The Fountain

**** Stars

The Fountain is a film of unique structure and fascinating beauty. It is a simple tale of love and determination. But this is not a film for everybody. It is for open minds only. Fans of hardcore Science Fiction and director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Pi) will appreciate its different study of time travel.

There are three paralleling stories in a period of a thousand years about one man bound to save the woman he loves. His epic journey begins in 16th-century Spain, where, as conquistador Tomas Creo (a soon to be underrated performance by Hugh Jackman), he commences his search for the 'Tree of Life', the legend that will allow anyone who drinks its sap everlasting life. He moves on to modern day and becomes the scientist Tommy Creo, who desperately struggles to find a cure for the cancer that is killing his beloved wife Isabel (Rachel Weisz). Finally five hundred years later, traveling through deep space as a 26th-century astronaut, Tom begins to grasp the mysteries of life that have consumed him for more than a century.

It is hard to review a film like this. In Aronofsky's eyes, this is a masterpiece. If you share the same vision, you will agree. This is a brilliant study of a simple subject. It may be silly, it may be borderline insane, but The Fountain, whether you are clueless of the plot or not, is a film that is hypnotically watchable. I am in love with this film