The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky

A couple of years ago this graphic novel was made into a movie starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. I didn't bother seeing the movie when it came out 'cause it looked like the weirdness would outweigh the starpower, but I wasn't quite right. Turns out it's visually stunning, the acting is quite good (insofar as I'm any judge) and although the plot is just as weird as promised, it makes just enough sense to be really good. Good enough that I jumped at the opportunity to read the original graphic novel.

Overview
The plot consists of three different arcs that seem completely random but are eventually all connected. The three stories interweave and float around in time, so you have to wait until halfway through to start piecing things together. The 'central' story takes place in the present, where Tommy Creo, a research oncologist, is racing the clock to find a cure for his wife Izzy's brain cancer. He finds hope in a strange compound from a tree in Central America that promises to have remarkable abilities. Several hundred years earlier, conquistador Tomas Verde, on a mission from his Queen to find the Tree of Life, attacks a Mayan temple in the hope of reaching his goal. And finally, in the year 2463 a man named Tom floats through space in a golden globe on his way to the dying star Xibalba, accompanied by a giant gnarled tree and the ghosts of his past. (Xibalba is the Mayan underworld, and the Mayans actually identified a particular star as the location of their underworld. Turns out it's a dying star :-p Interesting coincidence, huh?)

Surprise surprise, in the movie all three Toms are played by Hugh Jackman, although it took me awhile to recognize him under the Conquistador's beard and the space traveler's shaved head.

Recommended for: I'd recommend the movie to anyone (with the warning that it does require a bit of thought, not a mindless fun flick), but the graphic novel . . . only to artsy types or graphic novel enthusiasts. The art style is so very stylized that it manages to make the story even harder to understand, and I enjoyed the movie much more.

Parental Warnings: Plenty of nudity and an intimate scene or two. The movie is rated PG-13, but it puts clothes on all the nekkid people.

Ramblings (Spoiler Threat: Low)
I am not a fan of the art style in the graphic novel. I'm sure this just shows how uncultured I am, because it's probably supposed to be new and groundbreaking and enlightened, but to me it just looks unpolished and ugly. Having said that, I really like the story. The basic theme is the acceptance of death, and that death is only a path to immortality. This startlingly Christian theme is presented in a secular setting, with no trappings of religion other than those of the long-past Mayans. (Actually, it may be just generically religious/spiritual, more than Christian--I still prefer it to the materialistic, nihilistic vein of so much modern stuff.)

One of the differences between the movie and the graphic novel that sticks out to me is in the characterization of Tomas Verde's Queen Isabel. In both versions she eventually sends her Captain off to find the Tree of Life in an attempt to gain power over the dark forces of the Spanish Inquisition. However, in the graphic novel she originally questions the wisdom of such a move, mentioning that it is a heresy to attempt to gain eternal life. In the movie (if I remember correctly) the head inquisitor makes this point. That's an important switch. It's a valid point, in line with the main theme of the story, and yet putting it in the mouth of the grand inquisitor instead of the queen automatically turns it to ash, because the man liberally uses the accusation of heresy to justify torture and murder. Difference #2 is that while the movie only gives glimpses of the relationship between the Queen and her Captain, allowing the viewer (if they wish) to assume a chaste, courtly love between the two, the graphic novel leaves no room for such naive illusions. This bugs me, not only because I happen to like my naive illusions on this score, but because it presents two conflicting versions of the Queen. Either she's an intelligent ruler who recognizes and tries to avoid heresy when she sees it but is also involved in a sinful and scandalous affair, or she's a chaste but power-hungry and vapid ruler. >_< Why'd they have to split it like that?