Yesterday I saw The Fountain at the Toronto International Film Festival. General themes present in this film include: immortality, death, the human condition, terminal illness, mental illness, and enlightenment.  Darren Aronofsky is one of my favourite directors so I've been eager to see this movie for some time now. His earlier works include Pi (1998) and Requiem for a Dream (2000).

I got there 45 minutes in advance (I wanted to get there sooner, but had trouble finding parking, and finding my guest). The line up for this movie when I got there went 3/4 of the way (or more) around an entire large city block! It was unbelievable. I haven't seen that kind of line up since Terminator 2 in 1991. Everyone was very excited to be there to see what Darren was going to blow us away with this time.

I got in and got a decent seat in the right section. The announcer said Darren couldn't make it today, but the studio executives were there. The actual premiere for the movie at the film fest was on Tuesday - this was an additional second screening on Thursday.  Without any delay, the film began.

I'm not going to speak about the plot (which is three stories set in vastly different time periods interweaved) as it's a film that's best approached without too much plot knowledge in advance. That way you can truly immerse yourself into the bends and turns and lessons of the story. I'm also not going to say what the final conclusion is in the end about the concept of mortality, immortality, and the human condition. One thing I can assure you though is you will probably have a broader perspective on life and death once you walk out of this film. It is one of the most tasteful, real, and honest treatments of the subject I have seen.

So, I'll talk a little about Darren's techniques in the film. His little trademarks make their mark, as usual.

The main character, the rogue cancer researcher, reminds me somewhat of Max from his first film Pi (which is probably my favourite movie). Driven, temperamental, atheist, resolutely single-minded, he's a modern day mad scientist, without the bad Einstein hair. This time he's functional enough to be in a relationship with a wife. Unfortunately his wife is terminally ill, and her character has some of the most expressive eyes I have even seen. She truly speaks through them.

Once again, like in Pi, the mad scientist starts to look like a bald hairless yoga type of individual as he evolves mentally to the next level of development. There is a very unique scene where he is in a transparent sphere in space a thousand years from now, doing tai chi exercises, set on a backdrop of stars. All you see is his black profile moving against the sea of stars. Great visual.

One element that reminds me of Requiem for a Dream (the fast-shot close ups of bloodshot eyeballs, pills, sighs, and hallucinations every time they took drugs in that movie) is his extreme close ups of hairs standing on end as lips brush past them or a finger is run near them. You can see the effects of static electricity as each hair tremulously raises. It's almost gross, but works in the film. What's particularly unsettling is seeing these hairs on the bark of a tree. There is also a small bit of self-mutilation, but it serves a purpose, it is not gratuitous. Also, he really knows how to make a person look dead. Most of the time in movies you can see the pulse in a person's neck or see their eyelids move when they are dead, but Darren sees to all details including ensuring dead people truly look authentic and gray. He captures the moment of death very aptly through his various techniques. The gore is not to the degree of what we saw towards the end of Requiem for a Dream, by any means.

Darren justaposes the most harrowing agonizing emotional moments with touching gestures of desperate and very human reassurance (I'll refer to the 'bathtub scene'). Imagine the dreadfully hopeless yet very human feeling of kissing and making love to your loved one as they are dying incrementally by the second. Yes, it gets quite dark at times. Moods change so quickly in the movie it's a rollercoaster of a ride if you're a sensitive person like I am. He does not hold back when it comes to presenting the brutal reality of what these people are facing in their lives. You are sure to dredge up things and feelings you've experienced in your own life as you participate in this movie.

The movie feels like something you're participating in, not just watching. It's like listening to a wise old man weave life lessons through stories and analogies that leave you wide-eyed, especially as the film builds to its conclusion.

Once again he includes religious references and lessons with relevance to the topics of death and immortality - very important tidbits never focused on by organized religion, but fundamentally important. There are Christian, Jewish, atheist, and Buddhist elements alluded to, but his lessons on spirituality never interfere with the story line or offend people who aren't of that faith. What he is finding is simply gems of important wisdom in texts and practices thousands of years old... just like he did in the movie Pi with its explanations of number theories and the Kabballah. These topics are fascinating.

What I like about his techniques is he masterfully takes you along this interweaved journey while never coming across as preachy or forceful about the end conclusion or opinion reached by the film. That brutal honesty of his style, the humanity of the characters, the importance of the topic at hand, combined with incredible subtlety at storytelling, is what makes it such a finely crafted story. It's satisfying. Unsettling, yes, but also oddly reassuring, at least on some levels, as it comes to a close. Most of all, it's very human. The movie is of relevance to every human being on the planet because of what it touches upon. These are things people need to talk about more.  Transhumanists will see a variety of opinions presented on the issues of importance to them.

Everyone clapped heartily at the end. It's really hard to talk about the film without giving it time to digest. After seeing it, so many ideas and thoughts keep popping into your head for hours. People were buzzing talking about it, and had the impressed look on their faces. To truly appreciate it I'm going to have to see it at least two more times. Sadly, that means a two month wait until it hits the public cinemas on November 22nd.

The film had a low budget compared to most modern films - something like $70 million. His first film Pi from 1998, he made with a mere $60,000 including asking people for $100 donations on the streets of NYC. The Fountain was shot in a sound stage here in Montreal, Canada. As usual, he put every cent to good work, with a focus on story more than effects, although the effects are also good. I can't wait to see his next movie. His movies aren't for everyone, but they definitely contain no compromises - and a unique perspective and techniques.

Go see The Fountain [official site] when it comes to a theatre near you on November 22nd!