The Fountain
“What if you could live forever?” The tagline to this movie is almost as vague as the preview. In most cases, this isn’t a good thing. But for THE FOUNTAIN, it couldn’t be any better. The less you know, the more better-off you’ll be. So, just like the advertisements, let’s keep it simple and without spoilers.
What you gather from the trailer, THE FOUNTAIN is set in three different time periods with the same two characters played by Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.
Jackman plays Tomas (the Spanish conquistador), Tommy (the scientist trying to find the cure for his wife’s brain tumor), and Tom (the futuristic man flying through space in an orb with a dying tree). Sounds crazy-slash-stupid, right?
Wrong. Nobody has the slightest idea what they’re in for with this sci-fi, fantasy, drama.
Mainstream audiences be aware that you’re about to see the most non-linear, artistic, supervisual indie-film-turned-studio-hit to burst onto the big screen.
Writer and director Darren Aronofsky worked on getting this film made for years. Brad Pitt was originally attached as the lead role several years ago, but backed out in the last minute for unknown reasons. After a big drop like that, the film was basically tossed out and forgotten by all but Aronofsky.
While trying to push two other films, the thought of THE FOUNTAIN constantly lingered in the back of his head. A producer friend told him that there was no way he would get the budget for his indie idea. Bugged by the way Hollywood had shut out his once promising project, Aronofsky went back to writing. After two solid weeks of writing and rewriting, he’d completed a new draft of THE FOUNTAIN – one that held everything he wanted in the original. It was this copy that got picked up and funded by Warner Bros. with a huge budget to make it the visually stimulating film Aronofsky created in his mind.
The journey that THE FOUNTAIN takes you on is beautiful, deep, and spiritual. The story and message told by the film is about God, Hope, Life, Love, Comfort, and the eternal battle to save the ones you love. There are a thousand different ways to look into THE FOUNTAIN, one just as good as the rest. It depends on you and your life as to how you’ll see the film. And if you really want to get the most out of this film, see it with a loved one – especially a spouse, if applicable.
As the credits began rolling at the end of the press/test screening I went to, the audience was dead quiet. The gigantic theater had that reverent feel of chapel after a deeply spiritual message. Though not what they had expected, the road they’d just travelled was one of power and emotion. After a minute, I heard people behind me saying, “I don’t know if I liked it or not,” and, “That isn’t what I expected at all.” And though these were their thoughts, these weren’t their first thoughts. Their first thoughts weren’t put into words. Their first thoughts were kept to themselves as they sat there in silence as the credits began rolling. Due to the overwhelming feeling generated by ending, it was difficult to put into words the emotions and impressions given by the movie. Though it may not be “what you expected at all” and you may not “know if you liked it or not,” THE FOUNTAIN will definately leave you thinking. and it’ll be a film you’ll probably never forget.
Though THE FOUNTAIN was originally rated R for “some violence,” it was appealed and re-rated with a PG-13 rating for “some intense sequences of violent action, some sensuality and language.” It is a soft PG-13 and I can’t imagine why it would’ve been given the R in the first place.
