The Fountain

Darren Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique used innovative techniques to mimic the effects of drugs in Requiem For A Dream, fish eye lenses deforming the living space and fast motion distorting the conversation time frame. The same team attempts to convey more of a mystical experience in The Fountain, with story layers little more than props for elaborate and stunning visual metaphors.

On a basic level, Hugh Jackman represents man's eternal struggle to save the woman he loves. In 16th century Spain, he is a conquistador, searching for the fountain of youth in a Mayan Garden of Eden - when he succeeds, Queen Isabel will be his Eve. As a modern day scientist, he is trying to find a cure to save his wife, Izzi (Rachel Weisz), who is dying of cancer, as well as writing a book, called The Fountain. As a 26th century astronaut, he is trying to grasp these mysteries that have always seemed just out of reach.

The genre and style of the film, like its subject matter, is elusive. At first, it seems determinedly weird, like David Lynch with no clues. As it develops, there is more than a nod to the elaborate aesthetic of films like Cremaster, or the favourite of psychedelic cinemagoers, 2001: A Space Odyssey. You become wrapped up in a visual overload of spectacular beauty, but if you are thinking of casually popping some acid before going to see it, you should be aware that there are also many dark, menacing images.

This is no sanitised flight of fancy. It has more in common with Pan's Labyrinth than Star Trek. The futuristic imagery has an almost Matthew Barney-like organic evolution to it, whereas that of the Spanish Inquisition creates a mandala of horror that fascinates at the same time as it shocks. A sense of Pandorian menace is rarely far from the explosion of visual beauty that is constantly assaulting the senses.

So what of the story?

It is here that the film is at its weakest. It creates intoxicating images of life, death and re-birth, but the theoretical connections are hazy at best. In the most developed of the tripartite, intertextual stories, Dr Tom Crio's (Jackman) experiments on monkeys will, he hopes, yield a method of shrinking the brain tumour that is killing his wife. It is his love for her that motivates him to push beyond protocol. It also blinds him to the fact that he is making a remarkable scientific breakthrough, that of reversing the aging process.

The Fountain delicately weaves fringe science, Mayan myth and symbols of the memories and inspirations that live forever when someone dies. We see the conflict of scientific and artistic temperaments - Tom never has enough time to explore the simple poetry of life with Izzi, such as the first snowfall of winter. She wants him to help her finish her book. "Please, leave me alone,” he says. “I don't know how it ends." The words haunt him later, as they take on a different meaning.

Remarkable special effects and a scintillating score support a movie that has more talent than there were dollars to support it, so far from the mainstream that you shouldn't consider going unless you are prepared for a serious challenge. The feint hearted will dismiss it as a pretentious mess, while aficionados will extol its haunting loveliness.

Whatever you do, don't even think of watching it on DVD.