The Fountain (HD-DVD/DVD Combo Edition)
Picture: B/C Sound: B/B- Extras: C+ Film: C+
One of
the most promising filmmakers of the last decade has been Darren Aronofsky, but
he has not been able to get on track the way his talents should allow him. Part of the problem is an industry hell bent
on franchises and he almost did the Batman
revival feature. So far, he has done
some risky, artistic films with mixed results.
Pi was a journey into numbers
where the protagonist may have found the ultimate formula in math and everyone
is after him. The Fountain (2006) tries to do with myth and love stories what Pi did for numbers.
The
ambitious project stars Hugh Jackman as the man and Rachel Weisz as the woman
who forms a bond of love as examined in various forms for over a thousand
years. At one point, he is either a
doctor, warrior, botanist, floating meditative being or lost man, while she is
as object herself, human, a disembodied entity and even a tree. In all cases, he is trying to avoid death,
even if it means he nearly dies to be with her, reach her, bond with her and
preserve her.
Aronofsky’s
risk-taking screenplay tries to tell the tale both in terms the audience can
access readerly and not in writerly heights that sometimes succeed, then too
often do not. Reminding one of Kubrick’s
2001: A Space Odyssey and John
Boorman’s Zardoz at times, the film
never coheres in making the big statement and the conclusion is the kind of
post-modern non-payoff that will remind many of Frankenstein Unbound, though it does not work here.
Jackman,
Weisz and Ellen Burstyn are very good in their performances, which along with
some interesting visuals keep the viewer watching. The cut runs 96 minutes, but one wonders if
there is a longer cut and if that would have really helped. The press was abuzz when co-producer Brad
Pitt pulled out of the project at the last minute, but even if Pitt still had
tens of millions invested, the main drive of the fantasy elements overtake the
film. The evasion of death becomes
unrealistic and even childish. The
connection is supposed to be about love ands emotion, but no palpable sense of
love, sex and the weight of mortality are too absent for the big statement to
work. Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (1999) may not have been perfect, but it was not in
denial of anything. The Fountain ultimately cages itself into a corner.
Gilded as
that cage is, it cannot make up for saying things only Aronofsky knows is being
said and the well runs dry before any deep truth can be revealed or realized.
At least he avoided potential melodrama.
The 1080p
digital High Definition image has some good moments, but is not as good as it
ought to be based on the better scenes.
Matthew Libatique, A.S.C., is a great cinematographer who comes up with
some vivid and interesting shots, but this does not always come through
here. The anamorphically enhanced
DVD-Video side is much worse, looking hazy with edge enhancement and an overall
sense of dullness. That is a shame,
because whatever story is trying to be told, the visuals are trying to forward
it.
The Dolby
Digital Plus 5.1 is good, but not great, as this is a film with more than its
share of quiet moments. This leaves a
limited difference between it and the regular Dolby mix on the regular DVD
side, though Clint Mansell’s music is good.
The combination is passable on the HD side and problematic on the low
def DVD side.
Extras
include the original theatrical trailer and six featurettes on the DVD side,
plus storyboard comparisons, interview and a macro photography loop on the HD
side. All in all, The Fountain is worth seeing once, but don’t have high hopes for it
and you might get something out of it.
- Nicholas Sheffo
