A Humble Masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (2 July 2007)

Aronofsky presents the timeless interplay between life and death with this intricate but eminently personal story. It could be no simpler: a man is trying desperately to save his dying wife while she comes to terms with her fate. Yet this common event is not merely a focus of despair, but a magnificent inevitability echoed in every facet of The Fountain's engrossing metaphor: from the simplicity of a tree turning decay into new life as it grows, to the magnificence of the heavens where worlds are born from the dust of dying stars. It shows us death as it truly is, as both a disease and as an act of creation. I cannot call The Fountain a masterpiece because, while beautiful, it is so humble. It is closer to a meditation than a masterpiece, but this makes it all the more powerful. Open your mind and let The Fountain wash through you to bring a moment of inner peace.