The Fountain

I have to admit, I was surprised by this film. Not because it was great, nor because it was bad, but because I was entirely indifferent towards it. The film was celebrated, panned, called the best film of 2006, the worst film of 2006, it was all over the map. I had thusly expected to love or hate it. I didn't.

As you might know, or at least you should if youve seen the trailer, the movie is about a conquistador searching for the tree of life, a scientist searching for a cure for cancer, and a man in a bubble speeding towards a supernova, where he, but more importantly his wife, embodied in the tree of life, can be reborn. The three are the same person, their symbols the same symbols. The ring that the scientist loses is the ring given to the conquistador by the queen of spain. The tree that the conquistador searches for is the tree that the man in the bubble travels with. His whispers to the tree are the words whispered by the scientist to his wife. The whole thing is tied together through these images and symbols. The problem is, they aren't used well.

I think that this is perhaps the great failing of this film. It tries to do something amazing, but only manages mediocrity. It has no characters, a moderately interesting plot, a point that is hard to follow, great visuals, some really terrible dialog, good acting. It is, as the reviews were, up and down. The result isn't a good or bad movie, but a failed attempt at something amazing.

And the result is mundane.

3/5 stars.

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Like you and the critics said; it could have been great.

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"All the confusion of my life... has been a reflection of myself! Myself as I am, not as I'd like to be." - Guido, 8 1/2

I absolutely loved this film. Aronofsky has just gone down in my books as the undoubted greatest director of all time. Most people dont seem to like it at all, but it really pushed my buttons. The last time I remember seeing a movie which I loved this much was the Matrix back in 99. I dont remember a movie ever making time go by so fast.

About 99% of the time I respect other people's opinions. But then the other 1% is when someone comes along and just...

Aronofsky the greatest director of all time? Your kidding me. How can you say he is the greatest director of all time? Don't get me wrong, Aronofsky is good, ambitious, and intelligent and I always look forward to his new projects. But greatest director of all time?

Of course, you are entitled to your own opinion, but c'mon...

I am so disappointed to hear that this film didn't blow your mind. When I first saw the trailer - I feel like a year ago (in the theater) I was blown away. It looked amazing - and who doesn't love Rachel Weisz?! Anyways, I will obviosly have to see it and decide for myself, but thanks for sharing your input.

Hiya Lamp. Not sure who you were replying to. When replying, hit the REPLY button on the post you are replying to, which will auto-quote the post for the rest of us to reference.... Have fun

Meanwhile, I will be seeing this film either tomorrow or tonight...

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Darren Arronofsky presents us with a masterpiece in "The Fountain". A very intelligent and emotional film that some might more consider as an art - a poetry. It is a story about love, life and death. And I have to warn you that this movie is very difficult to digest, though it is very basic at the core, it is complex as a whole.

Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman were absolutely superb. You will either love or hate this movie. You will not find any middleground here. As for me, I love it and love it very much. It's just so exceptional. I heard it's not so popular with the critics but is well-received by the public viewers. I believe this is what makes this movie great.

Rachel Weisz is Jackman's eternal love, but is destined to live in tragedy throughout the incarnations of the past, present, and future. Through the journey, they got the glimpse of the meaning of life, death, and a quest to prolong their love. At the end of the movie, you will need some more time to try to fully digest the movie. And only then that you will know if you will feel depressed or hopeful or both. I categorize this movie as a love story than a science-fiction, but I expect not everyone will agree with me. It really depends on how you see this movie.

Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz are two of my favorite actors. I respected them even more after I watched this movie. They deserved a handshake.

You will be treated with a beautiful haunting music and awesome visual effects where Aronofsky did not rely solely on computers.

This is a movie you would never have imagined.

aalaar

ADMIN EDIT: Removed spam

Incredible film. Certainly anything but mundane. Yeah, not agreeing with the reviewer at thread origin....

This film dealt with some interesting issues but in the end it just felt like a chick flick to me. I imagined taking a girl to this movie and her being in "awe" than taking her home and once again be in "awe." Loved Pi and Requiem for a Dream but not this movie so much. All the stunning visuals though beautiful can't make up for a busted plot and weak character developement. His other movies really get into the characters head so to speak.

My favorite film of the year.

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"Our bodies are prisons for our souls; all flesh decays, death turns all to ash and thus, death frees every soul." -Grand Inquisitor Silecio

I thought it was pretty good. It's a little overblown in the third act, but it's pretty ambitious.

Full review here:

http://www.endofmedia.com/?p=76

I wanted to do something special for my 5,000th post, so here I am to explain The Fountain. It is a rather sloppy post, but I threw it together rather quick as I was being slammed with a sudden understanding of the film. Anyways, major spoilers in this post, so skip it if you wanna see the film first.

*SPOILERS*

“What the hell is going on? I don’t understand this movie! That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen!” These are all phrases I hear/read when people talk about The Fountain. Well, it’s one of my absolute favorite films, and I can’t stand back to see it trashed so carelessly. I must admit, it took me awhile to get a grip on the film after watching it for the first time. Ever since then my following viewings have revealed new ideas and theories to me. After watching it once again, I think I may have a comprehensive understanding of the film. I’m going to start from the beginning and work my way to the end explaining my thoughts. This thread is meant for people who’ve watched it, hence the spoiler tag in the thread title. Remember, film is free to be interpreted any number of ways, especially films like this one, and these are just my thoughts.

