The Fountain

Rating: 6/10 (15 October 2017)

I was intrigued by this film for a few reasons, because of the leading actor and actress, because of the director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan, Mother!), and because it was rated highly by critics, I hoped for something great. Basically it involves three story lines, taking place in three interweaving narratives, in three places in time, with the same characters in three guises. The past is the 16th century, during the time of the Mayans, the present is 2005, in a hospital, and the future is the 26th century, in a spaceship with a biosphere. In the past, Conquistador Tomás Verde (Hugh Jackman) searches for the Tree of Life, offering immortality, for him and his love, Queen Isabella (Rachel Weisz). In the present, Tom Creo (Jackman) is a doctor losing his wife Izzi (Rachel Weisz) to cancer, she begs him to spend what time they have left together, but he desperately seeks a cure. In the future, space traveller Tommy (Jackman) spends most of his time enclosed in the biosphere, containing the Tree of Life he seeded, above the grave of Isabel. The three stories are in a non-linear and non chronological order, interwoven with match cuts and visual motifs, it is essential the same story each time, with lovers connected by the fate of the "fountain", but ultimately the characters have to learn come to terms with death. Also starring Ellen Burstyn as Dr. Lillian Guzetti, Mark Margolis as Father Avila, Stephen McHattie as Grand Inquisitor Silecio, Fernando Hernandez as Lord of Xibalba, Cliff Curtis as Captain Ariel, Sean Patrick Thomas as Antonio and Ethan Suplee as Manny. Jackman and Weisz give good performances, there are certainly plenty of visually engaging moments, I will be completely honest though, it is not a movie that is easy to follow, as long as you understand the love story, and get the gist of the philosophical stuff about love, immortality, death and the meaning of life, it is a pretty perplexing but profound enough experience, an interesting enough romantic science-fiction drama. It was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Original Score for Clint Mansell. Good!