| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Romance |
This is an incredibly beautiful movie.
It is an incredibly sad movie.
But even though it will likely make you cry, it is an amazing experience.
It is not a simple one.
The story centers around a couple, Dr. Thomas Creo and his wife Isabelle, known as "Izzy." Dr. Creo is working desperately towards a cure for cancer; his work is driven by purpose, because Izzy is dying by inches, and Thomas is sacrificing his last moments with her in the feverish hope that he can save her.
At the last, she writes a book, entitled, as the film is, "The Fountain." In it, she tells the story of a Spaniard, sent by Queen Isabelle, to try to find the Tree of Life. She is unable to finish it, and demands that Thomas finish the book for her.
The film jumps back and forth between the "real," the past, which is the story from Izzy's book, and the distant future, which is Thomas' ending to it.
A lot of people have told me that they failed to understand, to comprehend, the meaning of the ending to the movie.
So I'm going to explain my impression of it, in the hopes that it gives you a window of new perception. Be aware that I am going to give away not only major plot points here but the end of the movie.
OK.
Izzy dies. Thomas' research results in - not a cure, but definite proof it is possible - only minutes after she dies.
After his grief has allowed him to return to sanity, he begins writing the conclusion to Izzy's book.
The quest of the conquistador leads into endless death; his men die, his friends die, and he becomes obsessed, driven by death. Only his own death and rebirth - in the place the Mayans called Xibalba - can redeem him from what he had become, and allow him to return to the world of life.
He finds the tree, but is so obsessed and crazed by his lust for death that he tries to kill the Tree of Life itself; his failure kills him.
Thomas' conclusion to the book tells of the journey of the conquistador's soul - and his own - to Xibalba, the place of rebirth; the conquistador takes with him the Tree he tried to kill, and Thomas takes his memories of Izzy; he is redeemed, reborn, and finally gives meaning to his quest, in his own soul.
Izzy dies.
Thomas plants a seed over her grave, so that a tree can be born from her, and she can live on in the life of the world.
This was the first movie I'd seen in which Hugh Jackman demonstrated any acting ability whatsoever. I am convinced; he is a damned impressive actor. As is the vastly underrated Rachel Weisz, playing Izzy.
Creo, in Spanish, means "I believe."
It is almost impossible to watch this movie and not believe.
Darren Aronofsky, who directed Pi, The Fountain, and Requiem for a Dream, is clearly a genius.
You do yourself an enormous disservice by not watching this film. My respect and admiration - and enjoyment, despite the sadness - grows every time I watch it.
I told a friend, earlier today, "it is the story of a man willing to sacrifice everything he has, everything he is, for his one great love and his desperation to protect it; there can be no greater celebration of life than that."
I meant every word of it. This is one of the most beautiful movies ever made; it holds my highest esteem, and awe.
You owe it to yourself - to the health of your soul - to watch this movie.
