“The Fountain”
Director Darren Aronofsky
20TH Century Fox
Darren Aronofsky’s (“Requiem for a Dream”) latest film, “The Fountain,” is a grandiose pseudo-intellectual folly that is bound to bore some and perplex others. But few will be able to deny that it is a feat of the imagination which deserves to be seen.
The plot revolves around Tommy (Hugh Jackman, of “X-Men” fame), a present-day neurosurgeon who spends night and day trying to find a cure for his wife’s brain tumor.
Meanwhile, the dying wife, Izzy (Rachel Weisz, “The Constant Gardener”), writes a novel about a 16th-century Spanish conquistador (Jackman again) who, at the request of Queen Isabel (Weisz again), leaves for South America in search of the Tree of Life.
Jackman (once more) also plays a 26th-century astronaut traveling across the galaxy in an oversized bubble. Whether the astronaut is an extremely old Tommy or a figment of Tommy’s own hectic imagination is left for each viewer to decide.
“The Fountain” is not entertaining in a traditional sense. Scenes progress slowly and are scored by somber music. The dialogue often contains complex philosophical ruminations. The three intertwined stories constantly interrupt each other on their paths to a shared conclusion with dizzying effect. Most of the film is shot in extreme close-ups, which makes for an intimate, possibly uncomfortable, viewing experience. But, it is all worth the effort.
From a visual standpoint the film is absolutely gorgeous. The explorer’s space travels (created with no computer-generated imagery – the “effects” are microphotographs of chemical reactions) inspire genuine awe and are perhaps the high point of the film. And both Jackman and Weisz give effective performances; their characters seem to be earnestly in love.
Yet the film’s ideas are its strongest aspect. Tommy’s search for everlasting life comes to an ambiguous conclusion; it may have been all for naught or it may have destroyed him, or perhaps he may have achieved a sort of Pyrrhic victory. Aronofsky doesn’t provide an answer, which is fitting.
It makes sense then that, in a movie about characters searching for answers, the audience is asked to partake in the search as well.