The Fountain

This weekend I got to see Darren Aronofsky's latest film, The Fountain. And I’m going to state this here and now: this review is going to be replete with spoilers!!! And the words below aren’t so much going to be a review of the movie, but rather my own interpretation of this film. So if you have any intention of seeing this movie, stop reading now!!! Because if you continue reading, I hold no responsibility for ruining the movie for you.

So having issued that little disclaimer, let's get on with the story.

After watching the trailer for The Fountain, we’re led to believe that we’re going to see a 1,000-year-long love story. I would have to say that isn’t the case. We have Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz playing characters in each of the respective timelines, but I don’t think they're necessarily representing the same characters. Anyway, I went into this with the presumption that The Fountain was going to be a very abstract movie, kind of like a modern-day 2001. Using that perspective helped, because it allowed me to follow along without necessarily trying to keep pace with what was happening on screen, because with anything abstract, it requires the viewer to come to his or her own conclusions about what we see.

Having said that, my conclusion is this: The Fountain is a large-scale examination of one man's attempt to let go of the guilt and anguish that he directs at himself—and at life itself—for being unable to save his wife . . . by merely a matter of moments. Essentially, The Fountain is an abstract examination of death and eternal life, and I think how we as mortal humans deal with and ultimately face death.

Since we're dealing with three separate storylines, we'll start this review with the present-day narrative. Hugh Jackman plays Tommy Creo, a researcher who’s obsessively searching for a cure for cancer. We see him over an operating table in the beginning of the film, and it’s slowly revealed to us that he’s operating on a monkey who's riddled with cancer, presumably a brain tumor. And many times we see him cutting away to talk to his wife Izzy, played by Rachel Weisz. Many of these scenes between Tommy and Izzy are repeated throughout the film, such as her inviting him outside to walk in the first snow of the season, and him saying no, he has to work. Given the frequency of these scenes being repeated, and the one or two times they change direction, I chose to interpret these as Tommy's memories, but guilt-laden that he didn't chose to walk with her in the snow or in general spend more time with her. It's slowly revealed to us that Weisz's Izzy is herself fighting cancer, and that her cancer is the very reason that Tommy is so obsessed with curing it.

Shortly after this revelation, she shows Tommy a book that she’s been writing—itself entitled The Fountain!—and from here, we begin to intersperse fragments of story that take place in Spain during the Inquisition. In this story, Jackman is playing a Spanish conquistador who pledges unending loyalty to Spain, even if it means his own life. After a meeting with the queen—played by Weisz—she tells him of a mythical Mayan pyramid found deep within the jungles, at the top of which it is fabled that the Tree of Life stands. And anyone who drinks from the sap of this tree will have eternal life. This could bring glory to Spain in a time of great darkness (i.e., the Inquisition; we’re given a very brief view of heretics being tried by inquisitors; never a pretty sight, as anyone who’s seen The Name of the Rose will tell you), so Jackman's conquistador sets out to find the pyramid and the tree, with the aid of a monk (played by Aronofsky regular Mark Margolis). And once found, he and the queen will be together forever.

I like to think that the conquistador storyline is actually Tommy Creo's interpretation of Izzy's story, which he reads while waiting for Izzy to wake up one morning (even though elements of that storyline are scattered throughout the movie). But her story is an unfinished one, the final chapter of the book unwritten, and she asks him to finish it for her, presuming that she won't live long enough to finish it herself. In fact, that’s a recurring line of the movie—Weisz in the Izzy character whispering, "Finish it. Finish it."

Fast-forward now to a third storyline, one that presumably takes place in the far future and in outer space. Jackman again shows up on the scene, this time with a shaved head and face, a withering tree (the Tree of Life, little pieces of which he eats intermittently to sustain his life), and a very large patch of earth—all encapsulated inside a huge bubble that’s flying through outer space to a distant nebula that's about to go nova (a bubble that recalls Carl Sagan's "Ship of the Imagination" from is TV science series "Cosmos"). His hope is that he and the tree will live long enough to be part of the nova, because in Izzy's conquistador story, it is fabled that when people die, their souls go to that nebula to be part of that nova, to essentially live forever. My initial thought was that he was going there to find her soul, to have it nourished by the Tree of Life, so he could bring her back to life . . .

. . . because despite all of Tommy's best efforts to find a cure, Izzy dies. And what’s worse, the night before she dies, the monkey's cancer had been shown to be reduced, so a cure had finally been found. But in a cruel irony of life, news reached Tommy and Izzy too late.

Jackman was phenomenal as Tommy, obsessed with finding a cure for his wife but unable to sit back and smell the roses (i.e., enjoy some of the more precious moments he still had with her). And I don’t think he could forgive himself for being too late with a cure. He was a man who could not accept death, going so far as to label death a disease, even though his wife could accept death. Many many times, Izzy says to him that she isn't afraid anymore, that she isn't afraid of dying, but Tommy just couldn't accept that, and he can't forgive himself for letting her die.

We see this again in the futuristic bubble, where the Tree of Life begins to wither up and die, much to the horror of Tommy. The fact that it happened just as they were reaching the nebula, so close yet so far, mirrors Izzy's death, and I think the bubble story isn't an actual live-action story but rather one that takes place within Tommy's mind—an internal examination of his guilt, his hatred of death, and ultimately his failing of Izzy, all reflected in the nova/eternal life fable that Izzy uses in her story. We see many projections of Izzy while traveling inside that bubble ship, literally appearing and disappearing out of nowhere both when she was young and healthy, and again when she’s in the hospital bed. And her repeated intoning of, "Finish it, finish it", I chose to think of that as Tommy—not Izzy but Tommy—subconsciously telling himself not so much to finish her conquistador story, but for him to let go of his guilt.

And I think the supernova at the end is just that—Tommy finally forgiving himself and letting go.

Weisz was quite admirable with Izzy, always the free spirit even as death stared her in the face. Jackman, as I said earlier, was absolutely stunning! His obsession was all-consuming, his grief was palpable, and I don’t think anyone else could have played his torment and anguish as well as he did. The visual effects and camerawork were spectacular, too, especially in the space sequences as the bubble ship approached the nebula. And the soundtrack itself was marvelous. It was largely string quartet, but very minimalist, very somber, terribly sad, unquestionably tragic in the long, drawn notes. The Fountain will definitely require a second viewing from me, but for now, I’ll give this a 9 out of 10. And if I come away from a second viewing with another interpretation, I'll make sure to post that, so stay tuned!