Death is a disease, it's like any other. And there's a cure. A cure - and I will find it.

What do you want? Leave me, leave me alone! Please, please... It's not my...

Will you deliver Spain from bondage?

I don't know... I'm trying, trying... I don't know how...

You do. You will.

You do...You will...

I'm...I'm going to die *laughs* I'm going to die!

Together, we will live forever.
Finish it.
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Once in a while, I come across a movie which is so profoundly moving, I can't get it out of my head. Today's special is "The Fountain", starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. The plot covers three intersecting story arcs:

The Scientist involves Tommy Creo's (Hugh) quest to cure brain cancer in rhesus monkeys. A compound from a tree in Guatamala restores cognitive function, but does not appear to shrink the tumor. As his wife, Izzy (Weisz) collapses from a stroke brought on by her own cancer (fueling Creo's desire to find a cure), she goes into cardiac arrest moments before a fellow doctor tells him that the experimental treatment destroyed the cancer completely. His attempts to revive her are unsuccessful and in the final scenes, he finishes the novel she wrote and asked him to complete and plants a seed at the base of her grave for a tree to grow.

The Conquistador involves 16th century Tomas Verde's (Hugh) quest to find the Tree of Life in Latin America at the behest of Queen Isabella (Weisz) to stop the death of Spain by a leader of the Inquisition. He is stabbed by a Mayan priest when he is forced to climb a pyramid, but is saved as the priest sacrifices himself for "The First Father" (creator of the world in Mayan histories). He kills the priest and proceeds outside. When he finds the tree thereafter, he stabs it with a ceremonial dagger and sap falls onto the ground, causing a small plant to sprout. He then foolishly applies some to a wound and drinks the sap to live forever. As he stares into the dying star Xibalba, plants begin to sprout from his insides and he becomes one with the earth.

The Astronaut involves Tom Creo's (Hugh) journey in a spherical shaped ship traveling through space to the star Xibalba (the Mayan afterlife, also a dying star which is about to collapse). If he gets there before the tree within his ship dies, it will be reborn as the star explodes. He stays alive using a compound from the tree's sap that he cooks regularly, but for every time he does this, the tree dies just a bit more. He is haunted by visions of a queen and a woman who bear a resemblance to Izzy (Weisz) and practices tai chi and meditates frequently to pass the travel time. The tree dies moments before reaching the star, so Creo sacrifices himself (at Izzy/Isabella's request to finish it/save spain from bondage respectively), inadvertently saving Tomas from being killed by a Mayan priest, and showering his life force upon the tree as it begins to bloom.

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It's a very confusing but rewarding movie. The soundtrack is superb and is in fact playing as I write this. I highly recommend a watching if you get the chance.