The Fountain

by Ari

It never feels good to criticize ambitious work, but unfortunately writer-director Darren Aronofsky has brought forth an intriguing but overbearing sci-fi drama with ideas and sensibilities that collide instead of seamlessly blend together. The Fountain has been an enormous trial for Aronofsky; he's passionately worked to bring his vision to the screen for many years. His determination is admirable, as are his intentions. Originality and creativity are always a plus for a filmmaker, and Aronofsky certainly displays his talent and imagination with his newest film, kind of how Guillermo Del Toro does the same with his impressive but flawed fairy-tale drama Pan’s Labyrinth. Watching The Fountain reminded me of the experience I had with Del Toro’s latest - impressed and entertained, but not moved or awed. And while The Fountain is the more emotionally involving of the two films, its character development and thematic arcs are not as deep as they'd like to be.

The characters may be experiencing grand epiphanies and enlightenment, but the effect on the audience is somewhat stilted and dry, while also being overly symbolic. The Fountain uses religious and mythological imagery and symbolism fairly intensely, which works at some moments, but is mostly excessive and overwhelming. The images may look pretty, but they hardly add any depth or substance to the story. I certainly found myself impressed by Aronofsky’s inventive use of visuals effects, even if they served material that comes off as silly and unnecessary. It's in the material that Aronofsky runs into trouble, mixing together concepts and styles to tell a story about the nature of love, the fragility of life and the acceptance of death.

The main problem with The Fountain is that it's a science-fiction film when it really has no reason to be. This is yet another attempt, like Pan’s Labyrinth, to mix fantasy with reality in order to create a profound statement on the power of imagination within our heart and soul. Despite three parallel storylines, The Fountain is an extremely simple and straightforward love story about a man fighting to accept the decay and death of his wife. The disappointing thing about this story is that at its heart, Aronofsky has a moving and realistic story about a husband and wife struggling to hold onto the last moments between them. It seems as though Aronofsky added the fantasy elements to provide an eclectic flavor to what could be perceived as a conventional drama. It's a shame considering the dramatic basis of the story is quite powerful. There’s a very good film inside of The Fountain unfortunately surrounded by two problematic films. Each parallel story has its merits, especially visually, but the combination hardly ever works, leaving a disjointed, troubled whole.

The Fountain opens with a conquistador (Hugh Jackman) fighting his way into a Mayan temple, only to be captured and brought before a priest who will kill him. This conquistador is on a quest to find the Tree of life at the wishes of his Queen (Rachel Weisz), which is believed to be hidden and protected by the Mayans. In the distant future, this man (still Jackman) is a bald, monk-like astronaut who meditates in a bubble traveling across space while being haunted by images and memories of what seems like his past. In this bubble is the tree, which has become the remains of the woman he loved. A voice repeatedly tells him to “finish it”, as images of Rachel Weisz appear and disappear. This bubble is traveling to a nebula called Xibalba, the Mayan underworld where the dead are reborn.

Tommy (Jackman again) is a medical researcher looking for a cure to his wife Izzi’s (Weisz again) tumor. His wife is dying, and he fights to change her fate. This story takes place around now, with realistic characters having real and immediate conflict and drama. Tommy is determined to find a cure, focusing more on his work than his dying wife. Izzi, meanwhile, writes him a book titled The Fountain, which is about a conquistador searching for the Tree of Life. So everything you see with Jackman and Weiz and the Mayans in 1500 is actually her story, which she leaves Tommy to finish the last chapter of - hence, “finish it”.

So basically everything you see outside the contemporary story is the imagination of the two main characters, linking their feelings together for an epic thematic and emotional climax. The Fountain explores the acceptance of death as a natural part of life, something it believes is deeply significant while in actuality it’s nothing new at all. This concept has been examined many, many times before in movies, and in much more affecting and complex fashion. It’s rather surprising how simple The Fountain is considering how gifted and intelligent Aronofsky is as a filmmaker.

That said, the main story is excellent, featuring strong performances by Jackman and Weisz. The conquistador story is a bit bland and poorly written, with overdone work by everyone involved. The material in space is the most visually extravagant portion of the film, with inventive, beautiful effects. Thematically it’s pretty damned silly, yet the major enlightenment sequence is still fascinating to watch for its visual power. I was involved because of the spectacular images, a testament to Aronofsky’s creativity. Jackman, however, is given the most difficult role in this segment. His meditation and Tai Chi are unintentionally amusing, sequences that do nothing but distract and distance the viewer from the seriousness of the story. The amazing score by Clint Mansell does help, though.