The Fountain

THE FOUNTAIN swept me up and away. I loved it.

I took two runs at this movie. First, I tried watching it on the Metro, but its imagery and structure simply is not compatible with viewing on a tiny screen while bumping along at rush hour. Second, I woke up before dawn and watched it on the enormovision, in glorious surround sound. In this environment, THE FOUNTAIN enfolded me in its dream-like worlds, washing over me like a languorous wave. When it ended, I knew I'd been on a journey. It took me a day or two to figure out where, but I viscerally loved the experience even before reason kicked in.

This movie does something different: it challenges the viewer to work with both intuition and analysis, offering few easy answers, and it does so while playing very loosely with the classic three-act structure. We meet Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, lovers in different worlds and times, haunted by tragedies past and present and looking for ... something. In one construct, they're conquistador and queen; in another, scientist and patient; in a third, voyager and phantasm. In all three, we sense an overtone of sadness and defiance, acceptance and denial, enlightenment and desperation. The tales, one or more of which may be happening in the imagination or serving as an allegory of a state of mind, engage us in their own right and as part of a larger whole.

By the time THE FOUNTAIN climaxes in visions reminiscent of Dore's Paradiso illustrations, as well as Hindu and Mayan creation mythologies, we're carried away, outside of ourselves. Darren Aronofsky's doing something audaciously different here, and he succeeds wonderfully. This is a film worth seeing.

ADDENDUM

ecently, I've been subjected to repeated showings of the STAR WARS prequel trilogy. While watching it, I've been bothered by the utter lifelessness of Natalie Portman's Queen Amidala. While watching THE FOUNTAIN, I realized what was missing: gravitas. Portman's idea of Queenly bearing appears to be limited to having good posture and speaking in monotone. Rachel Weisz's Queen Isabella, on the other hand - now, there's a queen to inspire devotion and desire! Weisz's commanding, yet vulnerable, presence radiates monarchy: a personal state of being that lies beyond the powers of either Portman's talent or Lucas's direction.

For that matter, Weisz's entire performance in THE FOUNTAIN is simply brilliant. I've always respected the actress, who can bring class even to pulpy entertainments such as THE MUMMY RETURNS, but this picture takes her career to a whole different level.