The Fountain (2006) July 18, 2007
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Darren Aronofsky
This tale blends the unlikely elements of romance and sci-fi to tell a story of life, love and loss, taking place across three distinct time zones: the 16th century, the present day and the future of 2500. In the past, a conquistador (Hugh Jackman) searches for the mystical tree of life to serve his queen (Rachel Weisz), while in modern times, a scientist (Hugh Jackman, again) wrestles with his work on brain tumours in order to save his dying wife (Rachel Weisz). Meanwhile, a man (guess who?) travels through space towards a dying star with only his bubble spacecraft and a tree for company. All three of these quests for life converge to form an enlightening experience for everyone involved.
Just as it sounds, the Fountain is a complex tale, although thankfully it’s not told in a way that is particularly confusing. The concepts and visuals may have you scratching your head, but the meaning behind them is actually made fairly clear – certainly the main themes anyway. The finer details are then left to your imagination.
Writer and director Darren Aronofsky works hard to put his own stamp on the movie, with some visually arresting sequences that intersperse themselves amid the comparatively ordinary present-day scenes. The advantage of having a single vision behind both the dialogue and the camera is clear here, with a script that highlights the more spiritual aspects of the film, while suitably complementing its sci-fi and fantasy elements.
Central performers Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz pretty much carry the movie, while the secondary cast merely pop their heads in every so often. These are solid performances though, especially from Jackman who is required to play husband, reminiscent space-traveller, and 16th Century warrior across the course of the picture.
Even without the bizarre narrative structure, just the sheer style and mix of genres has the ability to make this a bit of a Marmite movie. Unfortunately, for me, the criticism outweighs the praise. Firstly, while I’m certainly not against open-ended stories and metaphorical plot threads, I wish this film had tied its sequences together slightly tighter – especially the scenes set in 2500 which present a somewhat ill explained version of the character of Tom. Secondly, despite the majestic visual spectacle on display during the past and future storylines, I actually thought that the strongest emotions and the best conveyance of the film’s spiritual themes came from the present day story, which plays out nicely without any interference from artistic grandeur.
This is clearly a difficult movie to assess as a whole because while I can’t say that I was a massive fan of it, there is certainly a lot to enjoy if you’re an admirer of this fantasy-art style of filmmaking. Aronofsky’s vision translates itself to the screen very well, with events that you can only get away with in a conceptual piece such as this. But enveloping a human story in fantasy elements can often have the effect of weakening, not strengthening, a film’s core values, and there are times when The Fountain maybe pushes its artistic liberties a little too far.
Comments»
I’ve read one or two negative reviews as well as a couple of good ones but I really connected with this one big time. I almost found it to be a spiritual experience! Darren Aronofsky was one of my favourite film-makers anyway but The Fountain really compounded that. As you rightly hint at, though, it’s not going to be for everybody.
Yeah, the positive experiences I’ve read about people having with this movie seem to be deeply personal ones, and not something we can generalise as being applicable to all audiences.
It’s not really my kind of thing, but I can appreciate that there are people who will adore this film and that if it does hit home, it is likely to do so in a meaningful way. Thanks for giving some balance.