The Fountain

Review by Steve Rogers

Production Year: 2006
DVD Release Date: May 15, 2007
Studio: Warner Home Video
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn
Genre: Science Fiction - Drama
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Widescreen Anamorphic: 1.85:1

On paper The Fountain promised to be an artful, intelligent sci-fi film, with a challenging premise tackled by one of today's most interesting young directors. Unfortunately, it is none of those things and the only challenge viewers will encounter is the task of sitting through the entire running time of this bloated mess. The fact that I realized this only ten minutes into the flick really hurt too, sort of like the feeling you get right after a stomach virus attacks you and you realize you're in for a long night.

Ostensibly, the movie is about a man searching for the Tree of Life or possibly the Fountain of Youth. Hugh Jackman plays Tomas, a 16th Century Conquistador charged by Queen Isabella (Rachel Weisz) to journey to New Spain and find the mythological tree. And Jackman plays Dr. Thomas Creo, a medical researcher desperately seeking the breakthrough that will cure his terminally ill wife (also played by Weisz) of a brain tumor. And Jackman plays Thomas, a bald, time-traveling spaceman in the 26th Century, who seems to be stuck in some sort of alternate universe and travels through space and time floating in a bubble while tucked into a lotus position. Weisz also appears in these scenes, though it's unclear whether she's just a figment of his imagination, a figment of my imagination or maybe she's just the aforementioned tree that the chrome-domed Jackman sits under during most of these scenes. And the tree is floating too.

The plot, if it can be called that, unfurls in non-linear fashion, which by itself wouldn't be that big a problem. But the lead characters are poorly fleshed out, the script is hazy and weak, and aside from the present day scenario, we really don't understand what the motivations are for the rest of the characters as the story time and shape shifts at a dizzying pace. One minute Jackman is dispatching Mayan warriors, and some of his own crew, in a bloody jungle rampage, the next he's arguing with co-workers at his medical lab in grief-filled rage. After Thomas the spaceman confronts his long dead (?) wife stepping out from behind the Tree in a winter coat, we're back in their present day home and she's plaintively asking him to share a walk and enjoy the first snow of winter. Whew.

On a technical level, even the visuals disappoint in the phantasmagoric jumble. The dramatic impact of the conquistador battle scenes are diluted by muddy camera work, with the sets so poorly lit I found it difficult to tell who was offing who. Present day scenes also take place mostly at night or in dimly lit rooms, save for the occasional burst of light, usually with Rachel Weisz bathed in a glaring backdrop (or simply bathing). And the space traveling scenario devolves into such a hallucinogenic mind-tripping miasma, it ultimately feels like you're watching one of those tacky new age, self-help programs on public access cable.

It's a shame, considering the dearth of challenging sci-fi films in the current cinematic market. I had high hopes for The Fountain. All I can say at this point is if you're looking for a gloomy, irritatingly mind-bending story to boggle your mind for two hours, then The Fountain might be just the ticket.

Video Quality

The picture transfer is certainly not the best I have seen for a new release, but with so many dark and muted images throughout, it's difficult to tell if it was as poor as I perceived it to be. The few well lit scenes in the film were rendered in clear but not crisp fashion, though with the preponderance of special effects, particularly in the future scenes, I expected better.

Audio Quality

The only high point. The 5.1 surround track for The Fountain was nothing short of spectacular. This is sound editing the way it was meant to play in a home theater. There was a near seemless quality to the audio effects from side to side and front to back. Rainfall and other weather occurrences envelope the viewer as the scenes play out, with clanging doors and disembodied voices off screen appearing in all parts of the soundstage, adding an unnerving sense of verisimilitude.

Special Features

The disc contains a six part making of featurette, "Inside The Fountain - Death and Rebirth." After watching the first segment, filmed primarily with home video cameras, I could take no more of the self-congratulatory ruminations of the film's creators and bagged it. There is also a trailer.

Summary

In short, The Fountain may be one of the worst American movies ever made. It comes off as pretentious, egotistical psycho-babble, mind numbing in its nonsensical cryptic allusions and morose in the few parts of the story that can be deciphered. This stuff is best left on the cutting room floors of NYU film school students. Darren Aronofsky is a talented filmmaker who needs to come back to Earth and take on a project ground in some semblance of coherence.