You'll be a better person if...you listen to Clint Mansell's score to The Fountain

There are some things in life that make you wonder how you lived life without it. Clint Mansell's musical score to pal Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain is one of those things. It's haunting yet thrilling but ultimately heartbreakingly beautiful (especially if you've see the film).

Even Hollywood seems to be taking notice since two December releases are currently using the music in their trailers.
Francis Lawrence's I Am Legend brilliantly (although briefly) uses "Death is the Road to Awe"[Clint Mansell - Death is the Road to Awe]. The title of the piece shadows the plot of the movie in which a vampiric virus causes the death of everyone on earth except for one man. Death is literally all around him from the deserted streets of Manhattan to the threat of death from vampires every night.

The Fountain's "Tree of Life" [Clint Mansell - Tree of Life] is being used in the trailer for Ridley Scott's Blade Runner: The Final Cut (which itself has an excellent score by Vangelis). Like the I am Legend trailer, the title of the piece conveys perfectly one of the major themes of Blade Runner- what constitutes a life. The film leads the viewer to ask themselves "What is it that makes us human?" and "Can only a human have a life and not just a lifespan?". Blade Runner's significant influence can be felt all over cinema and television. One notable descendant is Battlestar Galactica from the philosophical questions it prompts to its somber setting (especially when contrasted to its somewhat campy origin). And they both feature Edward James Olmos going after androids/replicants/skin jobs/cylons/toasters only to then let some of them go.

Both films have graphic novel adaptations available through Vertigo. I've especially been keen on The Fountain one in particular because of its beautiful paintings.