When Phil asked me to write for this site my remit was of course to focus on independent, art house and foreign cinema. And yet I present you with a review of Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain, which was released on DVD this week. This is probably where you would say "hang on... that had studio backing and starred Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, and they're pretty A-List." And you'd be right to say so. But this is still an art house picture, just one that had the budget to create some of the most stunning and gorgeous visuals I have ever seen committed to the screen.
I will make this clear now however, this film is celluloid marmite. You will either love its ideas, its love story, its complex structure and the fact that in the end it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Or you will think its half boiled spiritualism, romantic drivel with an overly complex structure and in the end it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
I fall very much into the former camp. This is a moving film, a complex love story told over thousands of years as Hugh Jackman tries to stop his wife from dying. However, how much of the story is real is unclear. Are the scenes of Hugh Jackman's conquistador in search of the tree of life a part of Rachel Weisz's novel written in the present day, or did it really happen? Are the scenes of Hugh Jackman making his way through space to revive the tree of life the future of the present Jackman? You take from this film what you will and what you want.
Visually this film is stunning and packed with so many exciting visual ideas, especially the scenes in the distant future. Clint Mansell has written possibly the most beautiful score of his career (more powerful even than his for Aronofsky's most acclaimed film, Requiem For A Dream).
This is art house going mainstream but at the same time this film is not for everyone. It is slow, challenging and for the most part downbeat in tone. But it is also original, epic yet personal, and an excellent look at love, hope and death.
This is a film you can watch again and again, seeing new things every time and trying to work out their significance.
If you're really not sure if it sounds like your cup of tea, then rent it on DVD first. But I think you'd be cheating yourself if you didn't at least give it a try.
Amazon
May I also recommend you have a look at the graphic novel printed by Vertigo, written by Darren Aronofsky himself and acting as a kind of directors cut.
DC Comics Graphic novels
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