2008 Woodie Awards
Fountain's quest fueled by love, immortality
Ben Brown-Steiner
Issue date: 12/4/06 Section: Entertainment
- Page 1 of 1
Over Thanksgiving break, I got a chance to see The Fountain twice. It is certainly not playing in Potsdam, and the closest theater I could find was located in Canada. It seems that the closer to Potsdam one gets, the lower quality the movies. Ah well…
The Fountain is a beautiful science fiction movie focused on two main characters played by Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. The story takes place over three timelines, each with Jackman and Weisz as two lovers who strive to achieve immortality. In the first timeline, Jackman is a conquistador on a quest to find the Tree of Life so that he may save the honor of Spain and live forever with his love, Queen Isabel (Weisz). The second timeline has Jackman as Tommy Creo, a scientist and cancer researcher desperate to find a cure for his wife Izzi's (Weisz) brain tumor. The third timeline is a little more abstract, with Jackman playing a meditating space traveler taking Weisz to the dying star Xibalba, where he believes they will finally achieve immortality. The abstract comes in here because Weisz is now a tree, and their space ship is some sort of transparent sphere.
This 96 minute movie felt like it was a lot longer, and I believe it would have made a much better movie if it had more time to explain itself. The Fountain has a lot to say, and 96 minutes doesn't really allow the themes and characters to become fully developed. The three timelines interact with one another, which can get confusing at times. I was able to see the movie twice, and the second time, I was able to put all the pieces together much easier because I wasn't spending the first 45 minutes trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I'm not saying that you have to see this movie twice to understand it. A quick discussion with other movie goers will get you to the same end. I won't give away too much, but The Fountain has some fascinating things to say about mortality / immortality, death, rebirth and love.
The visuals in The Fountain are beautiful and resemble Solaris and 2001: A Space Odyssey. And if the story isn't exiting enough for you, then maybe the excitement in getting this movie made will. The director, Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream) initially had a $95 million budget and in 2002 had cast Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett as the lead roles. Pitt and Aronofsky couldn't get along, and Pitt left to film Troy in 2004 and the film was shut down. Aronofsky rewrote the script and managed to get the film running again, but with a budget of $35 million. Jackman and Weisz had now joined and agreed to work at a reduced pay. Due to the reduced budget, most of the CGI was replaced with micro-photography of chemical reactions on petri dishes. I would love to see the special feature that details this process, but I'll have to wait for its DVD release. This movie is a far cry from most of the poor science fiction films made today. It requires you to really think, which is something truly lacking in most modern movies.
The Fountain is a beautiful science fiction movie focused on two main characters played by Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. The story takes place over three timelines, each with Jackman and Weisz as two lovers who strive to achieve immortality. In the first timeline, Jackman is a conquistador on a quest to find the Tree of Life so that he may save the honor of Spain and live forever with his love, Queen Isabel (Weisz). The second timeline has Jackman as Tommy Creo, a scientist and cancer researcher desperate to find a cure for his wife Izzi's (Weisz) brain tumor. The third timeline is a little more abstract, with Jackman playing a meditating space traveler taking Weisz to the dying star Xibalba, where he believes they will finally achieve immortality. The abstract comes in here because Weisz is now a tree, and their space ship is some sort of transparent sphere.
This 96 minute movie felt like it was a lot longer, and I believe it would have made a much better movie if it had more time to explain itself. The Fountain has a lot to say, and 96 minutes doesn't really allow the themes and characters to become fully developed. The three timelines interact with one another, which can get confusing at times. I was able to see the movie twice, and the second time, I was able to put all the pieces together much easier because I wasn't spending the first 45 minutes trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I'm not saying that you have to see this movie twice to understand it. A quick discussion with other movie goers will get you to the same end. I won't give away too much, but The Fountain has some fascinating things to say about mortality / immortality, death, rebirth and love.
The visuals in The Fountain are beautiful and resemble Solaris and 2001: A Space Odyssey. And if the story isn't exiting enough for you, then maybe the excitement in getting this movie made will. The director, Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream) initially had a $95 million budget and in 2002 had cast Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett as the lead roles. Pitt and Aronofsky couldn't get along, and Pitt left to film Troy in 2004 and the film was shut down. Aronofsky rewrote the script and managed to get the film running again, but with a budget of $35 million. Jackman and Weisz had now joined and agreed to work at a reduced pay. Due to the reduced budget, most of the CGI was replaced with micro-photography of chemical reactions on petri dishes. I would love to see the special feature that details this process, but I'll have to wait for its DVD release. This movie is a far cry from most of the poor science fiction films made today. It requires you to really think, which is something truly lacking in most modern movies.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Mike L B
posted 12/07/06 @ 3:44 PM EST
Very well said. I agree with you comment that movies today do not usually require you to think, as if that is a negative thing. I have been looking forward to "The Fountain," (or any new Aronofsky film), and now you have convinced me I must see it right away. (Continued…)
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