The Fountain (Darren Aronofsky, 2006)

Hugh Jackman portrays a conquistador, a doctor and a futuristic astronaut all in the same film.
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****

It is a time of great suffering. Blockbusters, their egos swelling with multi-million dollar budgets, trample through the box offices, leaving the helpless independent and art-house films battered and beaten in their wake. We feed these monsters with our money until they leave the theater and then again when they return four months later on DVD. Don’t get me wrong, I love an action blockbuster as much as the next American male (“Casino Royale” anyone?). But where are our Kubricks? Where did all the Kurosawas, the Fellinis and the Bergmans go? When did cinema cease being an art and when did movies become cheap two-hour thrills that we throw money at, watch and forget?

These questions are all rhetorical, of course, and some would argue that they are simply a result of my subdued film elitist tendencies. But I digress.
“The Fountain” is the remarkable new film from director Darren Aronofsky. Like the recent “Stranger than Fiction” (which I also loved), it is a breath of fresh air during this period of absolute blockbuster domination.

“The Fountain” is a richly multi-layered love story, spanning over 1000 years and following three separate couples (each portrayed fantastically by Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz), who may or may not be incarnations of the same people. Each couple is haunted by mortality and the idea of death, and they seek out (in their own ways) the secret to eternal life.

The plot is intricately woven and, at times, exceedingly confusing. The story hops around quite a bit through the film’s entirety. One moment, we’re following the quest of a sixteenth-century Spanish conquistador to find the Tree of Life; three minutes later, we’re in the year 2500 and a bald astronaut is speeding across the galaxy inside a bubble. The film moves fast and it doesn’t wait for the audience to catch up.

“The Fountain” is also one of the most visually breathtaking films in years. The images are striking and surreal, but the beautiful shots aren’t there just to look pretty. Aronofsky uses cinematography as a storytelling tool, and he masterfully connects the three plotlines through visuals. This, blended with the rich story, superb performances, and abundance of symbolism and meaning, makes for a fully engrossing, deftly constructed piece of cinema.

But I must level with you: walking out of “The Fountain” as the credits rolled, I wasn’t entirely sure if I enjoyed it or not. I was confused and mentally exhausted. In fact, it wasn’t until the next morning that I finally decided that I had liked the film. Once I reached that point , I was itching to experience “The Fountain” again.

It’s not a film for the casual filmgoer, and that’s the simple truth of it. It’s a divisive movie, one that will generate reactions at the extreme ends of the loved it/hated it scale. For me, “The Fountain” was really an enjoyable little gem. It’s a Kubrick-esque foray into love, loss, mortality and the fragility of human life. If you’re bored with the typical mainstream movies and are looking for a complex, well-crafted film, you owe it to yourself to see “The Fountain.”