Film is an artform and Aronofsky is a Picasso

Rating: 7/10 (24 November 2006)

How very sad it is when a great film is spoiled by an ending that simply isn't in-tune. Darren Aronofsky received the Visionary Award 2006 at the Stockholm Film Festival where I watched 'The Fountain', which should serve as a mark of his momentous, earth-shatteringly beautiful visions in breathing life into a universe dependent on the delicate cycle of life and death. It is not until the ending, however, that the film abandons all other components and overdoses on the latter.
But first let me recap the dizzying storyline. The Fountain spans across 1000 years of time, opening in the gritty dark jungles of the Mayan civilization, cutting to present day America and ending in a golden bubble in space (no, really). These three parallel stories are sewn together by Tom's (Hugh Jackman) odyssey to save the woman he loves (Rachel Weisz) from cancer. In many ways, the present-day story is the film's central element and the other dimensions the mere windowdressing, and arguably fantasies from the book Izzi is writing. Nevertheless, the latter are among the most absorbing, especially the grueling trials of the Spanish inquisition in the 1500s.
It is no wonder the aforementioned plot is so whacked-out because Darren Aronofsky means that 'The Fountain' should not be analyzed as a story, but enjoyed as an experience. To facilitate this experience he embellishes with lush iconic stills by the bucketload, often in the form of aerial shots from the ceiling looking down at its characters. There is in this way a dramatic symmetry in the buildings, arches and scenery. You truly just want to snap a picture of each scene, frame it and hang it on your wall. The colours are unspeakably vivid and the vast visions form a world unto itself  an indescribable experience that welcomes you into dreamy dimensions and takes and shakes you. My audience sat speechless and tear-eyed.
It is true that The Fountain is mostly cinematography (a kind of 2001), but it is no "vacuous" film. For one, it is emotionally compelling not only owing to its visuals but also its cast. Tom/Tommy/Tomas is a demanding role for Hugh Jackman to inhibit, but he captures the struggle of his character aptly. Rachel Weisz, too, is appropriately emotive and likable in the story. Togethery they have bubbling chemistry that creates mesmerizing magic, although with splashes of melodrama. The latter can best be attributed to the faltering dialogue that sometimes contains more corn than Kellogg's. This shortcoming is however far from a fatal one (since the film is anything but dialogue-driven) and between the meaningful glances, the expert navigation of the parallel dreamworlds and the epic score, The Fountain stays afloat with assured direction.
Until the end, that is. Here the dreaded hubris kicks in and Aronofsky realises he has already gone down all kinds of ambitious paths in the film, and compensates by applying the 'big, bigger, epic' formula. There is, in all fairness, no perfect way to sew The Fountain together because it has been so out there for so long. I will not spoil the ending sequence for you, mostly because all I can remember is a vague blur of explosive golden crescendo. The fine line between poignant and over-the-top corny along which the film has treated throughout suddenly shakes and The Fountain tips over into... simply too much of everything, completely overdosing on furious flair.
In conclusion it must be said that I truly do think that Aronofsky has created something unspeakably beautiful here. The Visionary Award is perfectly earned and cements his position as one of the most interesting new directors. Aronofsky cites Werner Herzog's "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" and Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America" as key influences for The Fountain and indeed much of the former is present in his film. Watch it and absorb the lush cinematography and explicit emotions  don't dissect the story.
7 out of 10