Another great Aronofsky film!

Rating: 9/10 (12 September 2006)

I just came home from the North American Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. After hearing that this movie got booed by critics and hailed by the public audience in Venice, I knew it had to be good. A movie that could split crowds just had to be. Having seen both "Pi" and "Requiem For A Dream", I had pretty high expectations of it. "The Fountain" did not let me down, not one bit. The film was a visual spectacle and a beautiful story of love, death and learning how to mourn. Thematically, in the end, at least as I see it now (after about an hour or so of thinking about it), the movie is about acceptance. The acceptance of all our fates, in the end. The fact that we will always return to the earth and it's just inevitable. And as humans, the only way we can get past the death of a loved one is to learn how to mourn, accept and move on. My take on the ending is that to seek immortality is to knowingly or unknowingly seek your own death. So, immortality isn't a way to live forever in the living world, it's to die and live for eternity in the afterlife. Now this is just my opinion on the movie. I may be wrong with my interpretation, as the plot is covered in several layers of metaphors. So I may need to see this film once again. But for now, this is where I stand. For those seeking a great Aronofsky film, you won't be disappointed. This man's way of storytelling is just phenomenal. The film is screening again at Ryerson on September 14th at 15:00. If you are in the neighbourhood, I'd suggest going to the screening before it's wide release.