in the service of the lovely Queen Isabella (Weisz). The last story takes place in the distant future, in which an astronaut (Jackman) journeys to the dying star Xi'balba in a bubble in an attempt to save the lovely dying tree that inhabits the bubble alongside him.
Jackman is very restrained in his three roles, but he still gives a very solid and realistic performance. He allows the audience to tune in on hi desperation and feel it with him. Weisz is beautiful and puts in a grade-A performance, selling us with her irresistible charm and tangible affection. Still, the real star of the film is the look and feel.
The visual effects used in the space scenes are beautiful and entrancing. The subtle ones used in the other two stories are not at all cheesy, but rather express the desired feelings of the characters. The art direction and set direction are breath-takingly gorgeous. The set pieces are all masterworks in themselves, and the nature scenes and bubble sequences are beautiful as well. The entire film is rich in earthy colors which complement the themes in the film well. Aronofsky also includes minor motifs everywhere.
This film is beautiful and amazing. The plots are brilliantly rendered, the sets are amazing, and the effects are very good. This is a great film that is also incredibly deep and insightful.