The Fountain review

Well, this is sort of a review...sort of MY interpretation of the film and what I got out of it. It seems that a lot of people give it a bad wrap. My assumption is either the typical (or pretentious, whichever way you want to look at it) response that "they just don't get it". I don't think the people that give it a bad wrap are incompetent, but I feel either it's just not their type of movie, or they went into it expecting the wrong thing. I'm a HUGE Aronofsky fan, so I'll also admit a bias. nonetheless. The cinematography is stellar, as well as the story line. Without further ado, I'm just going to cut and paste an "explanation" I posted last year on a message board regarding the movie:

well...darren aronofsky is one of my favorite directors. and when i saw this, it blew my mind. i was incredibly into it. but i must say, if you don't know what you're getting into, it may be hard to follow. I'm gonna attempt to give an overview, but i've only really seen it twice, and i'm not gonna look anything up to talk about it. So, if i'm not entirely accurate, don't crucify me for it.

***Spoilers***

Basically, what I got out of it, was that it was a love story. A love story of the same type, not the same 100% actual people (maybe it is, but there are some plot holes which beg to differ...especially between conquistador and present time[if he knew of the tree of life then, wouldn't he know to use that in the future if he was the same?]), but basically the same type of characters over different time periods. Or i guess it can be looked at as the same person reincarnated...so they don't necessarily know all the details, but they may envision bits and pieces. Anyways...I digress...

It is a love story of the same type, with a woman played by Rachel Weisz and a man played by Hugh Jackman, described and shown over three distinctly different time periods. That is the simple explanation. And instead of showing them one at a time, they are paralleled, and it jumps between them, to show the similarities as the situation continues the same way in different ages.

The first is set in the same time as the Spanish Inquisition. Hugh Jackman's character is a conquistador who is in love with the queen, Rachel Weisz. She sends him in search of the tree of life, which should be located around where the Mayan empire is. He loves her, and will stop at nothing to complete his mission to be with her. This is part of a story being written...

The second one is set in current time. She is a writer, and he is a doctor/scientist. She has cancer and is inevitably close to death. While she just wants him there and wants his love and for him to be by her side, he "ignores her" (not purposefully), but is so in love, that he spends all his time trying to find a cure. When he does, it is too late...and his work was in vain. He should have enjoyed all of the experiences he could have with her, instead of missing all that time together to try and postpone the inevitable. She was writing the story about the conquistador, and dies before it is completed and he is forced to finish it.

The third is in the future. Where she has died and is no longer around. She is seen in images and visions tho. This is where I get hazy and can't remember all details. However, i think it may have been something like he planted a tree of life, over her body...or for some reason, she became a part of it. He is now in a futuristic sci-fi bubble. with the tree of life. they are heading to some sort of astronomical phenomenon. (an exploding star perhaps?? like i said, i don't remember all the details here.) But he is trying to keep himself, and the tree alive to make it there. and he's been eating little pieces of the tree to stay alive all of these years. The mayans believed by traveling to this place, it is the afterworld. He wants to get there, so him and his love can be together forever. The tree dies just before getting there, and he is left alone.

At this point, it all comes together. basically, the realization that giving up all hope is freedom. Letting the world run its course and not trying to manipulate fate. You cannot truly love until you've accepted the love, the world, life...for what it actually is. She was happy that he cared and tried, and she loved him...but he felt like a failure and thought he should have been able to keep her alive and for himself. And he was living a frustrated life thinking he was a failure at the one thing that mattered most. Instead, he should have enjoyed her love while he could. and accepted fate and enjoyed all of the experiences they had. Once he realizes this, after she/the tree dies, he lets go on his own and then is truly free from the ties that have binded him down, such as his own frustration and remorse for not being able to save her. He is able to find peace with his life, and that they really did have true love.

...at least that's what i got out of it. And what I remember. I should watch it again...

I'd like to hear others opinions too. I know that it was not widely liked. I would like to know if that was because people felt lost and did not get anything out of it, if they "got it" but just didn't dig it, or if they got something else out of it and looked at it in a different matter than myself. I saw it as an incredibly intense love story, where the male lead had trouble taking things at face value and enjoying it, and tried to extend it beyond its natural and fate-defined life span. And, in doing, so, he lost the true meaning of love. And it took till he gave up all hope to be free and really understand the love that he had was so intense and the best it could be and he needs to accept and embrace that.

your thoughts?