The Fountain was released on November 22, 2006, and is Darren Aronofsky's third film, and certainly his most interesting. It was written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, with story by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel, and stars Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.
4 years ago, my mother rented this film, for us to watch. We had recently been watching Oscar nominated films, including Babel, Little Miss Sunshine, and Brokeback Mountain. We put this on, and within 5 minutes, we turned it off. We thought it was a load of rubbish, mostly because of it's overtly confusing plot. 4 years later, I still thought it was rubbish, and had no real intention of ever watching it. However, here it was, on the list. So, I put it on, and 96 minutes later, I found myself in an odd position.
This movie is... strange. Visually, it's beautiful. It truly is. And the music is spectacular too. Clint Mansell's score is fantastic, and gut-wrenching, all at the same time. But the plot is just... confusing. It's extremely hard to describe. Essentially, we have these 3 storylines, one in the past, one in the present, and one in the future (I'm not entirely sure it is in the future, for the most part. This film is very confusing). Aside from the fact that Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz play characters in all of them (Rachel Weisz isn't in the future storyline), they seemingly have no connection, other than the themes of the tree of life, and losing your loved ones.
The film is well acted, the dialogue well written, and the scenes well directed. However, the film is odd. It's extremely odd. It's all because of the plot. The plot is so weird, and jarring, it just leaves you confused. Regardless, I found that at the end of this film, I had not, in my opinion, wasted 96 minutes. I wouldn't call it good, but I would call it something positive.
I don't really have that much else to say about this film. It's a great audio-visual experience, but because of it's jarring plot, that's all it is. An experience. A film critic I follow once said, in regard to this film, a film that trades story and plot for great audio and visuals creates a truly great experience. He is right, it creates a truly great experience, but not a truly great film. I enjoyed that 96 minutes, but I wouldn't say that I watched a film.
Overall, this one is an extremely interesting experience. If you are 100% sure you are up for it, then do it. But don't go into this wanting an enlightening story, go into this for a good experience. On an enjoyment scale, I give this a 7.5/10. However, I think I should rate this on a greatness scale as well (remember, this scale is for how good the film is, not how much I enjoyed it). For that, I'd have to give it a 3/10. While the visuals are great and the audio is superb, that's all this film has got. It's an experience, not a film.
Next time, I'm watching The Big Red One, a World War II film starring Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill. Interesting combination.
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