The Fountain - Movie Review
A movie that was condemned by critics but praised by those who got the message. Taking a look at an uncliched love story.
Love is like a smoky wine cellar that allures its prey with its many kinds of wine (people). You have a wide array of wine choices - how about heartbreak from France? Or lies with a pinch of deceit from Arizona? Or maybe abandonment with a trace of scumbag from Napa Valley is more your type; the list goes on. You taste one at a time; ultimately finding the kind you get love 'drunk' on.
Wine gets better over time but all aren't up to the mark now. You've been with the kinds that don't add up to Chantelli standards. Before you know it; you're a raging alcoholic wondering what drove you to that wine cellar that is now formidable to you.
So, what now? Yes, move on. Life's too short and you have more wine tasting to do; just be smarter this time. So yes, please watch 'The Fountain' if you haven't; and I hope you've found love that is, if not same, at least bordering on something likewise (if that's even possible); if you haven't, you're lucky you don't have to deal with the drama (chuckle). In this movie however, love is nothing like a dampened wine cellar.
I've been putting off reviewing this movie that I'd watched ages ago, so here you have it. 'The Fountain' is a movie that will leave you heartbroken yet instilled with a powerful message that is spellbinding.
It is about one man's journey through three different parallel lives to save the one he loves; all in search of the 'tree of life', which will grant you immortality when you drink of its sap. In the first story, Hugh Jackman (Tomas) playing the role of a warrior fighting for his Queen and for Spain; goes out on a journey of self sacrifice and dedication to look for the tree of life and bring back what it possesses, for his Queen where she tells him that upon finding it, she'll be his Eve and they will live together forever.
It switches to story 2, 3 and back to 1 and then randomly, as it still coincides in perfect unison to show the gradual shift in different situational time gaps but of the same conquest. In the second story, Hugh Jackman (as Thomas) fights for his cancer stricken wife (Isabel) by tracing and tracking down a tree with age reversal properties that led to a subsequent cure for cancer in a test subject (Ape), but as fate would have it, his wife dies before he can intervene.
In the third story, he is taking a dying tree that is ascending toward the heavens representing the ebbing life of Rachel Weisz (Isabel), to a nebula where the Mayans believed that it was the underworld where the souls of the dead went and were reborn. His never-ending conquest was to seek the answer to his burning desire to find a cure that would save her with whilst trying to uncover the revelations of immortality. It was as if he clawed his way through three lifetimes just to save her; that in three lives, he fought yet another just to finally bring her back to life (as seen in story 3).
The three stories showcased in 'The Fountain' mold together to translate grief, love and death into something that we cannot control. Hugh Jackman is in a constant struggle to save her life and will not accept death. Love-driven to defy death. She assures him of an afterlife where we are reborn and united; where in union time and pain do not exist and govern us mortals.
The portrayed scenario is heartfelt reaching out to audiences to help connect them to the concept of what one can do for love. Accepting what is at hand is the first step in healing oneself from the pain of losing someone. We fight and we fight for a battle that ended eons ago; we don't let our guards down; we don't pause to admit to the naked truth. This ultimately kills a part of you, driving you to the madhouse waiting just around the bend.
We shouldn't be afraid to lose people we love, to know there is a kind of hope that sinks in with understanding constructed over time. This isn't just for when we lose people to death but for those we know in our present lives. They come and go but you will be here, with the 'how-it-happened' knowledge. You can go on and on about the details; analyzing; turning over the little bits of the story in your mind or even out loud, but ultimately it is up to you to pick yourself up and move forward. No one is saying to move onward in fast forward motion; we take every day as it comes, knowing that gradually we can wake up more light hearted with every passing day.
Recommendation - Download 'The Fountain' soundtrack album. An aural trip to wake up the senses.
Rating - 5/5
Happy Wine Tasting.
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