After the final image of the film and the credits began to roll, I was left dumbstruck and in awe at what I had just watched. After sitting alone during the entire showing, all I had to say as the credits started to roll was “wow.” With everything i’ve had to deal with throughout this year, this film just manages bring together everything that i’ve felt through my own personal loss and tragedy into a different light. I came out of the theater almost feeling like I was at peace. I ended up sitting in my car for a period of times and just burst into tears.
If there’s one word to describe this film for me, it would be brilliant. From all the criticism this film has dealt with, it’s been pretty much straight down the middle. I think the majority of it comes from people not having time to actually think and grasp the ideas and themes that this film encompasses. For something that’s been described as busy, cluttered and banal; I found it to be something that was honest, simple and beautiful. It’s depiction of accepting death as a spiritual act is something that’s very much an Eastern approach to spirituality and philosophy, but something that’s not completely understood from a Western point of view. It tries to be different and serious about deep and spiritual issues.
I’ll be honest that I have little knowledge of it myself but it’s what I find as the film’s emotional backbone. I mean, you have two characters here that you know are in love with each other. They love each other deeply, yet something terrible has happened to both of them and here you have them reacting in two completely different ways because of it. You have Izzy’s character who is learning to accept death and just wants to spend the little time they have left together. On the other hand, you have Tom who is trying to fight it to the point of madness. People have been dealing with the issue of death and mortality since the beginning of time, and all you can really do is just embrace life in all it’s different facets. It’s pretty much the ultimate realization that Tom comes across throughout the entire film. Learning to accept that, to live in the moment is something that I think we all struggle with in some form.
What is The Fountain though? Just having the definition of what a fountain is explains what this movie is all about. It’s described as the source or origin of anything. Adding more to that, it takes from the ground and let’s out onto the air – to where it is recycled and the process starts over again, right? One of the beauties of this film for me is how the search for this fountain of youth ends in death and rebirth. Death IS life and life is eternal and all these paths taken towards immortality would ultimately grant you something different from what you’d originally concieved.
I don’t want to get too carried away with this because i’m still wrapping this film around my brain as I type this. All I know is that I have this overwhelming need to talk to someone about it. It’s why i’m typing this now, because I wanted to have a place to just put my thoughts down about it. It’s not a hard film to follow except for maybe the last 15 minutes or so, but it’s something that I need to see again along with having a few days to really absorb what I just watched. I hope that anyone who’s seen it would feel free to voice their opinions or thoughts about the film here as I think it brings a lot of interesting discussion to the table. I mean there are a lot of parts and scenes that could be taken literally or metopharically.
The Fountain | “The Last Man”
The Fountain | “Stay With Me”
The Fountain | “Death is the Road to Awe”
(scroll over to read)
First thing for me is what you would consider out of the three time lines reality or fiction? I have no doubt that Tom the Conquistador is just a character in Izzy’s manuscript that is based on Tom and their relationship. I’m under the belief though that present Tom and space Tom are the same person, just 500 years apart. I also think the space part of the film is the real deal, as it’s Tom fulfilling Izzy’s wish of finishing the final chapter of the manuscript while going on his obsessive quest of trying to cure death resulting in ultimately coming to peace with her death. I’m sure there are little details to debunk my idea but there’s a lot that supports it as well. I’ll add to this if more people are interested, but there’s really too much to digest for me at the moment. I’d love to hear more though so please feel free to share your ideas. This shit is gonna keep me up all night.
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That is so crazy. I used part of the same Oscar Wilde quote to convince my brother that history will probably be kind to this film. The part about “when the critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself” or somethin’.
Definitely a fascinating film and score!
[ Spoilers ]
I agree with your analysis of the plot.. that is him in the future, carrying in the ship the seed from the Amazonian tree he planted over his wife’s grave at the end, the seed of the same tree she told him the father of her Peruvian friend had planted over his grave, imparting his soul into it, the one birds etc came to eat from, letting his soul live for a little while in the bird. And so he brought that tree with him into space, and ate from it now and then, to let his wife live through him (and to relive his memories of the past).
Whenever a film gets such strongly polarized reviews, I want to see it. Anything called both “brilliant” and “a complete mess” will, at the very least, be interesting… That said, I haven’t seen it yet, but I really want to… I don’t usually see films in the regular theaters (I wait for the dollar flicks), but I think I’ll make an exception here…
P.S. My laptop’s fan is completely shot… I don’t know how long it will take them to get the part. Until then, I’ll try to post from here in the school library or something, but I won’t be able to do it as often as usual until I’ve got a computer of my own again…
I liked how the moments where he was eating the small pieces of bark almost seemed like communion to me. He loved the tree but would only eat enough to sustain his own life.
I’m wondering though why exactly does he take the tree to Xibalba? I do believe that it’s Izzy’s spirit that lives through the tree as it’s from the seed that Tom planted at her grave like you said. I’m guessing he must’ve thought that by flying into the exploding start that it would somehow bring Izzy back to life or just somehow presents the idea of being able to live on through death.
God, I love this movie. I love how Rachel Weisz’s (did i spell that right?) say so much without even having to act. It’s like they pierced right through my heart or something.
Please comment more! Support this film!
I was talking about her eyes, i completely forgot to add that. Her eyes pierce through my heart.
The most amazing scene had to be the scene with his wedding finger and the pen.
I already had read about that scene before I saw the movie, but actually watching it was a total experience out of this world.
Loved the movie. I’m going to see it a second time later tonight just to finally finish my thoughts on the movie (even though I saw it several days ago).
Wow, I’m so glad there are some other people who want to discuss this movie. It was the first film in a long time that I had to think deeply about and I want to see again in the theater. A question for discussion: Do you think that he was really a conquistador and she was really Isabella, or was that just a metaphor created by Izzy in her manuscript?
