The Fountain

Rating: 9/10 (23 February 2018)

This is a film about acceptance of death.
The general tone of this film is earthy, dreamy, and calm.
All visuals are carefully composed and very pleasant to the eyes, because Aronofsky is the kind of director who knows his lenses. The music, scored by Aronofsky's long time collaborator Clint Mansell, is captivating and inspiring.
Aronofsky's script is experimental and a bit coarse, but full of strong details. The characters are a bit one-dimensional, but skilled actors give them sufficient depth.
The film features one simple main narrative, and two parallel fantasy narratives (with lots of elaborate fantasy imagery). The main narrative takes place in the present. The fantasy narratives take place in the past and in the future respectively.
The fantasy narratives are not realistic or logical, nor are they supposed to be. Unfortunately this is confusing, and some viewers seem to believe that something super complex is happening and that they need to understand it like in one of those "Inception"-type movies. But that is wrong. The fantasy narratives are more like dream sequences, used to express stuff about the main narrative in a more powerful, visual language which is more accessible to the unconscious.
The fantasy narratives are fast paced, which prevents boredom, but the drawback of this is that there is not much time to build mood. Therefore the mood building seems a little clumsy at times, and some moments which are intended to produce sadness or goosebumps might make you chuckle instead, or you'll find them pretentious. But the artist's intention is always clear and I was willing to stay with Aronofsky's vision and take all scenes serious in order to enjoy the film.
This film is definitely a break from the boring Hollywood conveyor belt. It bombed at the box office which suggests that most people dislike it. But some people will love it, and so do I.