I watched this movie for the first time at 5am when I had just come back from a party and was still on MDMA, and it was really special. I recommend this viewing experience, and I don't care what anyone says. :)
Disgustoso, gli animali non umani vengono trattati come se fossero delle macchine prive di sentimenti e sensibilità.
Il protagonista cerca di trovare la cura per un cancro della sua compagna senza cercare tra le cause che l'hanno provocato. E per fare questo provoca un cancro "incurabile" ad un animale che non aveva chiesto di morire e, tanto meno, di soffrire.
In German we have a word for a movie like this, "plump" - the various translations for it in English paint the right picture: clumsy, ungainly, dumpy, heavy-handed. How could anyone have read the script and thought "this is daring and philosophical" - because it feels more like a seventh grader heard about religion for the first time while simultaneously reading Orlando.
In addition, it looks very cheap. Like someone tried to make a movie out of the music videos for R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion and Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box.
The Fountain is the forgotten Darren Aronofsky film, the one he made between Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler, and that I didn't even know existed until a few weeks ago. It stars Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz and takes place in three time frames/realities, each telling the same story through different elements/metaphors. In the near future (as played by Montreal), Jackman's character is a scientist trying to find a cure for the tumor that's threatening his wife's life; Weisz has accepted that she's dying, and wants him to finish the book she started writing after she's gone. In the past, Jackman is a conquistador who goes to the Mayan Empire to find the fabled Tree of Life on orders from Weisz's Spanish queen. In the future, Jackman is in a bubble floating in space, tending to the dying Tree of Life. Are the latter two simply tales from Weisz's novel, or is the book a retelling of their own "immortal" lives? The movie trailer makes it seem like the latter, but the film is far more ambiguous. That said, the artiness of this tragic story does create obstacles to the audience's capacity to emotionally connect with it. The present is emotional, but the past is a little hard to get into, and the future a real head trip like something out of Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain. It'll work for some, but not for others. For my part, I connected with it intellectually because of the correspondences between the time frames, and the overall puzzle of its structure.
Visually stunning, if otherwise sloppy in places. The final scene, however, both astounded and terrified me. Well worth watching, I would argue, if only for that. Might it be "over the top" in some regards? Yes. But Clint Mansell's score requires a little "over the top", that's what makes it so powerful.
It's hugely ambitious, and Aronofsky is an accomplished visual stylist, but it's let down by a bad script that's full of clunky lines and has a strange structure where it redundantly repeats the same story in three time periods. Hence the big emotional moments didn't carry enough weight for me when they occurred and felt flat.
People keep discussing if this is a masterpiece or not... I believe, in some way it is.
For one thing, Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz were absolutely wonderful - their acting talent is just indisputable and I guess they are certainly not the reason for some people to dislike the movie.
What I also loved about the movie was the topics it dealt with - loss and love, mankinds neverending struggle with the inevitability of death, the search for immortality, the circle of life etc. It captures all of these things beautifully.
Furthermore it is a visually appealing movie with unusual, beautiful pictures.
But the real reason (combined with those above) why I think it is so special and could be called a masterpiece are the twisted way the story was told and the numerous possibilities for interpretation. I myself had several theories or ideas while watching the movie, even more of them after I'd had time to think about it - and I read additional ones in various forums.
It's just great to think about what's real and what's made up, what happened why and which scene has which meaning... and what a certain line or event tells us about life, death and so on. I just love movies that raise more questions than they answer - and I guess this is a major reason for many people to dislike the film.
If you're always looking for one and only one true explanation or an answer to everything then this is certainly the wrong movie for you. But if you're happy to go on a journey in your mind and just let your own ideas and your own interpretation unfold, then this movie is a real gem.
Absolutely loved it! Although I agree with previous comments about the pretentiousness and the melodrama I do have to say I enjoyed every part of this movie. The visuals, the music, the acting, the story... brilliant!
