Entertainment For Lively Minds
The Fountain
I watched The Fountain last night, and was wondering if any other fellow Word-ites had seen this? If so, can you explain it to me please? I felt like turning it off after the first 10 minutes because it was so baffling; by the time it finished I felt as if I might have enjoyed it, but wasn't sure. And I really didn't know what it all meant. It was a bit like a celluloid version of tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon, only with this it was tip-of-the-brain. Could I really have enjoyed it if I didn't have a clue what was going on? I just don't know.
For those who have never heard of it, it was directed by Darren Aranofsky and stars Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman as characters from the past, present and future. Although in the future, Jackman appears to be some sort of zen astronaut and Weisz is/might be a tree. Or something. It seems to be a meditation on love, death and eternity. I think. I realise I'm not selling it to you, but as you may be able to tell it's left me a little baffled.
Regardless of the film, I can heartily recommend the Clint Mansell soundtrack which, to my ears, outshines his stuff for Moon: http://open.spotify.com/album/7q18n1Pnq7mx6satptDoJ3
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Clint Mansell
Who would have thought somebody from Pop Will Eat Itself of all bands, would become a successful and respected composer of soundtracks?!?!?!?!?
I've been sat here for several minutes
Trying to think how to explain my understanding of this film, but it's not exactly easy.
My interpretation is that Jackman-The-Astronaut's narrative is 'the present' of the movie. As he heads toward the star in his tree/ecoship, he reminisces/hallucinates (possibly as a result of a long period spent alone during the voyage) about his life as Jackman-The-Doctor with Rachel Weisz and also the novel she wrote, which gives us the scenes as Jackman-The-Conquistador.
Beyond that, well, it gets far too baffling to type out precise theories. Like you, I almost think that I wouldn't love it as much if I knew exactly what was going on - I have a similar opinion on I Heart Huckabees.
Soundtrack is excellent, though, and so are the effects.
Hmmmm...
That's an angle I hadn't considered. So the doctor-Jackman is actually the past...
Although the past-present-future ditinction is presumably irrelevant because it all seems to form one big loop, with astronaut-Jackman eventually forming the dying star which the Mayans worship.
It's odd - one of those films that is actually better as it evolves in your head. (Can't say the same about Huckabees, I'm afraid - struck me as disjointed nonsense, but then I am a bear of very little brain)
The 'one big loop' angle is
The 'one big loop' angle is something I'd not really noticed/focused on myself, but that's an interesting point too.
Maybe you don't need a graphic novel by Aranofsky to work this film out.. you just need a fellow member of the Word massive!
Think I'll stick to
Escape to Victory after reading these posts
Further Reading
Aranofsky wrote an accompanying graphic novel:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fountain-Darren-Aronofsky-Kent-Williams/dp/18457...
He describes this as his 'Director's Cut', it fills in some gaps and allows the audience to work through at their own pace, might be worth giving this a go? Richard Kelly did a similar thing with his equally tangled Southland Tales, releasing three graphic novels as a prequel to the film, adding detail and clarity that wouldn't fit into the film's running time/ budget.
After foolishly renting
After foolishly renting Southland Tales a few years ago, I wouldn't go near the accompanying material with a ten-foot barge pole.
The Aranofsky Novel
isn't that bad really. It explains the idea of Astronaut Thomas and Cancer researcher Tom being one in the same, Tom having developed an anti-aging compound but Izzi dying too soon. The Mayan bit is a literary creation of Izzi. I haven't seen the film so don't know how clear that version is on the concept/conceit. All in all it doesn't particularly matter as it's all part of the 'wishy-washy timey-wimey thingy' isn''t it, what with the repetition of theme and all that.
With relation to Southland Tales, I had to watch it twice and am still none the wiser to what happens. It's narratively bloated and distractingly edited. However, I don't think that Richard Kelly is a lost cause. There are some interesting ideas in there but far too many. I particularly enjoyed the casting of wrestlers, vampire slayers, pop stars and that dude from 'dude, where's my car?' if only for the boldness of it.
Ok
Might see if I can locate a copy of the Fountain stuff.
moon
clint mansell's soundtracks are genius
i'll give 'the fountain' a go because of aronovsky's previous