THE FOUNTAIN

"Finish it"

As his beloved Izzi (Weisz) starts lose her fight against cancer, Dr. Tom Creo (Jackman) works frantically to find a cure. Her deteriorating health hinders her chances of finishing a her novel about a Spanish Conquistador sent by the Queen to find the tree of life in the Mayan jungles of Mexico and she makes her husband promise to finish it for her. When he discovers a new compound that seems to have regenerative effects, Tom becomes desperate to make this discovery effective but this is a quest that could last for the rest of his life.

Heralded as a shining light in cinema, Darren Aronofsky has been away from the limelight since 2000 but he finally delivered his dream project. Has it been worth the wait?

Making a real splash with 'Pi' in 1998 and even more of an impact with 'Requiem for a Dream', Aronofsky was quite rightly hailed as the next big thing in independent film. Mesmerisingly mixing his unique stunning visual style and his own vision of the world and the characters that inhabit it, avid cinemagoers waited with baited breath for the radical director's next foray into his own imagination but it would be along time coming. Writing and producing submarine horror 'Below' in 2002 and been connected with the restarting of the Batman franchise with his version of the classic graphic novel 'Batman: Year One', Aronofsky's name was still know through the industry but nothing was hitting cinemas.

When he announced that his next project would be called 'The Fountain' in 2002 and would star Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, the cinematic community took note but after creative differences and budgetary problems, the production stalled but two years later, with a smaller budget and a new cast, Aronofsky got to tell his story. The problem is that not many people are going to get it.

'The Fountain' is one of those movies that audiences are going to either love or hate. The writer/director takes you on three separate journeys that look into the importance of life and death. Firstly we have the fictional story of the Queen of Spain's Conquistador journey to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico to find the Tree of Life. The fabled tree forms an integral part of the Mayan religion but also played a prominent role in the Garden of Eden. The story, called The Fountain, is the book been written by Izzi as she is dying from cancer.

This second story takes place in modern times and focuses on Dr. Tom Creo's quest to find a cure to Izzi's cancer but his experiments leads him to discover something that will change everything. His latest compound is made from an unusual tree discovered in the forest of the Yucatan peninsula. He and his scientific team realize that the compound has regenerative properties that could actually prolong life indefinitely. This story is seen in flash back by the last human as he travels to the star nebula that is the centre of the Mayan religion.

Finally the third story is that of the final man and his quest to save the Tree of life and find the meaning to his own life. These three stories are all connected with the promise of eternal life and most importantly the fear of death been the underlying driving force of the film. To get the most out of the film you really have to concentrate to get the most out of this interweaving story and it can be very easy to lose you way. You will either get it and love it or lose it and hate it, making this a movie that needs multiple viewing to get the most out of it.

Both Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz play multiple parts within the film and play them superbly, as you'd expect. Couple this with a visual style that is quite simply stunning and you have a movie that is technically brilliant but hindered only by the structure of the story it is trying to tell. 'The Fountain' is a film that will cause debate amongst watchers and this is a good thing. Films that challenge our own interpretations of story and narrative structure make cinema the most imaginative and creative medium there is. Forming your own opinion and taking away your own meaning from a film is a good thing and one that makes 'The Fountain' well worth seeing.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 with a Dolby Digital 5.1, the movie is presented well, highlighting the beautiful cinematography.

BONUS FEATURES

Life on Ship (4.34 mins)
A deleted scene that shows how Hugh Jackman's future Thomas character harvest mushrooms on the tree ship.

Inside the Fountain: Death and Rebirth
Writer/director Darren Aronofsky, writer/researcher Ari Handel, producer Eric Watson, director and photography Matthew Libatique, production designer James Chinlund, visual effects supervisors Dan Schrecker and Jeremy Dawson and star Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz come together to talk about the long road to the big screen for 'The Fountain'. Split into sections entitled 'Australia', 'The 21st Century', 'Spain - 16th Century', 'New Spain', 'The Endless Field', 'The Future' and 'The Interview', the featurette covers the original 2002 start of the movie and is subsequent shut down and then its resurrection as a smaller budget but just as ambitious project. With behind the scenes footage from the shooting of the different timelines that make up this visually glorious movie. There is also an interview, of sorts, with Rachel Weisz talking to Hugh Jackman about the movie and how it has affected them. This is an extremely good featurette that fans of the movie will revel in.

Coming Soon
Previews of 'The Simpsons Movie', 'Rocky Balboa' and 'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'

OVERALL

While it maybe missing a commentary track, the DVD treatment for 'The Fountain' is very good. The featurette covers all aspects of the film's production and will keep fans enthralled throughout. This is a good DVD but it could have been better if just a few more features had been included.

DVD

Donnie Darko

Pi

Requiem for a Dream

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2007