Rating of
2/4
This fountain showers down bizarre waters
goodfellamike - wrote on 10/26/08
The Fountain is a beautiful-looking, but hollow and strange film that takes place in three different time periods: Spain in the past, Earth in the present and space in the future. There are few characters that inhabit The Fountain, but three are played by Hugh Jackman and three are played by Rachel Weisz. On Earth, scientist Tommy Creo (Jackman) is desperately working on a cure for brain tumors using primates as test subjects; his wife Izzy (Weisz) is dying from a brain tumor. Izzy is writing a book about the Queen of Spain (also Weisz) who sends a conquistador (also Jackman) on a quest to find “The Tree of Life”, the biblical tree that will extend life forever. Amid these story threads are peculiar scenes involving a bald man (again Jackman) traveling through space in a giant bubble accompanied only by a woman (again Weisz, who seems to only exist in his memories) and a small patch of land holding a pond and a gigantic tree; they are all on a journey towards a dying star.
For the sake of art, The Fountain has images of startling quality. The most memorable images occur in the futuristic setting where characters can freely float around inside the bubble surrounded by glimmering gold sparks of the dying star. There’s also a beautiful shot of “The Tree of Life” that bleeds white sap. One drop of sap will cause flowers to grow immediately around its trunk. What’s missing from The Fountain is emotional depth. Director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Pi) is spending so much time creating images that the characters are left out in the cold. We don’t necessarily feel much for the characters Izzy and Tommy because little time is spent in building up their relationship. The subplot of the Queen of Spain and the conquistador promises more than it delivers, and the ending involving the space travelers is as ambiguous as the film’s title (why is it called The Fountain instead of The Tree or The Journey?)
Aronofsky regulars Ellen Burstyn and Mark Margolis have minor supporting roles, but neither add or subtract from the film. Credit can go to Jackman and Weisz who do their best in multiple roles, but one can’t help wonder if the movie would’ve been less confusing if perhaps the Queen of Spain and the conquistador were played by separate actors. I would have sacrificed familiarity for the sake of coherence.
I’m not quite sure what the point of The Fountain is. I have not read the comic book it was based on, so all I have to go on is the evidence on the screen: Is it about undying love? The acceptance of death? The search for immortality? The Fountain raises more questions than it gives answers, but does so in such a perplexing way we just don’t care very much. What a beautiful-looking disappointment! Final Grade: C
