one of the most critically divisive movies of recent memory

Rating: 9/10 (17 April 2007)

Darren Aronovsky's beguiling time-travelling hallucinatory love story The Fountain. You may have read some of the polarising reviews of this movie already. It has been described as everything from new age pseudo-intelligent pointlessness to a peerless cinematic beauty.
The plot is in three parts: the first of which chronicling Hugh Jackman's 16th century conquistador Tomas' journey into the heart of the Mayan empire to locate the mythical Tree Of Life and reward himself and Queen Isabella with eternal life so as to escape from a dying Spain, the second is set in the 21st century and sees Tommy as a scientist trying to cure his wife of her cancer and, with help from a strange South American tree, stumbling across a potential cure to ageing. Ageing, but not death. The third plot sees a futuristic Tom escorting a dying Tree Of Life (who would have thought that the Tree could die?) into the heart of a dying nebula where both the tree plan to be reborn.
The relationship between the plots is blurred and certainly open to interpretation. There are however certain constants throughout each act as it were. Not counting the obvious themes of life, death and love, there are repeated elements of tragedy and noticeable splashes of shared dialogue, imagery and colour (especially gold) throughout each different time period. The romance between Tommy and Izzy, particularly in the 21st century time period, is an heart-breaking portrayal of love and loss.
Jackman and Weisz both turn in the performances of their career and give even the more absurd elements of the film a startling believability and honesty.
The film is one of scarcely believable beauty. Practically every scene is the cinematic equivalent of a classic work of art and the whole thing is strengthened by the musical work of Aronovsky's regular composer Clint Mansell. The film is thought-provoking, debate-raising and jaw-dropping and includes everything from religious spiritual journeys, philosophical and moral realisations and scientific miracles. It remains a very divisive and polarising movie, but it is a work of absolute artistic passion and a fabulously beautiful movie to watch.