[center]The Fountain (2006)
[left] Written by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel, "The Fountain" is essentially a love story with touches of science fiction, all spiced up with Aronofsky's ideas about philosophy. It's truly a very ambitious story, but Aronofsky manages to develop it nicely and with intelligence, avoiding the clichés and the sappiness that tend to be in movies dealing with similar themes. The philosophic themes are handled carefully, and while they are kept in simple and easy to understand terms, Aronofsky explores them deeply, making "The Fountаin" a remarkable study of love and the experience of grief.
"The Fountain" is full of spectacular images and stunning photography, lush worlds and faultless special effects. I couldn't believe they didn't do any CG work on this, and all the effects were microscopic images digitally enhanced. It really created a unique way of looking at the film, and made it seem different in a way that was pleasing.
This is a very visual movie, but despite this, Aronofsky still manages to keep the story as the main focus of the movie. On a side not, it's worth to point out that Clint Mansell's score for the movie is truly amazing, and easily one of the best of the decade.
Hugh Jackman gives a phenomenal performance as a tortured soul desperately seeking a cure for his wife, played by Rachel Weisz with beautiful subtlety. The supporting cast was overall very good, despite not having a lot of screen time when compared to Jackman and Weisz.
A visual feast of stunning imagery, captivating and clever, beautiful and intense, and full of mystery and dreamlike metaphor, "The Fountain" is a wonderful experience and one of the best movies of the year.
8.50/10
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