A Spaced Out Odyssey
The Fountain
Movie review by Nick Olds
I had no
idea what was going on here, but I knew it was good. I went into The
Fountain expecting
to have my hood flipped, and it was, by amazing visuals
that have to be seen on a 50 ft screen with surround
sound. This was one
of the most original movie experiences of my life, except…I was lost
for about
50 of the
96 minutes. I know it had something to do with mortality vs.
immortality, at least that’s what the guy on the
date next to me said. So
I saw it again and after much thought (3 days) have concluded that it
is a
metaphysical
fantasy about finding the Fountain of Youth, a quest
to stave off death, a reminder of how fragile life is, the
struggle between
acceptance and denial of death, and the question of death as rebirth
vs. death
as game over.
Hmm, not exactly make-out movie material.
And
if
that weren’t real enough, the story’s based around a book (The
Fountain) that’s about the story.
Confused? Let’s have
sex. Damn. I thought I’d get you while you couldn’t think
straight. Anyway, it’s heady
stuff and things aren’t made easier
by the actual story, which follows three paralleled stories over three
time
periods, all involving Hugh Jackman trying to save Rachel Weisz.
THE NEXT PARAGRAPH GIVES AWAY
SOME PLOT BUT SHOULDN’T STOP YOU FROM SEEING IT.
In the
first on-screen story, Jackman plays a 15th century Spanish
conquistador sent to
Holy Tree of eternal life in a Mayan village to save Queen Isabella
(Weisz). In the next, Hugh plays a modern
day medical scientist
searching for a cure for his wife’s brain cancer. And in the
last,
he plays a sort of Buddhist
space traveler who flies to a star to protect his
Tree (Weisz being the tree) and ponder life’s mysteries. I spent
the
whole 2nd viewing figuring
that one out.
NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED REVIEW.
But
that’s not to say The Fountain is a total Rubik's cube.
Themes of
man as protector and woman as
life-giver translate easily throughout. And that’s actually where
you can begin to understand what
director
Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requirm For a Dream) had in mind for the
characters: the man cares about what’s
tangible and physical, whereas women woman cares more for the emotional
and
spiritual. But Aronofsky is
careful to make the case that both need each other
to not only create future life, but to carry each other through
their
own. Again, this is potentially heav-y for a
weekend movie,
but worth it.
Other mind expanding themes
awash in The Fountain include
physical bodies being prisons for our
souls, death as freedom and to a lesser degree, the
merging of science and art. But the
really important thing to
look for here, is that The Fountain is not a start-to-finish
story. The stories
all flow into each other as they
move in and out of time and setting with an
effect similar to taking three acid tabs, chugging Robitussin and
listening to “In
A Gadda Da Vida” a couple hundred times.
Now, after all that, I know
you’re getting impatient for a recommendation. “Come on Nick,
do we
see the
friggin’ movie or not? Monday Night Football is on and we can’t
wait any longer. Besides, we’ve got all these
SNACKS!” Yes, see it. Be warned though, you’ll be more
confused than a bisexual at an
orgy. But The
Fountain is most original movie
of the year, or at least the weekend.