With the Russell Crowe-starring biblical epic Noah currently in theaters, one could have expected another wave of critical controversy along with the waves of that famous flood (read the Noah review here). Director Darren Aronofsky always seems to turn out divisive stuff, from his directorial debut Pi to the impossibly bleak Requiem for a Dream to the pirouetting Black Swan. The Fountain, Aronofskys third feature film, takes his oeuvre to another level. Starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz as a husband-wife scientist team (the kind that seems to exist in Hollywood and nowhere else), the film covers three distinct periods in time the past, where Jackmans explorer discovers a great and ancient tree, the present, where Jackmans scientist seeks a cure for death, and the future, where Jackmans monk-like hermit floats through space in an organic orb. As is the case with most of these entries, a simple synopsis like the one above barely manages to break the surface of what The Fountain is all about. These three periods in time are distinct, yes but this seems like one story, one long timeline, and perhaps one character who has defied death. At what cost has he earned this immortality? Is death a disease worth curing, or even a disease at all? These are weighty themes, obviously, and Aronofsky certainly goes all out while probing the possibilities. As is also the case with most of this list, what Aronofsky ultimately provides is perhaps not an answer exactly. The pieces are all present, but the viewer has to do a whole lot of legwork to make something out of them. Wrapping your mind around The Fountain isnt easy, but then again immortality probably isnt either.
