Going in, I expected The Fountain to be a bit more literal than what it turns out to be. I thought it was a set of three stories, one set in the past, one the present, and one the future, which it is, and that there was a story about reincarnation and lovers finding each other in different lives, which it sort of is, but in watching it you realize it’s much more subtle and spiritual than that. I do recommend seeing this film, but it’s not for everyone. It’s a bit slow and there’s no explained connection between the three stories. Pay close attention to references to the Garden of Eden and to the Mayan creation story.
Wired has a good writeup about the story behind the film. It took Aronofsky years to get the film made. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett were originally attached but had to back out, forcing Aronofsky to stop and bid it back out for half the budget.
(I hate the style of artwork Amazon uses on some DVDs. Hey look! There’s a DVD included with that DVD! You can see the DVD right there next to the artwork!)