The Fountain
When his plans for the ambitious, millennia--spanning fantasy filmThe Fountainwere derailed,PiandRequiem for a DreamdirectorAronofsky recast the story as a graphic novel, and although the movie was subsequently revived (starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz; it's due out later this year), the comics version stayed on track. Its three parallel stories, set in sixteenth-century Central America, the present day, and the distant future, respectively, depict the same man as a conquistador, a scientist, and an interplanetary explorer, always trying to prevent the death of the woman he desperately loves. Aronofsky's epic boldly blends mysticism and science, which coalesce in the hero's discovery of the mythical Tree of Life. Williams' lush, painted artwork, stylistically and narratologically reminiscent ofSandmanillustrator Dave McKean's work, perfectly matches the script's passion and challenging abstruseness. Not simply an adaptation of the movie--the screenplay that is its basis being significantly altered when the film project was revived--the lavish, oversize graphic novel ought to be fascinating to compare with the released movie.Gordon FlaggCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.