10 Most Divisive Films Of All Time

Darren Aronofsky is one of the most ambitious directors currently working in Hollywood, with carte blanche to create movies of seemingly limitless scope. Of all his films, The Fountain is perhaps his most thematically complex, an attempt to fuse mythical realms with psychological insight, taking place across time, space and multiple realities.

Given the breadth of his vision, it's not surprising that audiences were divided neatly down the middle in their reception of The Fountain. Its supporters have compared it to the greatest movies ever made; a cinematic journey on the level of Andrei Tarkovsky and Stanley Kubrick which delves into complex metaphysics without losing its emotional core. Reading the gushing praise and it's tempting to interpret the film as something close to an encounter with divine forces.

Or it could be a complete mess, if the other side of the aisle is to be believed. Incoherent, tonally unbalanced, uncertain of its philosophical ambitions and (here's a familiar refrain), "boring and pretentious". Fans accuse the detractors of "not getting it", to which they might retort, "there's nothing to 'get' - it's a waste of time."

Whichever view you take, it's clear that The Fountain is a film for which there is very little room for space on the middle ground.