The Fountain Reviews

"There's no hope for us here, there is only death."

Darren Aronofsky is a director primarily recognised for being at the helm of such films as Pi and Requiem for a Dream. The Fountain is an ambitious personal project of Aronofsky's that the director had been striving to accomplish for several years. Nuisances behind the scenes caused various complications that resulted in many delays. One would assume that a production of such exertion would generate impressive results. However, The Fountain is a vapid and confusing mess that isn't even remotely close to the masterpiece that we've been lead to believe it is. While the director passionately worked to achieve a serious and profoundly deep visionary film, Aronofsky instead delivered an ultimately pretentious and self-indulgent slice of cinema that lacks any emotional resonance.

The film may have gathered a congregation of ardent fans that defend the film incessantly, but there are many who generally loathe the film (myself included). The debate has been stated that those who don't like the film just don't "get it" and aren't "mature enough" to understand the underlying themes and alleged brilliance of The Fountain. That statement, however, can also be debated. It all boils down to a matter of opinion. In my opinion, and in the opinion of many respected critics (even the Rotten Tomatoes meter is shockingly low), The Fountain is an awfully conceited and hollow movie that recurrently formulates futile attempts to belie this fact.

In essence, The Fountain is a story concerning the search for the Fountain of Youth (here represented by the Tree of Life). The narrative is broken into three separate chunks, each taking place in a different timeframe.
The crux of the story unfolds in present day. Tommy (Jackman) is a scientist working day and night to cure the cancer afflicting his wife Izzi (Weisz). His behaviour during experiments and surgery lead his colleagues to believe he's becoming reckless and obsessive.
In a parallel storyline, Tomás (also Jackman) is a 16th century conquistador sent by Queen Isabel (Weisz again) to venture into the jungles of South America to find the Tree of Life mentioned in the Bible. Mayan mythology plays a crucial role in these proceedings. Many interpretations exist regarding this portion of the storyline. One popular interpretation is that these characters are featured in the novel written by present-day Izzi. Another version states that the present-day characters could be remembering past lives. Like everything in this movie, there is little explication. Aronofsky wants his audience to think and draw their own conclusions.
The final piece of the story involves a futuristic version of Tom (still Jackman) and the ghost of Izzi (Weisz...as usual) floating through deep space in a bubble encompassing the tree.

The film is a deep philosophical journey, and a spiritual mediation on mankind's mortality. So what is writer/director Aronofsky aiming to say with The Fountain? "Death is a disease," Tom says at one stage. "It's like any other. And there is a cure." This prospect reverberates through contemporary society; a society that desires to cheat age, sickness, and death. As a counteraction to Tom's view, Izzi begs the question, "What if death were an act of creation?" Aronofsky appears to be suggesting that death should be accepted and embraced, and everybody can achieve immortality through the circle of life - we die, we are buried, we become part of the Earth, and perhaps we then become a component of something else...a tree, a flower, a butterfly, etc.

My views on The Fountain are somewhat mixed. I might as well get the positives out of the way first. Hugh Jackman beautifully handles the material, as does Rachel Weisz. They share wonderful chemistry and light up the frame whenever they're together. In addition, the beautiful melancholy soundtrack provokes some emotion and thought. Aronofsky also presents us with arresting visuals achieved through incredible methods. The director felt using CGI would date the film in later years, and he desired to bestow The Fountain with timelessness. He used micro-photography to capture chemical reactions in petri dishes. The effect works extraordinarily well. It also gives the film a more "organic" feel. The atmosphere always strikes the right notes.

But the negatives overpower the film's strengths. The Fountain is a film that never lets you in, so to speak. The characters, despite being executed by able actors, lack depth. They never act like flesh-and-blood humans. They are mere symbols...and we therefore feel nothing for them. We just don't care about the characters! The love story between Tom and Izzi could have moved one to tears. But even with the great performances, the love story seems contrived and unrealistic.

The most lethal flaw, though, is that it seldom makes sense. Aronofsky is too focused on creating art in his visual presentation that there is little lying underneath. A majority of the film is without adequate explication. Too many things are so damn confusing! The popular thoughts floating around in my head during the film were: "What just happened?", "Why did that just happen?" and "I don't get it." If one examines ambiguous masterpieces such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Donnie Darko or 2001: A Space Odyssey, the interpretations surrounding the proceedings are thoroughly fascinating. All is forgiven because the aforementioned films are thoroughly provoking. The Fountain isn't provocative. It's pretentious and asks too much of its audience. Due to this, all the interpretations seem dreary instead of interesting.

