Romantic fantasy/sci-fi Rubik cube for those who like it different

Rating: 9/10 (13 June 2013)

Darren Aronofsky's "The Fountain" might be called all kinds of things: enigmatic, mystifying, intense, mind-bending, transcendental, and a lot of not exactly favorable attributes as common opinion suggests. Or a "Rubik cube" as the director/writer himself puts it. Well, it's really not all that complicated actually, as the film revolves around a rather simple central story carrying the basic idea. However, the picture is put together and presented in a most unusual and unique way, and that's where the whole beauty and challenge lies. Aronofsky takes no prisoners, constantly references, quotes and hints at, but leaves it to the viewer to connect the dots and literally make the story whole. In short: If you expect a bit more from a film than a run-of-the-mill action-adventure drama/thriller with CGI participation you might as well get into the fascinating world that is "The Fountain". While framed by medieval romantically inspired fantasy and imaginative poetic sci-fi, the film is actually about none of these things and has its heart and soul elsewhere: in the present, deeply buried in the human condition searching for meaning in death, and life. Thus the film might seem like a weird incongruent and at the same time strangely familiar and intimate experience on the one hand, all of which reflects in its different timelines and its jumbled representation of events. On the other hand it is held together by familiar faces, playing similar characters, themes reverberate, intertwine, all for a reason - a concept leading up through labyrinthine paths to a deeply affecting denouement when everything comes together in the viewer's mind. Your turn! Keep it simple or add your own preferred twist - the material offers ample options.
Undoubtedly "The Fountain" is Aronofsky's most visually stunning piece aiming for grand scope that boldly follows no ready-made formulas of successful film-making - consequently it flopped at the box office. The picture found audiences strongly divided ever since, which is often the case at masterpieces. An indicator? Spirituality, enlightenment, a path of grace à la Malick/Tarkovsky meeting conquistadors and spacemen in biospheres? For your consideration. Or as Rod Serling might have said: Submitted for your perusal, a tale about two dreamers - two dreamers and an observer, with all involved imaginations being tested. Somewhere far out there... in the cinematic twilight zone.