It isn’t easy to make a masterpiece, even if your ambitions are in the right place, you’re a talented director with a knack for visual effects and you’ve seen “2001: A Space Odyssey” hundreds of times. “The Fountain” is an extravagant film about immortality, but sadly, it’s not the sort of film that will be remembered for eternity.
“The Fountain” spans thousands of years from the age of a Spanish conquistador raiding the Mayans to a surgeon in present day to a time beyond time or space where a man with a shaved head levitates around a bubble floating in the cosmos as he cares for a dying tree. The man in all three time periods is played by Hugh Jackman, and in each he is bound by a promise of love to his wife. In the present she’s Izzy (Rachel Weisz), a dying writer. In the past she’s Queen Isabella. In the future she’s the tree.
Further plot details are sketchy beyond that. But it is apparent that Jackman’s Tommy cares deeply for Izzy no matter the time period, and he will do anything to find a way to remain with her forever.
How the movie can be both so ambiguous and melodramatic at the same time is beyond me. And the combination of the two simplifies what could’ve been a life affirming epic into a one-dimensional love story with proportions that are, dare I say, pretentious.
Darren Aronofsky, the talented director behind some of my recent favorites including “Requiem for a Dream,” “The Wrestler” and “Black Swan,” is not really at fault. He handles each scene with delicate pacing and evokes strong performances from Jackman and Weisz.
Not as much can be said about the photography by Matthew Libatique. Although the special effects are nothing short of spectacular in their shimmering, golden hues, the direct aerial shot is an overused staple of the film. And granted, many of the special effects really resemble nothing more than special effects.
But even less credit can be given to the editing by Jay Rabinowitz. Rumor has it the film was working from a severely trimmed budget and resources, and the result is this butchered film that clocks in at just over 90 minutes. We’re left with fewer profound truths and more shots of similar imagery (a ring, hair on skin, star patterns) throughout time that evoke nothing more than the realization that this is a love story that has been a long work in progress.
Rabinowitz curiously also worked on this year’s “The Tree of Life,” “The Fountain’s” closest contemporary counterpart. Terrence Malick’s film is a hefty two and a half hours long presumably cut from a whopping six. “The Fountain” is no less ambitious than Malick’s film and comes from arguably an equally talented director. What is this one missing?
“The Fountain” is missing a purpose. The director’s vision is gone, muddled behind a cryptic plot and trimmed on the editing board. At times the film is spellbinding, and the love story is not completely hollow, but appearing big when bigness is not one of your films virtues is a problem.
2 ½ stars