The definitive insult is the unsatisfying ending. The film will leave you cold. It may seem clever to a screenwriter who knows what point he's making, but it's unfair to an audience. It's almost as if Aronofsky genuinely believed he was making another landmark film akin to 2001: A Space Odyssey. But Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece isn't even mildly threatened by the loathsome The Fountain. A comparison between 2001 and The Fountain isn't flattering to the latter. 2001 may seem like a succession of pretty pictures; however Kubrick had the good sense to do more - his shots are incredibly arresting, and are infused with some of the world's finest music. The perplexing nature of 2001 works so well that words fail me. This effect cannot be replicated by anyone. Not even Kubrick himself could equal or better his film.

The loyal fans who praise The Fountain have now used negative reviews of 2001: A Space Odyssey as evidence that The Fountain is a "misunderstood masterpiece" that will be bequeathed with the recognition it deserves in many years. The claim may seem relevant, but it's wholly misguided. One can find negative reviews of any canonised film. It doesn't make sense that a film that receives poor reviews will eventually be highly acclaimed. I mean, I certainly don't expect Uwe Boll films like BloodRayne or Alone in the Dark to replace Citizen Kane on the AFI Top 100 in a few years.

The production troubles that plagued The Fountain are widely known. Originally the budget was quite high, and production commenced in Australia in 2002. But original lead actor Brad Pitt (his co-star at that time was Cate Blanchett) left the project due to creative differences. Those funding the film pulled the plug, and the project was scrapped. Aronofsky worked to get the film off the ground again. Eventually the budget was cut in half and production was initiated with Jackman and Weisz portraying the central characters. The film's short length probably didn't give the director the opportunity to execute everything he wanted to do. Consequently, the film is a clunky mess. This was reflected in the poor box office takings.

Overall, The Fountain is a film that yielded very disappointing results. Believe me: I wanted to like the film. I had heard many things about it from the dedicated fans. Some claimed that the film bettered 2001: A Space Odyssey. (This is also a film courtesy of director Darren Aronofsky. I very much liked Requiem for a Dream.) I was therefore intrigued to see what the ruckus was about. Unfortunately, this is a tragic case of style over substance. Aronofsky is so committed to the images and nothing else. In fact, the film has "visual masterpiece" written all over it - which is exactly why it isn't one! Aronofsky was obviously so confident that this film would be praised endlessly, and his pomposity is reflected in the final product. The Fountain is confusing and baffling, with too many uninteresting diverse interpretations. This is the kind of stuff that works better as a novel.

5.2/10

This was a huge waste of time and disappointment ...

The only reason it would deserve this rating from me is Hugh Jackman ... he was the only reason i got it anyway.
From just reading the back cover i thought it sounded like a romance but good movie. I was wrong.

I was ready to turn it off after 5 minutes, it was extremely slow starting. I thought i should give it a chance. Another 10 minutes gone. It doesn't get any better ... eventually i must have watched 25-30 minutes without having a clue what was going on. Its very complex, and i understand other people may enjoy it. But surely its a waste of time and money for someone like me who has absolutely no interest in the story and no idea whats going on ...
A disappointment for me, I definitely wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

''Together we will live forever.''

Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.

Hugh Jackman: Tomas / Tommy / Tom Creo

Rachel Weisz: Isabel / Izzi Creo

The Fountain is a 2006 American film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. The story comprises three storylines where Jackman and Weisz play different sets of characters: a modern-day scientist and his cancer-stricken wife, a conquistador and his Queen, and a space traveler whom has visions of his lost love. The stories, interwoven with use of match cuts and recurring visual motifs, reflect the themes regarding love and mortality.



The Fountain has to be one of the deepest and beautifulest movies I've ever had the pleasure to witness.
As for the tree of life and Izzi's book, is it real? Is she the tree? Or maybe Tom and Izzi are both a combined element of the tree in the end, the Tree representing or being their eternal love in essence them.
The Fountain's theme of thanatophobia, or fear of death, is a "movement from darkness into light, from black to white", tracing the journey of a man scared of death and moving toward it.
The film begins with a paraphrase of Genesis 3:24, the Biblical passage that reflects the fall of man. Hugh Jackman emphasized the importance of the fall in the film: "The moment Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge, of good and evil, humans started to experience life as we all experience it now, which is life and death, poor and wealthy, pain and pleasure, good and evil. We live in a world of duality. Husband, wife, we relate everything. And much of our lives are spent not wanting to die, be poor, experience pain. It's what the movie's about." Aronofsky also interpreted the story of Genesis as the definition of mortality for humanity. He inquired of the fall, "If they had drank from the tree of life instead of the tree of knowledge, what would have separated them from their maker? So what makes us human is actually death. It's what makes us special."

