Before I try to do some explaining, there are bright points that need to be noted. The leads, Hugh Jackman (Tomas/Tommy/Tom … which right there should give you pause) and Rachel Weisz (Queen Isabel/Izzi) do the best they can with what they were given. Jackman’s fully believable as a Spanish conquistador seeking the Tree of Life for his queen and country, as a research doctor racing against time to find a cure for the brain tumor that’s killing his wife, and even as some kind of weird future guy. Weisz is touchingly imperial as Queen Isabel, under siege during the Inquistion, and as the doomed Izzi.
The lighting is also fascinating. Very little is in grey tones – it’s either bright, bright, bright or extremely dark. The starkness of the lighting both punctuates the story and adds to the aura of confusion.
Now, as to that confusion. The film cuts repeatedly between the present, where Tom is obsessively trying to come up with the cure to save Izzi; the past, where he’s the conquistador trying to find and bring back the sap from the Tree of Life so that he and Isabel can both live forever; and the future, where a bald, startingly pale Tom is in some kind of space bubble with a dying Tree of Life where he’s visited periodically by Izzi’s spirit, who keeps demanding that he “finish it.” Depending on the time period, the “it” is either the task of finding the tree, the final chapter of a book Izzi was writing (more on that in a second), or perhaps the world itself.
That book of Izzi’s is where I really got confused – by the time it’s introduced, we’ve already cut between the three different time periods several times. And what is her book about? The conquistador and Isabel. But, there’s been no signal before that to suggest that Izzi recognizes Tommy/Tom from a past life. (I think he recognizes her, but that’s not completely clear, either.)
Now, if you can either sort through all of that, or just choose to view the three stories as each separate, with people who look astonishingly alike, you’re doing pretty well. And, if you can do that, perhaps the ending won’t throw you for a loop. The Tom character, who by that point I was willing to assume was in the throes of eternal life, apparently dies or is subsumed into something much greater than an earthly existence in BOTH the future AND the far past. (I don’t consider that a spoiler, because I can’t describe how it happens or begin to explain why. Perhaps, if you know it’s coming, you’ll find clues that lead up to it. Good luck on that.)
Included on the DVD, along with the theatrical trailer, is a 6-part making of featurette. It’s not like most other making ofs, and, unfortunately, that’s not a good thing. I was hoping it might fill in some of the blanks for me, maybe give enough insight into what director and co-writer Darren Aronofsky and co-writer (and scientist!) Ari Handel were thinking to help me better understand and appreciate the story. Uh-uh. All six parts are very drawn out, full of stuff that really doesn’t matter, and incredibly self-indulgent. I’m sorry, but I really don’t see the point of including an entire part focused on an early shoot in Australia that was scrapped when the studio stepped in and shut down the production. To be sure, there are some interesting moments scattered through – getting to see how some of the stunts were done, some discussion of the lighting design, etc., but most of this just drags and adds very little to either enjoyment or understanding of the film. And, this is a movie that cries out for a commentary track, but there’s not one.
Having said all that, I need, in fairness, to acknowledge that The Fountain was nominated for a number of awards, mostly at various film festivals, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Score. And, it’s a film that some people find absolutely brilliant. Me, I just didn’t get it. (And I pretty much understood The Lake House, so it’s not like I can’t handle time shifting.)
Technical specs: Dolby English audio; English, French and Spanish subtitles.
If you decide to watch The Fountain, you’ll get good acting, great lighting, intriguing effects, and a cool, if eerie, musical score. I just generally prefer movies where I get all of that AND understand what was going on!
