Underrated Success:

Rating: 10/10 (15 June 2011)

Not only is "The Fountain" as visually stunning as it is conceptually innovative, Hugh Jackman isn't half-bad as a Spanish-Conquistador/Doctor/Futuristic-Cosmonaut protagonist; Rachel Weisz as Queen Isabella, well...
... I'll let you decide that one.
This isn't the kind of film for typical movie-goers, nor is it something fully appreciable in a single sitting. You're not going to 'get it' the first time: no-one does. And I think it's open to interpretation. Whatever you might garner from its bland synopsis - about 'The Tree of Life' as its paramount feature - are limiting and obvious. Envisage instead The Tree as a sort of underpinning axle to which three parallel stories - involving a Spanish Conquistador, a Contemporary Physician and a Spiritualistic Cosmonaut - intertwine.
Whatever can be said about The Fountain's structure remains debatable; and is probably the reason for anyone's initial confusion. Favouring a non-linear approach, we are torn as to whether the past is in fact the past, and not the (fictional) 'past' of Izzi's book which Tommy frequents; and if the future Tom is in fact the previously mentioned Tommy, whose research into 'immortality' was in fact, perhaps a success. And if you thought that was a mouthful, then this probably isn't a film for you...
It's an eye-opening feature with vast room for exploration and interpretation. Sometimes its capacity for philosophical as well as spiritual conceptions become clouded in contextual obfuscation: the less you know, the less you'll know the film. The Bible is a start, but the subjective references to this are as endless and far-reaching as Eliot's "The Wasteland". You'll only get as much out of this film as you put in. Don't be fooled by any characters' outwardly-appearing shallowness, everyone and everything has a place in this film to great symbolic effect.
I don't really want to tell you definitively, what this film's about - when you're watching it for the first time, (hopefully) open-minded, you'll experience either one of two responses: 1. Epiphany 2. WTF And if you're really lucky, both...
If you like to think while watching a movie, The Fountain is a mental, Olympian-workout.