The Fountain

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2017)

"The Fountain" begins with the death of a conquistador who was searching for the tree of life, then cuts to that same man, but bald, now sitting next to the tree of life as he floats through the universe, then finally cuts back to present day where that same man frantically searches for a cure for cancer. This is all in the first few minutes.
Of course, these three aren't all technically the same person - one exists far in the past during the Spanish inquisition (Tomas), another seems to exist in the future after death (Tommy), and the other exists currently (Tom Creo), but they all seem to have the same motivation. Tomas is trying to find the tree of life to grant him and his queen (played by Rachel Weisz) immortality, as her country is being taken over, Tom is trying to find a cure for cancer to save his wife Isabel (also played by Rachel Weisz) from death, and Tommy seems to be trying to keep the tree of life alive in the afterlife so that he can be with her for eternity.
On its base level, the movie is really just about death, and how we should deal with it, and what comes after, and all the anxieties that go with that. As I mentioned before, the film starts with Tomas, the conquistador, being stabbed, and looking down at his stab wound with fear as blood pours out of his body. He knows he is slowly dying, but the film cuts away before he does. Each of the versions of Tom is in some way fighting against death, while Isabel is learning to accept it. Many times throughout each of three plot lines, Tom is told to "Finish" his story and in each of them he struggles to do this. In one shot, he walks through the busy streets but the only audio we hear are his footsteps; he is unaware of the world around him.
There are many smart artistic decisions such as this. Many of the shots are directly overhead the characters, as if they are being watched from above. As a contrast to this, there are a large amount of extreme close ups, showing how the Tom and Isabel cling to each other. Not to mention to often gorgeous special effects during the ethereal scenes involving Tommy as he ascends through the universe and into a nebula. But the film was incredibly ambitious for 2006 special effects, and occasionally they come off looking cheap and unintentionally funny, especially towards the end of the film during what should've been a very serious and awe- inspiring sequence. Also, Tommy doing martial arts moves in front of a space background was completely irrelevant to the story and themes, and ended up coming off as ridiculous and absurd.
However, the film is elevated by Hugh Jackman's devastating performance in each of the three roles he plays. Rachel Weisz is fantastic as well, but one smaller performance that truly stood out was Ellen Burstyn as Dr. Lillian Guzetti. Her speech at Isabel's funeral towards the end of the film, although short, was one of the best scenes. As she says: "We struggle all our lives to become whole. Complete enough when we die." The film's message that the only way we can deal with our mortality is by accepting it as a natural part of the circle of life. Despite the ridiculously over the top visuals towards the end, it definitely has something interesting to say.