"The Fountain" review

Cosmological heartbreak

“The Fountain” is the best film about love and death I’ve yet seen.  No other movie has so successfully encompassed such a beautiful, grandiose and yet intimate meditation on why we are here, what makes life worth living and what it all means in the end.  That is, of course, if you believe that there is an end.  “The Fountain” orbits around the idea of a Big Bang-style event that triggers a rebirth not just of all life on this planet, but in the entire universe.  However it is not just a function of cosmological forces at work, because the genesis of this transcendent explosion is powered by enduring love.

While “The Fountain” has some science fiction elements, at its core it is an intense emotional drama about one man’s inability to accept the impending death of his beloved wife.  Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz play the couple, and both actors excel in creating a powerful and deep relationship with the kind of intensity that feels like it could last forever.  If you have found your so-called soul mate, then the bittersweet beauty of this romance will haunt you long after the credits

Even though there appear to be three distinct stories, they comprise a complex whole that may not be comprehensible upon first viewing.  The fluid nature of the story-line is probably what turned off those viewers who prefer a linear structure that leaves little to the imagination and even less to ponder after the movie is over.  Thankfully, writer and director Darren Aronofsky is not content with such conventions, as he believes that an audience will appreciate having something meaningful to discuss long after they’ve left the theater.

Because of all the mixed reviews that followed “The Fountain” upon its release, I didn’t see the film until two years later.  I still regret that decision.  While the story works just as well on a television, the sumptuous cinematography and visual design demands a theater screen to be fully appreciated.  Micro-photography and CGI were combined frequently to achieve certain effects, and the results are spectacular.  Thematic choices involving certain shapes and color schemes which are present throughout only become apparent and achieve their full significance upon repeat viewings.  I love films that continue to provide new insights when I revisit them.

This movie will not appeal to you unless you are a romantic.  Do you go a big rubbery one for Tin Pan Alley songs crooned by Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald?  When you do, does your heart skip a beat as you are caught up in an emotional flashback of all the special moments with your beloved?  Then “The Fountain” will be one of your favorite films, because this movie celebrates the one thing that makes the brief flame of life worth being burned for; true love.  It both faces us with the temporary nature of our lives and yet gives us solace by demonstrating how the sharing of true love brings meaning to that journey.