The MB Film Club: 'The Fountain' Discussion Thread

[James]

Please post any discussion pertaining to 'The Fountain' in this thread and we'll keep the other one tidy!

[Zhanteimi]

One of the worst movies ever made.

[James]

Why?

[Zhanteimi]

Probably the context in which I saw it. My friend watched it whilst tripping on acid one day, came out of the room and told me it was the best movie ever made (because it was about his own life -- typical tripping schizophrenia), so when I watched it later, I was expecting great things. Instead, I got karate against the stars with a floating tree in a bubble. It's not as bad as The Tree of Life, but it's still awful.

[James]

I really like The Tree of Life, and I like this movie too, to an extent. Besides, the floating tree bubble only takes up a third of the film.

[Zhanteimi]

The Tree of Life -- a comet hits the earth and kills all the dinosaurs, and then some kid can't get along with his father.

[Exo]

Originally Posted by mordwyr

The Tree of Life -- a comet hits the earth and kills all the dinosaurs, and then some kid can't get along with his father.

Right, that's ALL that film is about.

So, I finally watched The Fountain. Sorry it took so long. I think that a Netlix limited selection of films may produce more contribution to these discussions. Speaking of discussions, I'm going to scatterbrain my thoughts on the film rather than write a detailed post so it's easier to discuss.

• Beautifully shot film. Aronofsky is obviously a talented filmmaker and while I didn't get much out of the more "cosmic" scenes, the darkly lit scenes in the lab and any scenes dealing with Hugh in Spain were gorgeous.
  
• I have actually been listening to Clint Mansell's score for years even though I haven't seen the film. This is mostly due to it having the Kronos Quartet helping out but the music in regards to the film just fit wonderfully. It made the emotional moments hit deeper.
• The emotional momenst however were a little too much for me. I really didn't get much background information from these two. The sheer acting ability for Jackman and Weiss was what hept me emotionally involved.
• That being said, the script was pretty weak. The ideas that were being brought to the table were thought invoking and deeply philosophical. The film dealt with the circle of life, death, life, the loss of loved ones, the desire to live forever. That is some serious sh*t. I felt that like in the film, the script planted a seed of intellectual discussion but could have been way more precise and tight when it came to fitting those concepts into the script.
• I liked the film. It is just extremely flawed. Most of the scences involving Jackman in his space bubble were hard to decipher what was going on. Personally, I believe this was his "limbo" state between each one of his lives, and that the woman that he loves in each life just so happens to be the same woman. I could be wrong, but that's what I got out of it.

I'd like to discuss the movie with you guys. Get your f*cking asses in here.

[James]

Originally Posted by Exo_

Right, that's ALL that film is about.

So, I finally watched The Fountain. Sorry it took so long. I think that a Netlix limited selection of films may produce more contribution to these discussions. Speaking of discussions, I'm going to scatterbrain my thoughts on the film rather than write a detailed post so it's easier to discuss.

• Beautifully shot film. Aronofsky is obviously a talented filmmaker and while I didn't get much out of the more "cosmic" scenes, the darkly lit scenes in the lab and any scenes dealing with Hugh in Spain were gorgeous.
  
• I have actually been listening to Clint Mansell's score for years even though I haven't seen the film. This is mostly due to it having the Kronos Quartet helping out but the music in regards to the film just fit wonderfully. It made the emotional moments hit deeper.
• The emotional momenst however were a little too much for me. I really didn't get much background information from these two. The sheer acting ability for Jackman and Weiss was what hept me emotionally involved.
• That being said, the script was pretty weak. The ideas that were being brought to the table were thought invoking and deeply philosophical. The film dealt with the circle of life, death, life, the loss of loved ones, the desire to live forever. That is some serious sh*t. I felt that like in the film, the script planted a seed of intellectual discussion but could have been way more precise and tight when it came to fitting those concepts into the script.
• I liked the film. It is just extremely flawed. Most of the scences involving Jackman in his space bubble were hard to decipher what was going on. Personally, I believe this was his "limbo" state between each one of his lives, and that the woman that he loves in each life just so happens to be the same woman. I could be wrong, but that's what I got out of it.

I'd like to discuss the movie with you guys. Get your f*cking asses in here.

I think the soundtrack and the cinematography are where this film is accomplished. Even more amazing when you find out the director didn't use any CGI and most of the effects in the cosmic scenes come from petri dishes! Truly a fantastic achievement.
Acting was solid, but nothing mindblowing.
My personal interpretation would have to lie in line with Roger Ebert's, that the scenes in the present with Tommy being the only ones actually happening. Izzi's book explains the Spanish story perfectly and I reckon the cosmic one is the last chapter that Tommy added. Although I would say it's left ambiguous on purpose.



Btw, this being the first one and around Christmas time I didn't expect a wealth of responses. Testing the waters and all. It will grow with time! New film gets announced tomorrow

[Ninetales]

Originally Posted by James

I reckon the cosmic one is the last chapter that Tommy added. tomorrow

damn never thought of this before. that's cool.

but ya I kind of mirror Exo's thoughts on The Fountain. I had a long ass paragraph written like a week ago but left it and forgot to post. oh well

Basically I think it was obviously a gorgeous looking film, but beyond that it was just uninteresting. All of the characters were just so boring. Like they all the depth of the cardboard cutouts that would stand infront of their theatre. Made it very hard for me to care about anything that happened to them. I know I should have cared about Izzi's death, but ya, nothing.

I think The Fountain reminds me a lot of Pan's Labyrinth. Theyre nice to look at, but everything else was just kinda lame :/

[Exo]

Can we also all agree that Rachel Weiss is f*cking adorable?