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Title:
The Fountain: Widescreen Edition
Region:
One
Genre:
Sci-Fi Love Story Drama
Stars:
Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, and Ellen Burstyn
Writer:
Darren Aronofsky
Based
On A Story By: Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel
Director:
Darren Aronofsky
Feature
length: 96 minutes
Extras:
Inside The Fountain: Death And Rebirth: Six-Part Documentary and
Theatrical Trailer
Languages:
English and French Language (Dubbed In Quebec) Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 23
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2006/DVD Release: 2007
Theatrical
Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Warner Home Video
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Darren
Aronofsky’s The Fountain is a beautiful mix of sci-fi, drama, and love
story set in 1500, 2006, and 2500 to tell the story of one man’s quest to
protect the life of his soulmate. The story is wisely told out of linear order
because it leaves some of the elements open to interpretation. You can view it
as being about how one couple faces mortality and you would not be wrong and
thus the 16th century and 26th century sequences are
merely mental extrapolations of the story Izzi (Rachel Weisz) had and Thomas
(Hugh Jackman) her widowed husband ultimately finishes for her. However you can
also interpret the story from the more fantastic angle that follows forth.
Warning Spoilers Ahead – Skip This Portion To Avoid Revealed Plot Points
Queen Elizabeth of Spain (Rachel Weisz) sends her Conquistador Tomas (Hugh Jackman) to New Spain – deep into Mayan territory to retrieve an elixir said to be the sap of the biblical Tree of Life by following a Franciscan monk who believes to have discovered it’s location. An Inquisitor who has been systematically executing her supporters as heretics in an attempt to weaken her position politically and eventually have her killed has accused the Queen of heresy. The idea behind this coup is to maintain control over all Christians through fear since to some extent organized religion plays upon the fears of mortality within everyone. She gives Tomas a ring and tells him that when he returns with this elixir she will marry him and together they will live forever. Tomas journeys to New Spain and eventually clashes against a Mayan Priest who protects the tree he says was grown from the body of the First Father, who sacrificed his life so that others could live.
The
consequences of Tomas’ actions and obsession manifest themselves through
Thomas, a contemporary surgeon doing experimental surgery to cure a brain tumor
within a chimpanzee and his beloved wife, a writer facing her own death due to a
malignant brain tumor and whose book The Fountain eerily recounts the
events that are depicted in the 16th century segments. Thomas has
lost his wedding ring, which has only added to his obsession with finding a cure
for his wife instead of spending whatever time they have left together by her
side. When after trying a new substance brought back from Central America to
cure the chimpanzee’s tumor begins to show miraculous healing properties,
Thomas races to tell his wife that there’s still hope. Unfortunately Izzi dies
leaving the request that Thomas complete the final chapter in her book. Reading
the account of Tomas and Queen Elizabeth and remembering his wife’s tale of
the Mayan belief that a part of the tree of life planted over the grave of
someone will yield a new tree incorporating the spirit of the deceased as well
as the Mayan belief that a star in it’s final days is the doorway to rebirth
and a new life, Thomas buries a part of the tree, presumably from the same
source brought back that was used to save the chimpanzee, on top of his wife’s
grave.
Five
hundred years later, Thomas is still alive, having extended his life through
Eastern practices and eating small bits from the bark from the tree that has
grown from his wife’s grave. Thomas within a bubble like ship is taking the
dying tree to the Mayan star before it goes supernova because he believes it
will reunite them to begin their lives anew. However he is plagued by ghostly
visions of his wife Izzi, and even the Queen, who keep asking him “To finish
it,” which is an act Thomas claims not to understand, but deep in his heart
realizes it is his destiny.
End Of Spoilers
The
Fountain
is a film that lends itself to repeated viewings to catch the little nuances and
hints in the film that work itself out by the movie’s end. In fact I debated
making a list of things in the film to support my belief that everything we see
is real and not just the dramatizations of what is in a book though I cannot
deny that that interpretation is not valid. I hope to review the Blu-ray Disc
and HD DVD releases and when I do I will make a list of hints that suggest that
our two characters are indeed experiencing events tied together over the course
of a thousand years.
One
thing is for certain immediately upon watching the DVD is that The Fountain
is going to look fantastic in 1080p high definition because as nice as the
standard definition DVD appears upconverted to 1080i, the level of detail
displayed by an upconverted DVD cannot compare to what one gets with HD DVD and
Blu-ray Disc, especially since this is a new film and not an older film that
somehow falls between the cracks of not being considered a classic and not being
a mainstream or even a cult success either. I have no doubt that The Fountain
will garner a much wider audience and even a cult following over the years to
come on any home video format. I was surprised that the film is presented in a
matted widescreen aspect ratio of approximately (1.78:1) or (1.85:1) enhanced
for 16 by 9 televisions. I thought it was a wider aspect ratio, but on multiplex
screens that are considerably smaller than the screens that films were projected
upon decades ago, it can be hard to tell. The imagery looks brilliant and the
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is both stunning and enveloping. A
French Language (Dubbed In Quebec) Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is also
encoded onto the DVD along with English Closed Captions for the Deaf and Hearing
Impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles available as
options.
There
is an excellent six-part documentary that can be viewed as individual
featurettes or through a play all feature (63:51) entitled Inside The
Fountain: Death And Rebirth that covers the production of the film beginning
with the initial attempt to shoot on location in Australia (7:40) and
continuing onward to the leaner reorganized production in Canada that began in
2004 with behind the scenes footage of both actor rehearsals and actual scene
construction as well as comments from the Director and members of the crew and
set footage depicting actual key scenes being shot in segments detailed under
the headings The 21st Century (10:20), Spain – 16th
Century (13:35), New Spain (10:00), The Endless Field (7:10),
and The Future (15:13). The theatrical trailer (2:22) is presented in a
16 by 9 enhanced aspect ratio too. The main menu is subtly animated to depict
The Tree Of Life upon the endless field while the subsequent menus are standard
interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. An excellent companion to
the DVD that I purchased shortly after it was released is the Vertigo Comics
graphic novel written by Darren Aronofsky and illustrated by Kent Williams that
gives readers an alternate look at the story as originally conceived by
Aronofsky for the Australian shoot.
The
Fountain: Widescreen Edition
is a beautiful film on DVD with an excellent behind-the-scenes documentary and
the theatrical trailer included, which I find is always important too. The
Fountain: Widescreen Edition will debut on DVD-Video on Tuesday, May 15,
2007 at retailers on and offline courtesy of Warner Home Video.
©
Copyright 2007 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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