The Fountain

Compared to Mother!, I didn't like The Fountain that much, but it is still an interesting and unconventional film that intrigues, but doesn't really blow your balls off. A great Hugh Jackman and a beautiful Rachel Weisz, biblical references, great scenes with the Mayas, nice imagery and decent art, but I found it a bit drawn out even at 90 minutes. It's not my genre, so a neutral three stars radiates rather satisfaction. 65% (2017-11-08)

A visually stunning spectacle with a perfect music score. The Fountain is a beautiful film whose main idea is not hard to grasp, but if I want to fully understand the story itself, I will have to watch it at least once more. Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz (who here looks almost supernaturally beautiful) deliver excellent performances, as does Aronofsky in the director’s chair. I’m going to get Pi and Requiem for a Dream… (2008-09-05)

Oh, man! I was really looking forward to this film, but it didn’t really grab me. I don’t know, perhaps I watched it in the wrong frame of mind, or I misunderstood it. Either way, I got quite bored and all those gorgeous images and shots felt a bit like a body without a soul. Aronofsky has a strange style, I liked Requiem for a Dream me because of its depiction of harsh reality, but The Fountain left me completely cold. Hopefully, you won’t be too mad at me, perhaps I’ll get the magic of this film in a second screening. (2012-03-01)

From the very first minute, Aronofsky bombards the viewer with an audiovisual whirlwind (a proven collaboration with cinematographer Matthew Libattique) that the senses are unable to take it all in at first. Searching for a cure for the disease called death is an incredibly gripping (the plot), at once cathartic (the form) and especially perfectly intimate (the partnership) spectacle that demands multiple viewings to be fully absorbed. A surreally powerful piece of cinema that manages to grab you by the emotional strings with its mysterious medievalism, the mystical relationship between man and the tree of life, and the dull reality of today. A must for all cynics who see contemporary cinema as too pale. (2007-04-15)

I prefer other Aronofsky's movies, it is quite clear also from the ratings, but you simply cannot deny that this one has something to it, that it is primarily a story about the beauty of life and love. It is evident that Aronofsky is truly well-read in the Old Testament, as he demonstrated with his film "Noah", but neither in this case does he necessarily follow the traditional religious path, but adapts everything to himself. However, "The Fountain" is not a greater work because of it. (2014-09-08)