So inevitably the main message The Fountain delivers is one where death is a part of life and it's never easy to lose a loved one; True lovers fight to keep this love always. We never want to lose our family, our parents, our grandparents, our wives, our husbands, and accepting this will happen one day is one of the hardest things to do.
The Fountain is perhaps so special and ahead of it's time because it explores the whole notion of Death, rebirth and what love truly is, not to mention the difficult process of losing someone and how we would do anything to prevent it from happening. In essence sometimes we can't change something that's destined to happen but this is a hard road to go down, we live like we will never die then grow fearful when our time draws close. The Fountain is neither stereotypically happy or sad, in the end it's resolute, a simple Zen-like fable bordering upon interpretation and sets the par for heavy enlightened conversation.
Death as a means of a cycle, predictably falls upon deaf ears in our current age we live in. All in our little bubbles, our collective one track thoughts. This is a time where the mainstream love overblown effects with no deeper meaning attached. We want a movie that has a basic plot, simple characters, that forever keep changing titles but in essence end up being the same film released over and over. Well forgive me, I don't want that, I strive to find material in this medium that questions the fabric of our existence, beliefs and physical World we live in.

The casting of The Fountain are beautifully realized by the two leads; Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz embody love for each other, a love that is genuinely believable. One scene near the end where he is looking at her like an embodiment of memories, of realities where the Queen Isabella and Izzy merge, is wondrous to behold. Which begs me to wonder if the book Izzi writes isn't something made up from her imagination but one where she has also remembered a previous life. Queen Isabella being one of the incarnations. Aztec beliefs also strangely mirror Buddhist beliefs in a ''Death is the road to Awe'' sacrificial sense, underlining First Father and Rebirth. The realization dawns, that the future Tom floating in his bubble, is indeed not Tom at all but the embodiment of the Aztec God First Father. In essence is Future Tom First Father?
The Fountain uses each three segments and strands of the singular story to represent and reflect one another. A Grand Inquisitor begins to mirror Izzi's cancer, the future Tom mirroring enlightenment and God First Father, the present Tom having to go on by existing. When the tree is dying so is the wife; If the tree dies so does Tom, because Izzi and the Tree are his reason for living. Life however goes on.
The ring that Queen Isabel gives to Tomas is a representation of their love, the fragile bond that two soul-mates have, can be severed it would appear. When the ring is lost in the present, one would assume Tom is also losing his love, so by the time we reach the mind blowing final sequence and experience one of the best endings ever conceived; The revelation is that the ring which is love can never be lost. The past or Izzi's mind is always in the future and present, meaning Tom and Izzi can never truly be apart.
The Fountain is answers and questions, a complex puzzle and Rubix Cube defining a cycle fusing death and life. When we see each reality most will interpret these three strains as singular paths of different existing. The only one of relevance linking them all together is the present, the past one being Izzi's mind. When we come to the end sequence, it shows us proceedings that are mind blowing; Proceedings hard to comprehend, and also something that is a revelation of the film's ultimate answer. Obviously the answer is open to interpretation or even controversy with audiences, which for me adds to the duality during the film's layered storytelling and soulful visual acculturation.

Darren Aronofsky is amongst the greatest film-makers of Modern day artists and imaginative thinkers. He is a visionary, and one of the greatest unique script writers out there, who inspires with rapturous wonder. Hugh Jackman's performance ranks among the greatest male screen performances in unappreciated movie history. Rachel Weisz as always is perfection, as is Ellen Burnstyn, and Sean Patrick Thomas. Harmonious composer Clint Mansell teams up with The Kronos Quartet and the Scottish rock band Mogwai to bring us some of the most beautiful and ambient music I have ever experienced from the Universe that is sound. Matthew Libatique's cinematography is breath taking too making a worthy companion to the rendition of sound. It is so simple, yet so effective and mesmerizingly hypnotic. Jay Robinowitz deserves special mention here because the story is so well put together; It quite flows, and as an editor and writer myself, I can understand how hard that must have been to achieve and attain. The three time lines weave in and out of each other in such a flawless way.
Darren Aronofsky has a talent for looking at things and a way of storytelling that are ahead of this time. Not many will appreciate this or understand the imaginative structure and message the film captures; Ultimately these people are sadly missing out.
Upon reflection Fountain is very similar to Requiem but does it in a more spiritual manner and it also underlines hope with time.
Darren's fascination with Mortality has always been there, just go back to Pi with the conversation at that Coffee Shop concerning the Tree Of life with the film's mathematician scientist.