It shows time as abstraction, not concrete, not binding. I don’t have time to write more, but please discuss with me if you have time
I just want to add some of the things I got from the movie.
To me…there is obviously some Buddhist/Taoist undertones and principles to the movie. Not only because of him sitting in the Lotus posture in the bubble or performing Tai Chi in another seen, but mostly because of the issues with reincarnation. The theory of reincarnation, among other things, suggests that the soul must undergo multiple lesson and numerous lives until they finally get it “right”. Whatever “right” is. Upon realization or enlightenment there is release from bondage. I think we can all agree that in all the lives there was bondage and attachment to living forever and the love for his wife or partner spirit. It wasn’t until he let go that everything rectified itself. The symbolism is shown when he finally is “born” from the bubble and separates himself from the tree.
Also..I want to know what everyone else thinks about the tattoos on his arm? I think that the movie only highlighted three lives, when it may have been many more based on the number of rings tattooed on his arm. Similar to the age of a tree when cross-sectioned. Part of enlightenment is the remembrance of past lives. He was only beginning to remember what the tattoos meant.
I have allot of thoughts on this that I would like to share, but I have to keep it short for now.
Sorry if I restated anyone’s comments.
[...] I forgot to mention this earlier in the week, but it slipped my mind until I went to Hastings over the weekend. If you happen to find yourself bored sometime this week and happen to be looking for something to watch at home, do check out two great DVDs that were released last Tuesday. Two of my favorite films of 2006, Pan’s Labryinth and The Fountain would both make for an excellent night with beautiful, thought-provoking films. I’ve praised both here on the site many times, you can read both here and here. We had a great discussion going on in the comment section about The Fountain (my favorite film of 2006), so if you happen to watch it and would like to say a few words, feel free to do so here! I’ll probably be picking up both later this week when I get my paycheck on Wednesday. [...]
I completely agree with everything you had to say and had the same visceral response after seeing the movie. I have watched the fountain 6 times since I first saw it 2 weeks ago and I honestly cannot get over how great this movie is. I am obsessed with the fountain and obsessed with its message. I’ve done a lot of thinking about my life since seeing the fountain and I realized that I wasn’t ready to die yet and I was so scared of what death would be like. But through Darren Arronofsky’s genius I realize that I need to live my life to its absolute fullest and not cling to the tree of life. I, and everybody needs to let go and accept death as the road to awe. Maybe we don’t live forever physically, but emotionally, our personalities and our love will live on forever, although that sounds very silly, it’s so true. The new phrase I live by is “finish it” and it can apply to anything in life, even things far less important than death. Outside of all this, Clint Mansell’s music is as close to perfection as anything i’ve ever heard. I listen to it religiously and it never ceases to amaze me. It complements the movie so nicely. I’m glad somebody shares my feelings about the fountain with me.
I think the reason so many critics and people dislike this film is because they watched it only once, and didn’t take time to think about it. On the surface, the narrative (all 3 parts) can be seen as simplistic and/or nonsensical. But the story is a parable, a modern myth, whose lesson is the journey toward enlightenment – with enlightenment being a realization and embrace of death as a freeing of the soul from the body’s prison, a transformation into another state of being. Our time as humans is one of pain and struggle to hang on to life as we know it, but also one of love for another, and the potential to recognize and begin to understand the nature of the soul and to feel connected to everything. Our time here is to be enjoyed to the fullest and not taken for granted, but also not to be clung to against the natural order of the universe, and serenity comes by realizing that we are a part of everything and will never actually die. Tomas/Tommy pursues eternal life, and in the end he achieves it only through death.
I believe that all 3 story lines are highly metaphorical and not to be taken literally, even the present time one – if you listen to the dialogue, it explains the film’s themes and ideas clearly, usually in terms of metaphors. While this may not make for an exciting or clear plot, it beautifully expresses the ideas in terms of Mayan myths, Biblical stories, astronomy, and a present day love story, all of which are intertwined and shown to have common themes – an artistic realization of the concept that everything in the universe is connected. And of course not only the dialogue, but the visual aspects of the film make the expression of a philisophical theme extremely beautiful and poignant. At one point when Izzy is in the bath she says she feels “different”, and that she is feeling each moment so intensely – that is how this film should be viewed, and it turn how we can best appreciate each moment of our lives.
The first time I saw this film, I viewed death as the antagonist, as Tommmy does – an enemy to be defeated, and the story of Izzy succumbing to it and Tommy losing her was incredibly sad – watching his pain was intense and what I related to the most, and I thought it was a sad ending.
However, on a second viewing, I started viewing death as the *protagonist*, and instead was ‘rooting’ for Tommy to realize that death was not the end but was instead his key to eternal life and becoming one with Izzy forever, which is what Izzy is trying to impart to him in all of the story lines. With this view of the film it is much more profound, and has a beautiful and hopeful ending which has affected my own view of life and death.
Overall, this film approaches just about the heavisest philisophical issue there is, presented as a mythical story in 3 parallel backgrounds, and expresses its views beautifully via metaphors and incredible visuals while leaving its interpretaion open for rumination and discussion. I hope now that it is out on DVD and is easier to watch multiple times, more people will stop and think about it, and it will be better appreciated.
I loved this film, it reminded me of a movie I saw many many years ago called Silent Running. I thought Hugh Jackman’s performance was extraordinary and loved Rachel Weisz. Spiritually I felt it had much to say, and I think that a lot of people that disliked did so because of the spiritual aspect of the film, which I in particular enjoyed. I wish there were more films of this type, and over time, I hope this film will be heralded for the ground it broke.