The film opens during the 16th century and we are following a Spanish conquistador. He is the only one to survive a trap and is eventually forced to the top of a great Mayan temple. Where he meets, and does battle with a temple guardian. We do not see his fate as we are thrown nearly 1,000 years into the future – here we find the astronaut. He is traveling through space with what we may first guess to be the actual tree of life.

Eventually, we are shown that he is tormented by his lover – “finish it.” He refuses to listen and we continue to follow him until the torment is unbearable. Finally cracking to it, he accepts to be shown something and we are thrown into the present day where we find Tommy – the scientist.

Tommy is in love. It is powerful, and it drives him because his wife, Izzie, is dying. She has brain cancer and he is searching for a cure. We follow this couple, see how genuine their love is, and then discover that Izzie is writing a book. When Tommy sits down to read this story we discover that the 16th century conquistador is not real, but the character in Izzie’s novel. This fact explains why the conquistador has the very same ring that Tommy loses (it is his wedding band) during one of his surgeries.

Moving on, we follow the conquistador and the scientist; switching back and forth when Tommy sits down to read, which makes the fact that the past isn’t real more obvious. During one of the scientist bits, Izzie expresses how she is unable to finish the last chapter in her book and that Tommy must finish it. She also tells him how she is not afraid to die because she believes in “death as an act of creation.” This devastates Tommy because he is not ready to let go of his wife. Eventually, though, Izzie passes.

The next thing we see is one of the most gut wrenching break downs I’ve ever seen on film – ever. Tommy tattoos his ring finger to replace the band he lost, and this is where we are given a connection to the astronaut. However, I do not believe that the astronaut is, in fact, Tommy.

The ending of the 16th century story is revealed to us, which means Tommy has finally finished his wife’s work. Also, we flash to the future to see the astronaut finally let go of his love and “finish it.” He dies to give life.

As for the scientist, that’s the only part of this film that I believe to actually be real. I feel that the astronaut portion is a continuing dream that Tommy has until he is finally able to let go of his wife. When he’s finally able to say goodbye we witness the end to the 16th century story, the astronaut die, and the scientist plant a seed over Izzie’s grave. For me, these are symbols of his ability to let go. The dream is finally over (the astronaut), his wife’s story is finished (the 16th century), and now he is finally able to accept Izzie’s wishes to plant a seed over her grave and say goodbye (the scientist).

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"This is that human freedom, which all boast that they possess, and which consists solely in the fact, that men are conscious of their own desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been determined." -Baruch Spinoza

Great post, Matt. I like some of the angles you discuss, and I would like to add that the imagery at the end with the Astronaut, the far out **** during which he finds his center and becomes at piece with the harmonic waves of the universe do indeed represent him finally coming to grips with the loss of his wife. Eastern philosophy comes into play in the future sections, and i believe the harmonic resonance theories of the Buddhist religion were the inspiration, but aren't the focus of the issue, as I think Aronofsky did a great job of not injecting any Religious propaganda into this film. I know one thing, there is definitely some cosmic **** going on at the end.

I feel it's a great representation, through beautiful haunting cinema, of the struggle within.

I think the Fountain is one of those films that will divide a lot of people, personally I loved it, but the two younger girls sitting along from me were completly baffled by it.
I love films that are open to interpretation, I remember Jacob's Ladder years ago having a similar effect on many people on a more simplistic level.
Its a high brow type of film, one that is not easily comprehended on a single viewing, visually its a stunning movie, but the complex story will be a bridge too far for some.
Still Aronofsky is a director I greatly admire, can't wait for his next project.

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Toga, toga, toga......


Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour?

Hi Stu!

Wonder what happened to his Lone Wolf and Cub adaptation....

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I felt Aronofsky just missed the mark with this one. He overshot, but at least he aimed high. The soundtrack and visuals were both impeccable, though.

Pi will always be my favorite of his.

What about the acting? That stands out more in this film than even the visuals. Jackman and Weisz are both brilliant. The chemistry between the two and believability of their affection is unparalleled to other films, IMO.

I believe that the scientist timeline is real, but also that future Tom is real as well.

I pondered this theory for a while, but I find it troubling to believe that future Tom is only a dream, I feel that the language of the film suggests that future Tom is in fact the present, and the scientist timeline exists as future Tom's authentic memories.

Also, I believe future Tom begins imagining the ending to Izzi's book The Fountain when he leaves the tree pod and enters his own personal pod. The ending begins when conquistador Tomas presents himself as divine Tomas to the Mayan priest with the flaming sword.

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If I had a dollar for every existential crisis I've ever had, does money really even matter?

You need to pick up the graphic novel, Fiscal. That's where I got the idea for the dream aspect, as there's one scene in the novel where the scientist wakes up in bed right after an astronaut scene (where it connects the two much more obviously than the move does...i.e. illustrating it's a dream/nightmare).