The Fountain will cut film-lovers down the middle; One half not seeing the bigger picture and dismissing it as cult inducing hippy trash about some bald guy in a bubble and the other half truly seeing it for the deep visual entrancing Journey of one man's struggle with Death, in a race against time to try to save his wife. A story concerning mortality and a love as deep and infinite as the stars in the night sky.
A masterpiece of story, art and film, The Fountain belongs with 2001: A space Oddysee and Requiem for a Dream for it's higher depictions of life and love. Each time I watch it there's always another piece, another juicy mesmerizing question raised; Always something that I didn't see before.
It's answer being not one of eternal life, rather one of mortality, struggle and acceptance yet again. Izzi shows us in her book, Tom's past mind set, one of unrelenting unwavering head long brashness. Hence why he drinks from the tree of life he is consumed by it, unready. Yet in this act Tom and Izzi's minds connect future with past, catching present in the middle with harmonic proportions. The answer that remains is that memories, love, death, and time are impossible to fight, reminiscent of swimming up river, fighting against a strong current, when really you should be going with the flow. It's simple: When it comes to The Fountain, what would my advice be? Go with the flow, and reap the rewards.

''All these years, all these memories, there was you. You pull me through time.''

On the surface 'The Fountain' is a confusing film, but underneath the convoluted plot and stunning visuals is a message that hits hard and keeps stirring the grey matter for days after the first watch. Ultimately it's about death as a form of creation, and how a person cannot truly begin to live until they have conquered their fear of death. This year I turned thirty-seven, the age my father was when I lost him to cancer. Death has been on my mind a lot lately and this film has hit me for six. Whether it has a positive effect or not, I don't know. I do know that Aranofsky has made a movie that will pay dividends on subsequent viewings, and I'm looking forward to buying the DVD. The fountain is cinematic poetry.

First, I agree with Prelude76's comment/review totally. The plot was quite confusing, and the past/present/future intrigue was ambiguous. And it is *not* Rachel Weisz’s or Hugh Jackman’s best performance.
That said, the only thing that kept me awake (honestly!) was the beauty of it. Its stunning cinematography and special effects are simply spectacular.
Lastly... what kind of ending is that!?!?!!?!?!!?!?! It left me with even more questions, and certainly didn’t answer anything, not even what the complete story was (if there was ever one).

This is one of those movies you watch, you keep watching, your brain really starts to hurt as you TRY really hard to figure out what is going on. Half way thru you're really frustrated because NOTHING makes any sense yet you keep watching it coz it's beautiful to look at. You're jonesing for the plot, to figure out the meaning, to go 'Oh, I GET IT!', but nothing... so by now, you figure that might as well watch the whole film, because it is sure to have a bit revelation at the end that puts everything in focus. Instead, the ending takes your confusion and multiplies it even more.

grrr... I mean, yeah, the movie is visually stunning, has outstanding acting, and the theme is very intriguing, as it deals about life, death, love, eternal life, eternal love... but one shouldn't have to go to IMDB forum boards to try to get even a slight idea of what the film was about, and even there, you have like a dozen 'theories' of what it might've been about.

I think it could've been a real masterpiece, if only a bit more of the director's vision was explained. I consider myself a fairly smart fellow, and 'get' most films usually with ease, but this one is just way out there. The 'present' storyline made sense, and I understand that one, and even the past storyline somewhat made sense, although I still don't know if it was just a story that the wife started writing, or flashbacks to real past events. and then the 'future' story line, with the tree and the bubble and floating in space, that's what was completely lost on me. what that story meant, or better yet, how it related to the other two stories, is so cryptic that one can only offer theories.

Overall, I 'think' I liked the film, but I just wish it was a bit more coherent. I'm not looking for cookie-cutter-plot Hollywood film, but come on, director, throw us a friggin' bone, will ya?

Audiovisual poem. No more need to be said...

This is probably the best movie I have ever seen. I can't begin to tell you how powerful this movie is. I do agree with the other review, you have to be in the right mood. If you have movies about love then this isn't for you.

Well, it's a movie you have to definitely be in the mood for. If Casino Royale happens to be sold out, don't choose this one instead - trust me :) Trailers on TV have marketed this as a sci-fi action everlasting love thing, and well, I didn't get that. It's just a beautiful movie, calm, full of emotions, odd at times, but I couldn't help but admire the acting, directing, and what it is trying to say. If you like linearity, don't watch the movie.