Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To love forever, 4 April 2007
Darren Aronofsky has never made movies that were easy viewing. Examples? Just watch "Pi" and "Requiem For a Dream," and you'll see why this underrated director has made one of the most astounding sci-fi movies in ages.
"The Fountain" is basically a sprawling tale that is half "real," half outside the mind -- love, immortality, death, grief and a tangled plotline that may take a few viewings to get right, but is exquisite in its simplicity. Not satisfied with depth, Aronofsky also makes it an absolutely stunning visual experience.
Research oncologist Tommy (Hugh Jackman) is trying to find a cancer cure by animal testing, so he can save the life of his dying wife Izzie (Rachel Weisz), including an unsanctioned test from a mysterious tree. As she hopes for a cure, Izzie has been writing a book about a Spanish conquistador who is seeking the immortality-granting Tree of Life.
As we see in other flashbacks, that conquistador is a version of Tommy (and Izzy as Queen Isabella). And far in the future, Tommy still struggles with his wife's loss, as he travels to a distant nebula to revive the tree. But as he finally gives in to his wife's last wish, he becomes enmeshed in a mysterious rebirth that stretches through the ages.
"The Fountain" got a royal whupping from critics, and was even booed by test audiences, who presumably couldn't understand the three storylines -- or rather, one non-linear storyline, in which the lines between reality and imagination are blurred. Perhaps all of it is true, or perhaps Tommy's mind is creating the 1500 and 2500 scenarios to help him cope.
As befits a movie that tackles so many deep themes, Aronofsky weaves mythology, creation beliefs, religion and the fear of death together, and binds it together with the universal theme -- love that even death can't overcome. The dialogue tends to be more spare than the story, rather than loading it down with unnecessary ponderings.
And he does it beautifully and surreally. The whole movie is tinged in gold -- gold light, gold costumes, gold Tree of Life, gold nebula, gold deserts. The camerawork is filmed poetry: there are sweet moments like planting a seed in a grave, the Tree lit by the sun, and the sight of Tommy inside the nebula. The most exquisite moment comes when Tommy kneels before Izzy, under the Tree, with drops of golden light falling around them.
This is undoubtedly Jackman's best movie, making us feel Tom's love and sorrow for Izzy ("There's no hope for us here. There is only death"), and the lifelong struggle against death. Your heart really breaks for him. Weisz is sweet and wilting as Izzy, and the chemistry between the two leads makes their time-busting love seem entirely reasonable.
Aronofsky has made a story that is pure art, exquisite in theme, and while you might have to watch "Fountain" a few times to really "get it," but you won't regret the experience. Even if you don't like it, in an era of bland popcorn movies, its ambition is worth praising.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Fountain, 7 April 2008
This Film is absolutely stunning, and extremely profound on the concept of human mortality and the nature of impermanence.
Visually, especially in Hi-Def it looks gorgeous, and the story reaches levels of profundity on par with films like donni darko and the Matrix.
You are left at the end of it all feeling like you've awoken from an awe inspiring dream, or a psychedelic trip, as the film seems to lack a conventional paradigm.
The story its self revolves around the Mayan and biblical tree of life, and encompasses three era's past, present and future.
The past story revolves around a Spanish conquistador named Thomas,(played by Hugh Jackman) who is sent on a journey to Maya by the Spanish Queen (ratchel weisz) to discover the fabled tree of life.
The story reminded me of the film Excalibur, when Arthur's Knights are sent on the quest for the holy grail.
The Present day romance is centred around Neurologist Tommy Creo and his Wife, author Izzy Creo who is dyeing from a brain tumour.
Tommy's work is totally focused on curing brain tumour's, as he fights for a way to save his wife's life.
The third story is set in the future in a sphere glass like spaceship which circumvents the tree of life, and what appears to be a Buddhist style monk. The monk is journeying through space to take the tree of life to a dying nebula in order to save it.
What makes this film unique is that it is more like a fine work of art, or an inspiring and profound piece of poetry, in the way that it does not
tell the viewer what to think, but instead actually requires you to make up your own mind on what the film actually means.
This film will mean something different to almost every single person that views it, which in a time of brain dead Hollywood blockbusters is something very special indeed.
Interestingly When I first watched this film I was in the middle of reading a chapter in a book written by the Dalai Lama. The chapter is called 'Awareness of death', and talks about that in order for us to live we must first accept death. For it is the one thing that none of us can avoid, yet we spend our whole life either fighting against it, or trying to avoid thinking about it. This means when the time comes we are unprepaired. Unlike izzy in the film who comes to except it, and is unafraid and embraces death knowing that from death springs new life, in a never ending perpetual cycle of impermanence.
So to round it off if you are looking for a film which offers something new and will get you pondering the deeper meaning of life, then this flim is for you. On the other hand if you are looking for a Sunday afternoon
no-brainer, steer clear and rent transformers, which should provide exactly what your looking for.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful & very strange film that looks great on Blu-ray!, 27 May 2009
The Fountain is such a strange film that it makes Brazil look mainsteam. Hugh Jackman from the X-men films and Rachel Weisz from the Mummy films are both brilliant in this film. There are three stories all mixed in together about Hugh trying to find a cure to save his wife but, what is real and what is fantasy. The Fountain is such a complex story you will have to watch it more then once so that you will understand whats going on more. In the end I think it's all about excepting death and letting go. Anyway the Blu-ray transfar is excellent and the surround sound is outstanding. If you like strange films like Pan's Labyrinth then you should enjoy this too, as it's a required taste and not mainstream but will become a cult classic I predict.
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