Line #3 YMMV/TheFountain


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Did Izzy write her book as a way to get Tommy to accept her inevitable death? Or she may have guessed that he might read it after she has died and it would serve as a coping mechanism. It could also have been a coping mechanism for herself - as her counterpart in the story also accepts her inevitable death.
2	* AwardSnub: Apart from a Golden Globe nomination for Original Score, the film was largely ignored on the awards circuit, even in the areas of visual effects and art direction.
3	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Music/ClintMansell's score is nothing short of terrifyingly beautiful and stunningly emotional. Then again, one could expect no less from the award-winning [[Film/RequiemForADream frequent collaborator]] of director [[Creator/DarrenAronofsky Darren Aronofsky]]. Just listen to "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whuf6C_T8tc Death is the Road to Awe]]" if you still aren't convinced that Clint Mansell can make the world end.
4	* CompleteMonster: [[KnightTemplar Grand Inquisitor Silecio]], usurper of the Spanish Throne, has captured Queen Isabelle and plots to do away with her to expand the reach of UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition. With countless innocents horrifically tortured to death, Silecio intends to kill even more and ensure that the whole country is subject to the Inquisition's horrific notions of purity.
5	* CultClassic: Every year it gets another set of fans.
6	* EpilepticTrees: It's an Epileptic ''Forest''.
7	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Creator/HughJackman, who plays three different characters in the film and does so amazingly well. In fact he spent hours with Creator/DarrenAronofsky working on the physicality for each of the three roles. Tomas the id, with a very aggressive walk, coming straight from the pelvis. Tom the superego, incredibly emotional and light. Tommy the ego, very cerebral and driven, focused.
8	* IronWoobie: Izzy. Although she's dying, she remains as stoic and positive as ever.
9	* {{Narm}}: Some people found it absurd how [[spoiler: the flowers explode rapidly on Tomas' body when he drinks from the sticky white sap of the Tree of Life]].
10	* NightmareFuel: When Tomás [[spoiler:ingests]] the sap from the tree [[spoiler: and plants start sprouting from his body.]]
11	* OlderThanTheyThink: The idea of immortal life [[spoiler: resulting in the person ending up as a tree because they're eternal]] was previously done in a ''{{Series/Charmed 1998}}'' episode where the sisters couldn't vanquish an immortal demon.
12	* StrawmanHasAPoint: Grand Inquisitor Silecio, according to WordOfGod. "Our bodies are prisons for our souls. Our skin and blood, the iron bars of confinement. [[GoodNewsBadNews But fear not]]. All flesh decays. [[DownerEnding Death turns all to ash. And thus, death frees every soul]]."
13	* TearJerker:
14	** The entire film is very sad, but nothing is sadder than [[spoiler: Tommy discovering that Izzy has died during the night. He was too busy with his research to notice - and then he realises that he wasted the time he should have been spending with her. Luckily he gets a second chance]].
15	** Izzy trying to take a bath is a subtle one. Something so simple that she can't do without help because the illness is affecting her that much.
16	* VindicatedByHistory: Even though this movie was largely ignored by the awards circuit (see AwardSnub above), audiences in more recent years have been a bit more willing to at least recognize its ambitions, largely because the one-two punch of ''Film/TheWrestler'' and ''Film/BlackSwan'' helped make Darren Aronofsky an Academy darling once again, proving that ''Film/RequiemForADream'' wasn't a fluke. It's still considered one of his weaker films, mind, but it's at least regarded as a crucial entry in the filmography of one of the more notable directors in the business today.
17	** [=WatchMojo=] rated it #2 on their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA5o-BTWKqo Top 10 Underrated Movies]] list, behind only ''Film/TheLifeAquaticWithSteveZissou.''
18	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The effects were produced for a mere pittance, using microphotography (photos of tiny things, like oil droplets) rather than CGI. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP5VWfv0hlk The result looks profoundly surreal, and stunningly beautiful.]]
19	* TheWoobie: Tommy desperately wants to find a way to cure his wife's illness but eventually has to realise that he can't.

Context YMMV / TheFountain