After watching ‘The Fountain’ I have to say it is a really good movie but one that falls short of being truly great. But in the time since I watched this movie I have thought a bit about it and think it may deserve another viewing. That is because what kept me from getting into the storyline was all the questions that kept popping into my head, I needed and wanted answers. They aren’t answered until the end. Now perhaps knowing the answers I might possibly appreciate the story more. Hugh Jackman was quite good in this performance and Rachel Weisz was very good as well, but the movie is mainly Jackman with everyone else supporting. The visuals are stunning and the soundtrack… is nothing short of outstanding - I had to buy it on iTunes.
Unfortunately this movie will probably go down as a bomb because so many people are blasting it. It has been called pretentious and boring. Of course, all story telling is pretentious. But where could this be pretentious? Sometimes anything that deals with the New Age, like this movie, is foolishly deemed pretentious. This is not a Sci-Fi adventure, it is a character study of a man trying to save his wife from dying. Like I have said before, to the average person, character studies are boring, but to you and me, we enjoy seeing the character deal with what is happening.
If you enjoy character studies and movies that think outside of the box or even love stories, this movie is for you. Go see it in a theater while you can. If you would rather have everything spoon-fed to you, so you can just enjoy pretty colors on a screen and not have to think, skip this and stick with ‘Deck the Halls’ or something.
Spoilers
After one viewing, I think this is what occurs;
- The Spain/Mayan storyline is Izzi’s (Weisz) philosophy on life and death which she wrote for Tom (Jackman) in order for him to better understand her philosophy on life and death and to accept death as natural occurrence, but not the end of everything. She writes the book because Tom dismisses her philosophies a few times so she hopes this will open up his mind.
- The “present day” story line are actually memories of Future Tom as he looks back at what happened and what he did wrong to not save his wife. All the regrets people think about after losing someone they love.
- The “future” story line is actually the “present” time line. It is Tom’s spiritual journey to accept death. Izzi puts him on this journey by asking him to finish her book, ‘The Fountain’, after she dies. So while Tom looks back at what happened in the weeks and days leading up to Izzi’s death and reads ‘The Fountain’, and he begins to better understand life and death. At the end of the journey he finishes the book with his character dying but becoming part of Earth perhaps to be born again, and then Future Tom dies in the Supernova and becomes part of the universe perhaps to be born again, and Tom then comes to accept Izzi’s philosophy and death, perhaps to be born again, just like she hoped.
Review Score: 7.9 / 10
December 26th, 2006 at 11:15 am
If that movie was a person, I’d punch it in the face.
December 27th, 2006 at 12:24 am
OK