I love Darren Aronofsky’s film The Fountain.

I remember anticipating it for years before it was finally released, and then it was impossible to find and watch.

I found it. Watched it. Then rewatched it all the time for years.

The plot, via grok3:

“The Fountain” (2006), directed by Darren Aronofsky, is a visually stunning and emotionally complex film that weaves together three interconnected narratives spanning different time periods. The central story follows Tomas (Hugh Jackman), a modern-day neuroscientist desperately searching for a cure to save his dying wife, Izzi (Rachel Weisz), who is battling a terminal illness. Izzi, a writer, is working on a book called “The Fountain,” which forms the second narrative: a 16th-century Spanish conquistador named Tomás, sent by Queen Isabella to find the Tree of Life in the New World to secure immortality and protect her kingdom. The third storyline takes place in a surreal, futuristic setting where Tom, a space traveler, journeys through the cosmos with a dying tree inside a biosphere, seeking to reach a distant nebula tied to Izzi’s story and Mayan mythology.

The film explores themes of love, mortality, and the quest for eternal life, blending the three timelines to reflect Tomas/Tom’s struggle to accept death and find meaning in loss. As Izzi faces her mortality with grace, she encourages Tomas to finish her story, leading him to a profound realization about life, death, and rebirth. The narratives converge symbolically, suggesting a cyclical view of existence, with the Tree of Life and the act of creation (both artistic and biological) serving as metaphors for transcendence. It’s a poignant, philosophical tale that leaves much open to interpretation.

It’s heavy in parts, boring in others. It’s also beautiful and clever.

I also acquired the graphic novel version and have re-read that a bunch.

Did I mention it’s beautiful?

Why do I love it.

I love the obsessive scientist trying to save his wife.

They use a botanical extract, the bark from the tree of life, and it seems to make the test subject (monkey) has healed fast and is smarter. But the scientist (Tommy) does not care, because it had no effect on the tumor growth. Single minded. Obsessive.

From the script:

HENRY
We’re seeing an increase in neural activity and synaptic growth throughout all the areas usually stunted by normal aging.

Tommy’s amazed. He can’t believe it. He can’t believe what he did. What this means. He touches Donovan’s fingertips. It’s impossible to believe that it’s the same monkey.

[…]

Tommy turns to his team.

TOMMY
And the tumor?

BETTY
No change.

Tommy closes his eyes. The disappointment nearly killing him.

Great stuff.

I love the conquistador doing everything he can to save his queen. And that this whole story line is really a story written by Izzy for Tommy. We know this, but it is presented so fully, so richly, that we are invested in this subplot.

I love the quiet interludes in the future with Tom on his way to the nebula, Xibalba. Perhaps it’s too quiet. Perhaps we spend too much time there. It’s still beautiful.

The mirroring of the story in three time periods is so cool. And I love these three periods, there for me. The far scifi future, the present, the 1500s conquest of the Americas by the Spanish. So very cool.

An the soundtrack is killer. Clint Mansell of course! Soundtrack star of Aronofsky’s other films, Moon, and on.

There are heavy layers to this film (loss, fate, denial, etc.) and maybe they’re not for me. The surface level is sufficient and really grabs me.