At first sight The Fountain might seem to be very complex film but I think it's actually a very simple story. What I think Darren Aronofsky wanted to make was a different film that actually can provide us a different cinematic experience.
Although, I think this is the kind of film that requires more than one viewing or even two I might say. I am sure that I missed some interesting points that I'll pay more attention in future viewings.
It's very philosophical and full of symbolisms. Beautiful score and impressive acting by Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.
I can see why many people love this film but I can also see why many people hate it. It's not an easy film, if you've already watched it you'll understand what I mean.
I would like to give it a higher rate, I enjoyed watching it and I can definitely see the beauty in it, but I think it was too complicated for such a quite simple story.
From the director of Requiem for a Dream and PI comes another powerful and earth shattering movie.
Smart and profoundly moving film that deals with eschatology, metaphysics, and love.
You will want to watch this several times.
Cinematography:
It is one of the movies strongest points.
Score:
Deeply affecting, Transcendent, Melancholy that will last for quite sometime on your playlist.
Cast:
Superb performance by Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.
I know that Jackman excels in almost every role but Rachel Weisz was equally fantastic.
To learn more and further understand the movie, please read:
http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/tomas-tommy-tom-past-present-and-future
A pretty mess. Totally beautiful but practically incomprehensible. I watched it hoping it would stop jumping around between the three Hugh Jackman fronted stories, but it didn't. It tried to be deep and meaningful about life after death or reincarnation or something, but it wasn't.
The love affair of Jackman and Rachel Weisz was super syrupy and for being so in love they spent a lot of time living self-centered lives. Pretentious is the best thing to call this.
Best movie I've ever seen!
the only possible response to this movie: wat
One of the best movies I've seen in my life!
This movie blew my mind, I'll have to watch it again
Simply breathtaking, mesmorising, stunning .....................................
i loved how this film just has the characters in an incessant search for a way to cheat death, through myth, religion and science, only for them to realise eternal peace can only be found once you accept nature cannot be changed and all things must die. it's such a peaceful way to deal with death, and it really makes the world around you stop while you watch. it tells you that in the end we're all just a part of something bigger and are never in control of our own lives, because life will end, no matter how much we try to fight it. that can be scary for some, but to me it just makes living less scary.
I am not a film critic, I can not write you some elaborate and well thought review like some other people can.
To me, this is a lovestory that transcends all ages, all milennia all fragments of time. Clive Mansell's soundtrack is key to the strong actiong of both Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman. I absolutely love this movie. It is one of my favorites of all time and I have probably seen it more than 20 times allready. It is a very special and powerful movie.
The film and score are gorgeous. Acting is flawless. I love it.
For me this is about transcendent love, the kind of love that powers huge forces and leaves a mark on the world. Its hard to capture that feeling that you would do anything for someone because of love, and what the result of this love from driven powerful people looks like. I think the parallel story lines of a doctor giving everything to save his wife and the conquistador laying his life on the line for his queen's wishes captures the dedication, affection, respect and fear of loss inherent in these relationships. The third supernatural layer is what for me, takes the feeling of big love to the next level. The metaphysical - being bound through time and space, true soul mates. The visuals, the score, the emotion climax to this realisation - that nothings lost, energy persists, that love is reborn.
The stories are thin, and not about the stories at all. For me they are just vehicles for capturing that feeling that Hugh Jackmans characters would move the world for the Rachel Weiszs. The acting here is unreal. Two relationships in different times and different types but full of respect, magic and love.
Get swept away in the emotion and feeling, don't try to make too much sense of the link between the stories - the everything easily make sense.
This film is awful in ways its hard the describe. The visuals are beautiful in a few scenes but laughably bad in others (especially close to the end).
Story wise, I hate every lead character and wish death upon them all. This is partly due to to disagreeing with the concepts they represent. There are probably differences in interpretation here but for me, Jackman's characters and Weisz's characters should be grouped into one character each. So the doctor and the conquistador are the same character and Izzy and the Queen are the same character. The floaty space Jackman was just dumb and I'm ignoring him.
Jackman's characters represented the prevention of death, and Weisz's represented the transcending of death, and life. These are two ideas that I hate so my reading of the film is going to be biased against anything that could support them. The film takes more time to condemn Jackman's characters, portraying the doctor as having wasted the time he could have spent with his dying wife and the conquistador as greedy for wanting eternal life. That's something I think most viewers will agree on. With Izzy however, I would say the film wants you to think her attitude of transcendence and rebirth is any better. This is dumb and I hate it. Both attitudes lead to you not living your current life to the fullest and enjoying it. Both are awful. At the end of the day, Izzy is dead and no one besides her husband is seen going to her grave besides the funeral scene. You can't even see her grave because its covered in snow. She is all but gone whether a tree is planted on her body or not.
The Conquistador has plants grow out of him, and it is implied that the seed put on Izzy's grave will grow into a tree. Both characters are dead and wrong about their attitudes to life and death. However life does grow out of them, life continues with or without us and nature keeps on moving. Part of why I dislike this film is that I don't think it agrees with this reading of itself, it really seems like it thinks some form of transcendence is the correct answer. This is where the floaty Jackman would come in if I had paid more attention to it but there's no way I'm re-watching this so someone else can fill in the gaps if they want to.
If you want a film about life then watch Wender's Wings of Desire, not this.
stalker but make it hollywood.. this should've been a novel tbh
Falsehood upon falsehood, that's it
The non-linear storytelling is unique but kina confusing. I probably need to watch this again to understand it. I didn't think this was anything special.
Ok. This was weird. Xilbalba is the Mayan underworld....what's it doing in the sky?
Review by iliumBlockedParent2013-12-22T23:39:52Z
Deep. Deeper. The Fountain.
Darren Aronofsky tells a love story spanning thousands of years and kindly asks us to watch it more than once, so we can dive deeper into his mind. Without spoiling much of the plot, I'll go straight to the cinematography, which is simply breathtaking, aesthetically pleasing and poetic, while the original score comes from no other than Clint Mansell, the composer behind "Requiem for a Dream" and that was a great choice. Both Jackman and Weisz are exceptional and I see no reason for reproach.
I have discussed this movie with friends and I noticed that with increased artistry or complexity, mainstream acceptance declines rapidly and this also happened with "Tree of Life", by T. Malick. This movie will not be for everyone. As previously said, It urges you to watch it again and again to understand every aspect, but rewards you with astonishing beauty in the process.
Ever since watching "Requiem for a Dream", Aronofsky has become one of my favourite directors along with Nolan, Malick and Kubrick.
9/10 - Amazing love story, gorgous cinematography, great original score and wonderful performances by the leads. If you have the time, watch it at least 2 times.