Review of The Fountain (2006) by Jayakrishnan R — 15 Dec 2013

82%.

Watched this on 15/12/2013.

Films like Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining are all films that received mixed reviews upon their release. These films got a cult following later on. I hope that The Fountain will also have the same result. The Fountain is extremely complex and non-linear in narrative. It has magnificent visuals and is basically a fantasy love story that is stretched over a timeline of 1000 years. There are three story lines which are separated by 500 centuries. The first story is a historic/ religious piece which took place on 1500AD. The second on 2005 and the third on 2500AD. The 2nd and 3rd stories are directly linked, which you would only know as you watch the whole movie or you might not even be able to identify it. People criticize a movie when they do not understand it. I did that a long time ago, but now I have changed and I would go deep into films after watching them, I would think about the plot in my mind and fill what is needed. Fountain is such a film, which is a reason why most people find it difficult to understand. This film doesn't place the story in such a way that the audience can conveniently understand it. It talks about death and life as a circle and even then the main character fins a way to cure death in the film. Hugh Jackman's performance is outstanding and his chemistry with Rachael Weisz keeps the movie from dragging. Also the big bubble that you see throughout in the film, in the 2500 AD is actually a bio-spaceship, it's shown in the poster of the film as well. This thing is not mentioned in the film anyway.