The Fountain
Bummerman went to the movies yesterday, and he is most pleased. Stave It Off's official Nephew, Dan "the four-fingered man", came to town and joined us for a viewing of the Fountain: One of Stave It Off's recent picks for most eagerly anticipated films.
Aronofsky's relentless series of gutpunches delights me to no end. He did not stoop to include a single moment of comedic relief (unless you're the kind of person who finds yoga poses or tai chi katas humorous.) The weak suburban audience snickered occasionally (at the more over-the-top sentimental moments) but that was only because they were uncomfortable with the director's intensity. Real viewers (those of you awesome enough to be like Bummerman) will open their hearts and minds and just accept that this movie makes you cry for two straight hours. The driving themes of The Fountain involve death, transcendent belief in eternity, and man making peace with his desire to conquer everything... not exactly light fare but they are investigated with surprising taste and restraint (given the science-fiction/fantasy trappings.)
The use of 16th and 25th century imagery to illustrate these themes is done with breathtaking care. The visual imagery and the music (especially the music) suitably enhance the emotional impact of the film.
And Huge Ackman deserves special mention. The ability to sell your performance in this kind of film is key to everything, and he delivers magnificently. And the ladies will probably appreciate seeing him in tight leather pants (accentuating his Ackman nicely) and one particularly well-filmed bathtub scene.
Labels: Movies
posted by John @ 3:40 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
The question on the poster that first allured me - "What if you could live forever?" - seems to be answered in Hugh Jackman's constant anguish over the loss of his wife. In particular I'm thinking of the future scenes where he's alarmed by her appearance and begs her to leave him alone. I think the moral that most reviews haven't bothered to address is that immortality has its drawbacks. We'd be haunted by the faces of those we had loved and lost, ending up quite lonely and bothered by the memories that we can't shut off or erase.
Jackman's character doesn't achieve inner peace or closure until he admits he's not afraid of dying - when he's floating toward the dying star and actually smiles for once. That scene might have implied that death was the only way he'd ever get closer to his wife and thus a good thing, or maybe that death was not the end, but I was too busy wiping my eyes to really analyze it.
I still want to live forever.
Soapy
Can you say that Bummerman went to this film if you actually liked it?
Damn you Soapy for giving the movie away!
What have I given away? You can infer something is very wrong with the wife's health about ten or fifteen minutes into the story. There is only one plot "twist" in the movie, it will take most of the movie to figure it out, and I haven't given it away.
I will say I was pretty shocked during that final scene where they revealed Darth Vader was Hugh Jackman's father! What an ending!!
Soapy
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