The Fountain (DVD)

The film shows three different stories, all played by the same couple, all based in different times. One is set in 16th century, where a queen sends a man on a mission to get sap from a special tree that will give immortality. The second is set in present times, with a man who is desperately trying to find a cure for a tumour, or for death itself, before his wife who has a tumour dies. The third is set in the future, and consists of the man floating around the sky in a bubble, containing himself, a tree, and occasionally the woman appears. No seriously. The leading male is played by Hugh Jackman, who you may recognise from the X Men films. I find it hard to ...  Read the complete review

This is a film of three stories taking place in parallel. They connect, criss-cross and inter-weave with each other across three eras of time linked by the lead character and the Tree of Life. The first takes place in the 16th Century. Tomas is a conquistador advancing in the Mayan heartlands of New Spain. He is seeking the Fountain of Youth as the last resort to save his queen, Isabella, from the Inquisitor. The second takes place in the present day. Tommy is a medical research scientist testing new medicines. He is seeking a cure for his dying wife, Izzi. The third takes place in the distant future. Tom is an astronaut travelling ...  Read the complete review

note: also appears in part on Flixster and The Student Room Darren Aronofsky is one of the best living American directors. His career began with the cult hit Pi, and then he cemented himself as legendary with the searing masterpiece Requiem for a Dream, and most recently he also directed the masterful The Wrestler. The Fountain is by far his most divisive work, a strange Kubrick-esque fantasy that is on the surface quite inpenetrable, but is immersed in an undeniably ethereal beauty, aided entirely by Clint Mansell's hauntingly beautiful musical score. The film revolves around a scientist called Tommy Creo (Hugh Jackman) who has been able to reverse ...  Read the complete review

The Fountain is an ambitious and some would say slightly too ambitious film. It is directed by Darren Aronofsky, one of the best young directors in the world, in his previous two feature films, Pi and Requiem for a Dream, who proved himself to be technically spectacular and a director who can create story and visual in tandem to stunning effect. This film stars Hugh Jackman and Aronofsky's wife Rachel Weisz and apparently took 4 years to make as the original stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett pulled out, it is a really deep film and was not a commercial success at the box office, it has subsequently divided opinion between people who loved the style and ...  Read the complete review

The Fountain is a film that seemed to split both critics and audiences down the centre when it was released. Everyone either gave it one star or five stars (as was the case on Dooyoo as well before this review!). I was hoping that I would be one of those who gave it 5, but I pretty quickly realised this was not going to be the case. It's difficult to categorise the genre of the film but my partner went with 'weird romantic fantasy drama'. Really, it is three strands of 'storyline' woven into one bizarre movie. Strand one: Tom (Hugh Jackman) is a surgeon who is experimenting on monkeys, looking for a cure for brain tumours because his wife Izzie ...  Read the complete review