The Fountain - An Abomination

I can’t write a review quite as scathingly good as the one here at the LA Weekly, which i advise you read as everything it says is true. Darren Aronofsky’s new film, The Fountain was an abomination to the likes of which I haven‘t seen in awhile. I knew within the first minutes of the film that it was bad and I was ready to walk out at least 15 times but I decided to stick through it as I never walk out of films. The review I linked covers a lot of what I feel about the film but there are a couple of things I would like to mention.

There is a scene in which Hugh Jackman’s shadow is practicing karate in front of the stars in space... yeah that good. Also I have never felt more claustrophobic watching a film. Every shot seemed to be some insanely close close-up of Hugh Jackman or whoever was in the frame. Near the end of the film there is this ridiculous scene in which Hugh Jackman turns into the tree of life… yeah, you read that right, and someone out loud in the theater said “ I didn’t know this was a comedy” And it’s far from it. Among many of the film's glaringly obvious problems, the biggest one is how earnestly serious the film takes itself, never taking a step back to realize how god awful it is.

I really have trouble understanding how someone can go from amazing to atrocious so quickly. Pi is fine, the acting wasn’t much to write home about but it was interesting and done extremely well especially with the budget in mind. Requiem for a Dream though was brilliant. Not only was it extremely technically innovative, being composed with over 2000 cuts, using various technical gimmicks and succeeding, it was one of the most harrowing film experiences I had ever had (although a few years later Irreversible definitely beat it out as I had trouble looking at the screen half the time). After my friend Gady and I saw the film we were so depressed and we tried to go out and have a good time but it was impossible. I thought I would never be able to watch it again but I have seen it at least 5 times since and everytime the ending grabs you by the balls (or vagina) and never lets go. And then The Fountain... Brad Pitt made the best decision of his life backing out of this film. This is not a film that is some sort of misunderstood movie that will become a cult classic, because it's just flat out bad. I wonder if Southland Tales is this bad?