Cinema as poem

I couldn't even begin to formulate words to describe how immensely satisfied I am after walking out of the theatre. It's one of those movie experience when you walk out in awe, and you carry that awe for quite a time only to relive it on your second and so-forth viewings. To even begin a critique of the film would be an insult to Darren Aronofsky's cinematical poem called The Fountain. The director helmed Requiem for a Dream (which I'm still about to see) which starred Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly. More than anything, I think The Fountain is a personal film considering what Aronofsky has to go through to get this film on the road.

The narrative transports us -- to the moon and back -- in three time zones, which could readily explain the disgust of many of those who've watched it --and have not understood. No one can really blame them for it's not easy to jibe with its criss-crossing style, the head-trip very similar to that of Michael Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The opening salvo gives you that instant shot-in-the-head confusion.

We would later learn that the bearded and long-haired Hugh Jackman dueling with throngs of Mayans during the opening scenes is Tomas, conquistador, who was ordered by Queen Isabella of Spain to search for the Tree of Life in the middle of Central America. They are characters of an unfinished children's book by Izzi (Rachel Weisz who also played the Queen) titled The Fountain. Izzi, dying of terminal cancer, is wife to a modern-day Jackman, now a scientist Tommy Creo who along with his team, discovered the anti-aging properties of a Guatemalan tree upon testing it to an ape. As Tommy, desperate to save his dying wife, Jackman is at his best thespic abilities than any of his previous films.

While jumping between fiction and reality, we are also introduced to a narrative which suggests a future (metaphorical?) Jackman -- who is now completely bald -- inside a futuristic bubble levitating in space. Inside the bubble is a lonely and remorseful Tom who nurtures and loves a tree (Tree of life it seems) and is haunted by ghostlike apparitions of Izzy. Through the final phase, it is made apparent that the bubble enters through a nebula (where a star dies and is born into a new one), which was previously referred by Izzy viewed from Earth through a telescope as Xibalba (pronounced as Shi-bal-ba) -- the Mayan allusion to the underworld. (Death as an act of creation; Death is the road to awe.)

The critics have lashed out The Fountain as an incoherent mess. One can't blame Aronofsky for cutting a substantial amount of scenes because of reported budget costraints that could have shed more light to the characters. Thus, editing may have blurried whatever messages the film wanted to impart. But this supposed lack is made up to dazzling effect by the way the director handled the visuals, both a metaphysical and science-fiction-inspired experience. It is also important to look at the biblical (Genesis), historical-cultural (the Grand Inquistion; ancient Chinese philosophy) and scientific (quest for cure) allusions as philosophical meditations on the films messages.

But the amazement and euphoria one contains after watching the film renders negligible all these flaws. Definitely, Aronofsky has displayed unconventional and audacious craftmanship in telling a story that could have been a cliche -- life, death and love; and love's transcendence throughout eternity. It's a meditation that's deeply heartfelt and shames our very own invulnerabilty and indifference. It definitely worked for me.

Trivia: On an extreme budget, the film originally cast Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett (who turned out to be a troubled couple Babel). Rachel Weisz is Aronofsky's fiancee. The space sequences are magnified shots of chemical reactions the director manipulated on petridishes.

Photocredit: rottentomatoes.com