What The Fountain communicates most clearly is not necessarily its themes nor, most conspicuously, its narrative. What the film does confirm is that its director, Darren Aronofsky, is a daring and imaginative visionary. This is no small compliment indeed. Aronofsky's first two films, pi and Requiem for a Dream, established him as one of those rare filmmakers who not only desire but are adept at taking what they see in their minds and putting it up on a screen, not just in terms of shot composition but also in visual pacing, all the while possibly communicating something maddening in the process.

And yet, in The Fountain, the tastiest fruit such talent has come to bear may be mainly an eye-stimulating array of pretty pictures, neatly presented, bearing a sense of symmetry. The star, Hugh Jackman, becomes the center of the movie's many postcard shots, as variously intriguing as they are carefully composed. Jackman is three characters here -- or, more specifically, three versions of the same soul -- a Spanish conquistador roaming in dark shadows lit occasionally by the colors of flames; a modern-day scientist in a cold, snowy world; and, according to publicity but not specified by the movie itself, a 26th-century astronaut whose space vessel is a giant bubble with a tree as its other passenger.

By jumping among these environments in a manner not much concerned with logic, The Fountain achieves a dreamlike state, especially in the space scenes, where the character, shaved bald, is only surrounded by a soft yellow light and the noise of his thoughts. Overall, the mood is meditative, practically insisting that its viewers not take the film literally; it would rather waft over us like a blur of memories with the occasional outburst of emotion. It's all quite hypnotic.

But does the movie really succeed in what it's trying to achieve? This may be the point of contention -- the movie is about the fear of mortality. Specifically, Jackman's three characters love three women respectively, all played by Rachel Weisz (again, three versions of the same soul). In each of the timelines, Weisz's character's life is threatened -- by external sources or by disease -- so Jackman's character hunts for a source of eternal life. This is represented in each timeline by an element from Mayan mythology -- either a tree or a nebula.

If one hadn't heard it already, I'd expect the synopsis above to have readers scratching their heads. And yet despite a storyline that seems to revel in its own convolutedness, the movie manages to present its themes as relatively simple. Jackman's character(s) desperately want to avoid death for their loved one(s), and since death is unavoidable, logically there will be only one way for him/them to achieve peace.

Is The Fountain a work of great skill, able to create so natural a flow out of its collage of visuals and story elements that its themes are conveyed so easily? Or is its take on the themes merely too simplistic? Its glossy presentation, with its warm glows, classical-sounding score, and scenes of Jackman being emotional, does soften the dark harshness of its subject matter. That the director who made addiction so harrowing in Requiem for a Dream can make the threat of death seem so quiet is very interesting to me.

The Fountain's philosophical, meditative trance doesn't give impending mortality the same feeling of urgency that Jackman's character(s) obviously feels. As a result, we may have accepted fate's inevitability long before he has, and we're just waiting for him to catch up. But at least along the way the movie is pleasingly picturesque.

(Released by Warner Bros. Pictures and rated "PG-13" for some intense sequences of violent action, some sensuality and language.)

Review also posted on ww.windowtothemovies.com.