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Some people hate this movie. It happens these days when the ambitions of a filmmaker, in this case Darren Aronofsky ( Pi , Requiem for a Dream ), rise above the level of Big Mama's House 2 . Hugh Jackman plays a medical researcher trying to stop a brain tumor from killing his wife (the lovely Rachel Weisz). Jackman is also playing a sixteenth-century Spanish explorer on assignment from Queen Isabel (Weisz again) to find the healing Tree of Life. And that's him, hairless, as a twenty-sixth-century astronaut. In telling a tale of love across time, Aronofsky is sometimes guilty of creating arty, pretentious psychobabble. But in visual terms, he's trying to expose his own raw, romantic heart.
I'm a pretty smart guy, and I followed the basic premise of the movie, but it never seemed to tie all of the disparate elements together very well, nor did it carry a really strong emotional punch, which should be pertty easy to do for a movie concerned with the dying of one of the main characters. The thing is, I don't really care. The acting is uniformly excellent (not to mention featuring 'Randy' from My Name is Earl and 'Cleopatra' from the series Rome, two of my favorites), and the special effects are dazzling. I must confess I'm a special effects junkie, and they help me feel better about the big ol' plasma HD TV and surround sound system I invested in. This movie will not transform you as much as confuse you, but hey, make some popcorn, turn down the lights, and enjoy the dazzlingly awesome scenery. After death comes awe, but before death comes awesome video experiences.
The Fountian is like a puzzle that fits together not fabulously, but very well. Aronofsky weaves together three stories about the truth and consequences of the search and attainment of eternal life. The stories unfold within past, present and future scenarios that illustrate a perspective on eternal life that is relevant to the historical period and defines development of human consciouness over time. In the futuristic scenario, for example, Thomas, who has apparently achieved enlightenment and eternal life through his meditation practice, and by eating the bark of the tree he discovered in the 20th century, now has the capacity to remember all his past lives. Thomas is very happy to finally die and to let go of the torturous memories of the woman he has loved through out all time. In contrast, as a 15th century conquistador, Thomas hungrily devours the sap of the tree of life and is unfortunately reclaimed by Mother Earth. From an evolutionary pov, and from my pov, the conquistador who is rather spiritually un-evolved, is not pure enough to partake of the elixir and live, a Perceval of The Holy Grail like story. While I love the texture and richness of the various elements that make up the overarching story, I feel that the thread that sews together some really good stuff such as lost knowledge of universal principles, Mayan Shamanism, science, sacred spiritual practices, eternal life, re-incarnation, death, and conscious evolution was a little difficult to follow.
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