The Fountain - Reviews (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

I don't think this film will play well to general audiences, but it's audacious in scope and has underlying themes dealing with the force of will and the quest for everlasting life, the power of love and dedication.

Director Aronofsky juggles a fractured narrative of 3 main time periods, the film falls into place about half way through, and becomes poetic cinema, the visuals just propel the metaphors through and through and becomes quite a journey through time and space and commitment. The pace feels about right for the material, and the acting comes across as emotionally honest between the 2 main characters, Tom and Izzie (Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz).

One aspect I really enjoyed was the use of snowfall in present day, and the use of the same sort of falling pattern of nebulous streaks in the future.

I don't expect this film to last long at the theaters, so if you are remotely interested in it, go see it this weekend.

(Edit: Upon my 2nd viewing, I'm going to bump up the rating):

I give it 4 stars, or a grade of A.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Finally.

I was actually nervous sitting in my theater seat. Not because the audience looked dreadfully wrong for the film (though they did, even though they ended up being fine), but I had been anticipating this film for a v-e-r-y long time. How can any film live up to those expectations? They can't, and I was worried I'd be unfair.

But there is a difference between what you want (or hope) a film is and what it is.

That's a long lead-in, but it was a long wait. I sat through the entire credits, unsure of my response, which can be good and can be bad. The Fountain is an act of love and faith by the director. Unbound by expectations or pretense (yes, pretense, a word that's been thrown around quite a bit), Aronofsky has pursued this story as a bit of an obsession for quite a few years. The result is unique. A standard review is beside the point, so I'll share some thoughts and continue to ruminate.

The narrative is complex, but the theme is not. The film is incredibly shot, not with overwhelming visuals (thought WOW!!! a few times), but with intimacy and beauty. The actors are fantastic, creating their characters in brief scenes. The music is extraordinary, but I expected that. It took a while to grab me, but once it did I was hooked. It is an extremely potent film. Aronofsky packs an incredible amount of emotion into a very tight space. Until a late sequence (which I'll need to watch again) that was somewhat edgy...either I didn't like the scene, or it got away from me before I caught up. But the overall effect of the film was, again, unique and powerful.

It's not a new subject for art to tackle, but it's a very special way of tackling it. I look forward to the discussions.

No rating. But the film made me experience a wide range of emotions, and I wanted to hug my family when I got home. It's a very brave and mature film.

Or you could see Deck the Halls

EDIT: Check me out at the NY Times...

 

[Steve Kuester]

Nice review Chuck. (I wish I could write like that, but I can't. So I'll just ramble a bit)

This is the first film I've seen in the theater since The New World. I'll be going again.

I've read a few reviews, and I don't think it's near as confusing as it's been made out to be. Not that I understood every last second of it, but I'm not sure why I would want to.

As Chuck mentioned, the music is amazing. It completely carried a couple scenes for me, and what was on the screen was worth the price of admission alone.

The running time... 96 minutes. I honestly would never have thought an hour-and-a-half movie could be this fulfilling. I felt like it was much longer, and by no means do I mean that in a negative way. Unbelievably efficient.

I love movies where I get the feeling that the director could care less if I am watching or not.

 

[Joe D]

Absolutely wonderful film. As others have said, it is not for everyone. My girlfriend liked the visuals but overall didn't really care for it too much, but I thought it was great.

The plot unfolds in a non linear fashion, but the editing in the film is not hard to follow.

The music, by Clint Mansell, is simple and repetitive, but very powerful.

The performances by both the main and supporting actors very well. Hugh Jackman does very well in the three "different" time lines. The final scenes of the movie are very powerful.

The film is ultimately a touching story of human life.

:star: :star: :star: :star: /:star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Josh.C]

I have seen the great reviews from many of you, but missed this film when it hit theaters. It didn't stick around long.

A co-worker lent me the soundtrack to listen to today, and WOW! I was really impressed, and will own the soundtrack very soon. It grabbed my attention right away, and has this dark, hypnotic, feel to it.

I want to see the film even more now.

JC

 

[Dwayne]

I'm very disappointed that Clint didn't win for best score. The music is amazing. I brought the score two days after seeing the film. I've even been turned on to Mogwai since then.

The film itself is beautiful. The intensity of the performances explode within their gorgeous surroundings. The tracking shot of him walking through the corridor filled with hanging candles of various lengths is priceless. Wanted to see it again at the Ritz but it happened to be the last night when I looked it up.

Does anyone know when this will be out on DVD?

 

[Tim Glover]

I downloaded the soundtrack last weekend from iTunes since I couldn't find it at ANY local vendor, (not Wmart, Target, SamGoody, or FYE)....regardless the iTunes download was fine.

Good soundtrack. Haven't seen the film yet but it does have that haunting, eerie rich feel to it that I'm sure compliments the screenplay.

 

[Aaron Cooke]

I saw this again yesterday and loved it just as much as the first time BUT, once again people left in the middle of the movie. (although it was a $1 theater so they weren't out a lot of cash). What is it about this movie that people dislike so much? Do they just expect something completely different? Their loss I guess. I still need to see the prestige again but after seeing the fountain a second time I'm pretty convinced it was my favorite movie of the year.