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Comments 1 - 15 of 48
Erikpan
I watched this movie for the first time at 5am when I had just come back from a party and was still on MDMA, and it was really special. I recommend this viewing experience, and I don't care what anyone says. :)shitmovies
Complete dogshit. Total disappointment. Where did he go wrong after Requiem? I'm thinking drug abuse.DaniloFreiles
Disgustoso, gli animali non umani vengono trattati come se fossero delle macchine prive di sentimenti e sensibilità.Il protagonista cerca di trovare la cura per un cancro della sua compagna senza cercare tra le cause che l'hanno provocato. E per fare questo provoca un cancro "incurabile" ad un animale che non aveva chiesto di morire e, tanto meno, di soffrire.
kaaaaaro
In German we have a word for a movie like this, "plump" - the various translations for it in English paint the right picture: clumsy, ungainly, dumpy, heavy-handed. How could anyone have read the script and thought "this is daring and philosophical" - because it feels more like a seventh grader heard about religion for the first time while simultaneously reading Orlando.In addition, it looks very cheap. Like someone tried to make a movie out of the music videos for R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion and Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box.
shaveen
What a mess it was..Dawizz
Another artsy movie trying very very bad to be something it isn't (a masterpiece) and it fails hard at even being a good movie.BigAwesomeBLT
Sad film made us cry :(Siskoid
The Fountain is the forgotten Darren Aronofsky film, the one he made between Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler, and that I didn't even know existed until a few weeks ago. It stars Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz and takes place in three time frames/realities, each telling the same story through different elements/metaphors. In the near future (as played by Montreal), Jackman's character is a scientist trying to find a cure for the tumor that's threatening his wife's life; Weisz has accepted that she's dying, and wants him to finish the book she started writing after she's gone. In the past, Jackman is a conquistador who goes to the Mayan Empire to find the fabled Tree of Life on orders from Weisz's Spanish queen. In the future, Jackman is in a bubble floating in space, tending to the dying Tree of Life. Are the latter two simply tales from Weisz's novel, or is the book a retelling of their own "immortal" lives? The movie trailer makes it seem like the latter, but the film is far more ambiguous. That said, the artiness of this tragic story does create obstacles to the audience's capacity to emotionally connect with it. The present is emotional, but the past is a little hard to get into, and the future a real head trip like something out of Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain. It'll work for some, but not for others. For my part, I connected with it intellectually because of the correspondences between the time frames, and the overall puzzle of its structure.dorkusmalorkus
Visually stunning, if otherwise sloppy in places. The final scene, however, both astounded and terrified me. Well worth watching, I would argue, if only for that. Might it be "over the top" in some regards? Yes. But Clint Mansell's score requires a little "over the top", that's what makes it so powerful.nick121235
I definitely enjoyed this movie, it was extremely emotionally invoking.ChrisReynolds
It's hugely ambitious, and Aronofsky is an accomplished visual stylist, but it's let down by a bad script that's full of clunky lines and has a strange structure where it redundantly repeats the same story in three time periods. Hence the big emotional moments didn't carry enough weight for me when they occurred and felt flat.IreneAdler
People keep discussing if this is a masterpiece or not... I believe, in some way it is.For one thing, Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz were absolutely wonderful - their acting talent is just indisputable and I guess they are certainly not the reason for some people to dislike the movie.
What I also loved about the movie was the topics it dealt with - loss and love, mankinds neverending struggle with the inevitability of death, the search for immortality, the circle of life etc. It captures all of these things beautifully.
Furthermore it is a visually appealing movie with unusual, beautiful pictures.
But the real reason (combined with those above) why I think it is so special and could be called a masterpiece are the twisted way the story was told and the numerous possibilities for interpretation. I myself had several theories or ideas while watching the movie, even more of them after I'd had time to think about it - and I read additional ones in various forums.
It's just great to think about what's real and what's made up, what happened why and which scene has which meaning... and what a certain line or event tells us about life, death and so on. I just love movies that raise more questions than they answer - and I guess this is a major reason for many people to dislike the film.
If you're always looking for one and only one true explanation or an answer to everything then this is certainly the wrong movie for you. But if you're happy to go on a journey in your mind and just let your own ideas and your own interpretation unfold, then this movie is a real gem.
Chrizu
Absolutely loved it! Although I agree with previous comments about the pretentiousness and the melodrama I do have to say I enjoyed every part of this movie. The visuals, the music, the acting, the story... brilliant!davedg
This movie hit me right in the feelsmathiasa
Some nice visuals, that's all. those saying it's a masterpiece just haven't seen one yet.Showing items 1 – 15 of 48