MovieChat Forums > The Fountain (2006) Discussion > I wanted to like this movie

I wanted to like this movie

posted 9 years ago by ecvz
6 replies | jump to latest

I'm an Aronofsky, Clint Mansell, and Kronos Quartet fan. I loved Pi and Requiem for a Dream, but for some reason I held off on watching this movie for years.

I wanted to like The Fountain so bad. I liked parts of it: the soundtrack, the visuals, and the cinematography... that's about it. I felt zero connection with the characters. I didn't care at all what happened to them. The story felt extremely rushed. I was hoping there would be some kind of resolution in the end. Instead there were like 8 different contradictory endings. It's like Aronofsky had a cache of alternate endings, couldn't decide on one, so said f--ck it and put them all in. Huge disappointment.

Hugh Jackman's wife told him to finish the last chapter, and he did... and f--cked it up severely apparently. Nice legacy for your wife.

Again, I like Aronofsky, but I think after his success of Requiem for a Dream, he was under a lot of pressure. Hollywood noticed him more, gave him a bigger budget, and all he could think was: "Okay, this has to be a masterpiece, or I'm f--cked."

So he tried way too hard. Simple as that. It was just far too overambitious, and he ended up f--cking himself over, ironically.

The real tragedy is, I think this movie could have been good if it was maybe an hour longer, and it somehow explained, like... what the f--ck was going on. Maybe it could actually have some real character development as well, instead of just expecting the audience to sympathize with characters we know nothing about (aside from their names).

Will there ever be a Director's Cut? I'd watch that. It might actually be good.

6/10 (I'd give it a 5/10 if it wasn't for the amazing soundtrack)

[–] majandralover30 9 years ago

supposedly there is an unofficial commentary he gives on youtube for it, and maybe with luck he'll explain something. I've literally watched it over 10 times and still don't understand it. like cloud atlas, it kept jumping back and forth. I expected he'd start a knight, then a doctor, then have a grand epiphany at the edge of the universe. I don't even know what the epiphany is lol

[–] search_for_truth 9 years ago

Okay, just to be clear - you don't like the movie because you didn't understand what was going on, and hence, attribute that to the movie being done poorly, correct?

I did understand the movie and thought it was a masterpiece. I gave it 9/10. It is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I thought the directing and acting were some of the finest I've seen in the last decade. I thought the length was perfect. It resonated with me emotionally and spiritually in a way most films of this generation have not been able to.

So let me ask you a few questions since it seems from your post that you want to understand it, or that you wanted to understand it. Did you realize before (or while) watching the movie that it wasn't supposed to be taken literally? What about the story didn't you understand, exactly? Are you familiar with Mayan, Christian, and Eastern mysticism? How much are you familiar with concepts of life and death in spirituality? How familiar are you with Neuroscience? How good are you at understanding allegories and metaphors? This film is essentially a love story that transcends time and space, but in order to understand it, you have to understand how all the nuanced pieces Darren incorporated fit into the puzzle.

So my questions are genuine. I do not ask them in a pretentious way, but rather am trying to sincerely figure out what aspects you didn't understand - to see if I can possibly help explain, if you are open to that. Also, a much better resource than me would definitely be Darren Aronofsky so if I were you, I would definitely go ahead and watch the director's commentary. I listened to the director's commentary after the third time I saw the movie, and it is fantastic. Admittedly, this is a film that for me has actually gotten better every time I've seen it (I notice something even more that I didn't notice before).

[–] ecvz 9 years ago

Let me answer the first question before you jump into a tirade of other questions that may be totally irrelevant.

Okay, just to be clear - you don't like the movie because you didn't understand what was going on

Not because I didn't understand what was going on, but because the film wasn't fleshed out at all. It had so many ideas and it didn't follow through on any of them. Like I said, it should have been an hour longer. That might have fixed it.

Now read my post again with that in mind and respond.

[–] search_for_truth 9 years ago

Okay, just did. Well, I don't agree with anything you said - I felt the opposite as you watching the film, and thought it was the perfect length (I definitely did not want it longer) with perfect character development (I felt emotionally invested in several of the characters) and I felt Darren did follow through with the ideas, so perhaps to each his own? 

[–] klemen-kokot 9 years ago

Which ideas weren't followed through? Could you be more specific?

[–] Neardark1969 9 years ago

I waited for this since the trailer, went with my then long term gf and at the end was almost in tears. She looked at me as if I was stupid and said "Jesus can I get back the last 2 hours of my life" I think that sums up the film, it either resonates with you or doesn't. I didn't understand all of the complex symbolism in it, Tommy's ring disappearing etc but at its heart it spoke to me.
It might be a basic understanding but it summed up the relationship between men and women perfectly, we are always trying to save our women, and all they want is to be understood. Tommy realizes too late that instead of spending Lizzie's last hours/days with her he spends them trying to find a cure.
Again it might be a bit basic, but I see the film as easy as Mayan - Lizzie's book, tommy and Izzie montreal with the rumours reality and the whole tree of life and future tommy as him finishing the book. Tony's chapter is still him fighting against death for her but now she is the tree, as the chapter is ending he finally realizes he cannot save her but that life is cyclical and they will be reborn.
Anyway enough waffle but I loved it a lot