The Fountain

The Fountain (Widescreen Edition)This film should only be watched once.

As a second-time viewer, I knew approximately how it ended, and how the three epic stories tied together, but it wasn't pleasant to watch. It wasn't pleasant the first time, but at least the images were striking, and felt like some kind of voyage of discovery. Watching this again was a bit like watching The Sixth Sense for the fourth time. The impact had disappeared.

For most of the film, the camera moved toward those truly frustrating close-up, poser shots that so irritated me about Master and Commander. I understand that these are pretty people, and they earn the money, and so they get close-ups, but when it doesn't enhance the plot or the artistic composition as a whole - when it doesn't create unity, then it has no place. Actors should understand that, and have a serious heart-to-heart with their directors about it.

I usually enjoy watching Rachel Weisz, but in this film she seemed flat, passive, and enervated. To be fair, she was playing a tree dying of cancer, but I can't help thinking that the character written for her ultimately sabotaged the film as a complete work.

Comments

  1. BobApril 18, 2011 at 12:31 PM

    I thought Rachel Weisz was the only good thing about this pretentious mess. She and Hugh Jackman at least made you care about what they were going through and Weisz was just heartbreaking. I blame the script and the director for making this film incoherent with its narrative constantly jumping around time periods.

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  2. Nancy RocheApril 28, 2011 at 9:58 PM

    Perhaps I am simply not the intended audience, but I maintain my opinion that although the story is innovative (I had little trouble following it, and in fact, found the storytelling rather impressive), the two main characters and how the camera treated them were the only real detractions from an otherwise forceful film. (painful, but certainly forceful)

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