The Fountain (2006)

	Directed by: Darren Aronofsky	COUNTRY USA GENRE Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE The Fountain RUNNING TIME 96 minutes
	Produced by: Darren Aronofsky
	Written by: Darren Aronofsky

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Tomas/Tommy/Dr. Tom Creo	Hugh Jackman	½
Queen Isabel/Izzi Creo	Rachel Weisz	½
Dr. Lillian Guzetti	Ellen Burstyn	½
Father Avila	Mark Margolis

Review

When presenting allegoric, existential concepts on film, a filmmaker must take into account a few challenges that an author can disregard, such as the acting or the visualization of objects that will inadvertently represent something palpable and associative for every viewer. This gives the filmmaker more tools and options to use in order to grasp the viewer's attention, but it might also make it more difficult to draw focus to the concept, because no matter how general you want to be, your images will always be specific. With his much-anticipated new film, The Fountain, Darren Aronofsky struggles to balance the general and the specific. His goal is arguably to present a rendition of one of mankind's most ancient meditations: the source of life and how we are connected to the discontinuation of it – or to evoke reflections around this and open the viewer's intellectual or visual channels – or, preferably, both. The Fountain isn't about suspense, narration or entertainment, but about thought-processes – in both the protagonist and the viewer.

Aronofsky's ideas aren't banal or stupid. What he presents will to some extent be fascinating to most of us. But while potentially interesting, it’s hard not to consider the life-death-rebirth circle as an over-analysed and highly glorified concept nurtured by our inseparable bond to Christianity. The question is whether this approach is retained due to the fact that it is the most significant one, or because of our lack of vision – in this case from Aronofsky. To what extent does The Fountain have artistic or philosophical value? Does it present something new and fresh, or does it simply recycle and inflate existing and highly debatable or trivial stances?

Regardless of the answer to the above questions, Aronofsky seems very content with his symbols and allegories, because he keeps repeating them. His film clings to its own awe, hence removing any fertile soil for immediacy. The craftsmanship is impressive, and so is the portrayal of the combined sadness and vigour that exists in Tommy's unwillingness to let go of life, but the film lacks the subtlety and simplicity that a poem or a painting with a similar objective would have. The Fountain persists without protruding, and pushes its crescendo to a level that Aronofsky's cogitations cannot justify. The sad part about this is that his simple, yet poignant story is pushed aside by the dazzle.

The acting in The Fountain ranges from brilliant to mushy. Hugh Jackman has moments of sheer inspiration, followed by segments that completely pass him by; that he cannot seem to find a way into. But I don't really blame him, because the way this film is assembled, it's hard to capture the necessary emotional relevance between its three sections. The Fountain remains interesting throughout, and it definitely makes you think, but the film's brilliance is only visible in fragments behind a veil of pomposity and recycled imagery.