The Sewer has a stringent set of guidelines for prospective contributors, and the first is; if you can write about movies with intelligence, depth of knowledge and style, we don't want it.
Here then follows our 'take' on Aronofsky's The Fountain.
I think I'm-a call this review Symmetry and the Central Locus of the Icon in The Fountain.
Anyway, The Fountain is a tri-timeline tripper that follows dreamy Hugh Jackman (careful, now!) as he tries to reconcile his relationship with his wife. You see, Hugh is a research neurosurgeon, and dreamy Rachel Weisz (feel better now?) just might need his services.
Meantime Weisz has almost finished a historical-fiction novel about a conquistador (played by Jackman) searching for the tree of life in South America. As Hugh reads the manuscript he gets sorta lost in it.
At other times a bald Jackman does Tai Chi in a transparent space-bubble.
So has Aronofsky ended his career here, or what?
Depends of your state of mind. The Fountain is certainly ravishing to look at, from the dark, gritty South American stuff through to the startlingly beautiful space stuff. It is also filled with stellar camera-work and the aforementioned symmetry, which adds symbolic depth to the story.
Meantime Weisz and Jackman act their hearts out, when lesser actors might have dialed in performances for roles about which they'd have the right to scratch their heads.
Ultimately it's these at times rending performances and the sheer glory of the gorgeous pictures that will pay off for those who stay with this movie 'til the end, although there is the temptation to throw your hands up and scream 'Why?' This reviewer even thought of giving up at the 20-minute mark.
Stick with it and you'll find a languorous, mesmerizing exploration of the ultimate heartbreak. You might not find answers, but you'll learn to appreciate the question.
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| Hugh loosens up in space. |
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| Weisz does double duty as the Queen of Spain. |
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| If you make it this far into the movie, you might not achieve enlightenment. |