Thursday July 26, 2007
Finally I witnessed the "phenomena" that is The Fountain. This is the film so many of you have raved about to the point that I was quite excited to finally get the opportunity to watch it. What amazes me is how long it has been in production and yet it only received a limited stint in the theaters and a marginal amount of support from the critics. After watching, it seems all the time and energy put into finally releasing this to the public might not have been worth all the trouble.
The Fountain is a strange jumbled film which attempts to connect three periods in time together. In the present time Hugh Jackman plays a doctor who is attempting to find a cure that will save his wife (Rachel Weisz) from a brain tumor, that is about to end her life. His wife no longer fears her eminent death and finds solace in the completion of her novel entitled "The Fountain", but with one chapter left it's her one dying wish that her husband be the one to finish it.
The novel chronicles the past time-line of the film which follows a Spanish conquistador searching the Mayan ruins for the tree of life so that he and his Spanish Queen might live together forever. Where the film really begins to grow bizarre is in the future, which I assume is the conquistador going to the afterlife (because Weisz's character relates this section of the film to her novel on numerous occasions), although at times it almost seems like this is an entirely different character.
The basic premise of the film surrounds the tree of life, which promises not only rejuvenation of youthful qualities but eternal life to whomever partakes of it. While the premise of the film is an interesting one it's ultimately lost in the tangled story-lines which seem more apt at being confusing rather than enlightening. For instance if Jackman's character had actually stumbled upon the "tree of life" which appeared to give youthful qualities to the monkey he was operating on, and halt the growth of it's brain tumor, why did he not give this to his wife? It did appear to have rejuvenating effects, and as we find out later does appear to reverse the monkey's tumor. This would have been the first thing he should have done since his wife was beginning to grow weak, it would have given her energy to stay alive a little longer, and even possibly cure her.
Overall,
The Fountain is an interesting film but its inconsistencies combined with numerous other strange and jumbled moments, hardly make this film out to be something "out of this world" as some believe it to be. While the musical score is fitting and the special effects and style of the film breathtaking, it's sadly not enough to overlook the messy story and at times horrible acting from both Weisz and Jackman. In the end, if your looking for a strange almost "acid trip" of a film look no further than
The Fountain. But for a film that's been in the making for 10-15 years (according to the director) it should have been a whole lot more clean cut than this.
It's such an awesome movie to look at, but it all seems to amount to nothing profound. This is an excellent review.
ReplyDeleteIt amaze me how blind people can be. You're watching the film and seeing nothing but the mess, while the story and the message are all crystal clear, you just need to join the pieces together in your head like the pazzle. And horrible acting? what are you talking about? If anything Aranofsky had done wrong is that he overestimated the intelligence of the general public and critics. Definitely one of the best films of the decade and I'm sorry that you can't see it.
ReplyDeleteGood review The Answer! It's visually stunning and has some memorable scenes and I usually enjoy somewhat "jumbled" movies but this was too much of a mess for no good reason. There is one point where all of those narrative tricks go from elegant to drawbacks and The Fountain went well past that threshold. 7/10 sounds about right
ReplyDelete@Anonymous -
ReplyDeleteIs this you Dezmond? You don't have to post as Anonymous to disagree with me, I know you love this film. ;) Nah, Dezmond would have the stones to post as himself when calling me out!
First, I gave the film a 7, not 4, so don't act like I'm completely bashing this film. From me a 7 is pretty good.
Second, Aranofsky is not known for making "crystal clear" stories, he's known for making highly imagery oriented films, which are usually highly confusing. I don't have a problem with that, but the few films of his I have seen aren't that interesting to make me try too hard to piece the puzzle together. Plus The Fountain doesn't really make it easy as it pushes three stories together and your supposed to figure out the connection.
Third, when I said horrible acting I didn't say the entire film, I said "at times". And at times the acting is rather corny.
Overall, I can appreciate your love for this film. I respectfully disagree that it's one of the best films of the decade, but we all have our own tastes. I'm also sorry you think people who fail to "get" this film are not as intelligent as they "should" be. Intelligence has nothing to do with this film, I think ultimately your giving too much credit to The Foundation for being that great and engaging a story, and just because you love it, anyone else who doesn't is unintelligent. Sure this is probably a film that deserves multiple viewings to truly grasp everything that's going on. But I failed to care when the film's over to really want to give it a second chance, and in my opinion that's the fault of the film or in particular the story not my intelligence, which I will say is rather high. I really grow rather tired of people pulling out the intelligence card, it seems to never be the fault of the film it's always the viewer. I just don't believe that.
@Castor & Alfindeol - thanks. I'm actually quite surprised most people seem to agree with me. I remember over at Rotten Tomatoes I was usually in the minority, maybe that's where my friend Anonymous is from! But it's all good, I'm just sorry Anonymous has to pull the intelligence card. I guess we all just don't get it because of our tiny brains...
ReplyDeleteOff course it's not me :) I actually hate when someone posts anonymously, it's so impolite.
ReplyDeleteBut what's interesting is that I totally agree with both your view, Answer, and the view of that anonymous person. All that you said is true, but I agree with the second commentator who said that while searching for order and system in the movie you've missed the point - the message is in the chaos and all that mess.
What I adore about this movie is the breathtaking visual aspect and the whole atmosphere of the film, which create such a warm message and leave the viewers profoundly touched and enlightened. It's one of those movies that just leave the impression of some big master piece, something that was maybe too big to be noticed as it should've been.
Maybe it's just one of those movies that need you to be in the right mood, in the right moment and place to watch them if you are to understand its magic.
"Dezmond would have the stones to post " - can you explain what that expression with stones means? You know I'm not a native speaker of English and I've never heard of this expression before.
@Dezmond - I'll completely agree with you on the visual aspect of the film, that truly is well done. And for someone who is not a native English speaker you sure do a wonderful job writing in English!
ReplyDeleteTo clarify my "stones" statement it's another American way of saying testicles. "Balls" is also another commonly used word. Basically my point was you'd be man enough to post using your account name if you disagreed. But I knew it wasn't you, because you're always very polite and considerate even when we do disagree. I was simply having a little fun when I wrote that asking if it was you.
Thank you for the compliment on my knowledge of English.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for teaching me a new phrase, and a naughty one too, those are especially valuable ;)
Anxiously waiting for another movie the two of us will/will not agree on ;)
Answer, I forgot to inform you that your favourite Cheryl Cole has just released an amazing new single with quite a mesmerizing video "PARACHUTE"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AWoZmAxKxg
You can find the faster version on You Tube but I love this slow one :)
@Dezmond - I haven't had time to check out any of Cheryl's solo stuff yet. Personally though my favorite Girl Aloud is Sarah. And overall in terms of British pop I'd take Rachel Stevens over any of the Girls Aloud, as far as solo artists.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember raving about this one. I thought it was beautiful to look at and fascinating but too confused and as you said, the acting was off at times. Interesting to watch once though.
ReplyDelete@Vanessa - It is a beautiful film, and definitely worth one view, whether or not people will fall in love with it is another question. I actually bought it dirt cheap on HD Dvd when the format was dead so someday I'll revisit it, maybe I'll enjoy it more the second time around.
ReplyDelete