I would not want to see this again...

Rating: 4/10 (23 November 2006)

So many positive comments of this film from other viewers??... I'm glad some people got value from this movie... but...
I tend to judge movies by how they affect me, touch me, cause me to think, move me in some way. "The Fountain" did not. I sat through the whole movie waiting for some meaningful metaphor or other redeeming quality to an otherwise 2-dimensional, very flat experience.
Technically, there were some excellent visuals. But the story and it's point I thought could have been accomplished in a 7-minute music/visuals video. Many times I felt like I was in the midst of a film trying to be an "Enigma" album... but with no touching of the soul.
First, I'll say I tend to compare "art" films (which I think "The Fountain" is trying to be), filmmakers and film-making with the masters, such as Tarkovsky (my favorite) and Kurosawa.
The general lighting was not good, and was awkward in my opinion. There is a time and place to create a mood thru light... but to maintain the same nightmarish bleak lighting thru-out the whole film is huge saturation and overkill, to emotion and mood. I became de-sensitized essentially. I think for the horror genre, this is O.K. But even Tarkovsky, the master of the use of light in film to create mood, impressions, and metaphors, would not resort to creating or trying to maintain mood in this way, not without tight editing and a suitable storyline. I honestly kept feeling that the lighting was being used to compensate for what I thought was a potentially interesting... but weakly executed storyline and editing. I understand what Aronofsky was trying to accomplish... but this reminds me of a young, inexperienced chef over-spicing food to compensate for inexperience... when the master chefs use very subtle, skilled, varied and sparing use of spice.
Same with the same repeated string and synthesized pieces of musical score... same thing again and again and again... instead of varying the score for depth and mood, for story progression.
I did not like the many replays of scenes that were repeated again and again and again. I understand this repeating also, but I judge the use of this technique on whether the story is carried further or deepened in some way. Kurosawa's "Rashomon" is a perfect example of a master's skillful use of repeated scenes, and in fact this was the idea behind "Rashomon". I honestly felt that some of "The Fountains" repeated scenes were repeated NOT to carry the story... but to fill screen time.
I really like Hugh Jackman as an actor. But I don't think this was a good role for him. I could not feel for his characters, at all. His characters' angst and pain were constant, 2-dimensional, a bit over-acted I think, and felt not real... not human. I just could not connect with his characters (and I have some experience with death). But I'm not sure if it was Jackman, the script, or a combination.
Rachel Weisz's acting was one of the few redeeming qualities, in my opinion, of the movie. I thought she did a great job with the material she had. Her characters had depth, a human feel, and I quickly connected with her characters.
Although I'm very spiritual... the spirituality in this movie also felt 2-dimensional to me, and "pseudo" (contrived). Something someone developed in Hollywood. It did not connect with me cohesively on a Christian level, or any other religion for that matter. There was a little theology behind it, of course, but the movie was an incohesive and somewhat disorganized mix of a few different spiritual concepts, in my opinion. I gained no new insights into life, death, love, loss, etc. I'll mention "The Sacrifice" as a film to compare it with, on a spiritual level. But there is no comparison between the two.
I also judge a film by whether I want to see it again, and try to gain more from it. "The Mirror" is a good example. Tough film to watch emotionally and it takes a lot out of you, but a fresh re-viewing is worth it because I gain something more for the effort, every time. But with "The Fountain", I have no desire at all to see it again. I can gain nothing further from it. Apparently some other viewers can. All I can say is go for it and more power to you.
Overall, there were a few redeeming qualities... but nothing that would bring me back to see it again.