The Fountain (Movie)

natalie_ca

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
21,136
Purraise
223
Location
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Has anyone seen this?

It was on one of the movie channels last night and I started to watch it. According to the Synopsis it said something about a man trying to save his wife.

I got so confused that I turned the channel before it was over. I just couldn't follow it.

What exactly was going on and did he ever save her?
 

rubsluts'mommy

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 1, 2005
Messages
2,211
Purraise
11
Location
On the west side of... of... somewhere.
from IMDb.com:

<Three stories - one each from the past, present, and future - about men in pursuit of eternity with their love. A conquistador in Mayan country searches for the tree of life to free his captive queen; a medical researcher, working with various trees, looks for a cure that will save his dying wife; a space traveler, traveling with an aged tree encapsulated within a bubble, moves toward a dying star that's wrapped in a nebula; he seeks eternity with his love. The stories intersect and parallel; the quests fail and succeed.>

I have it, but have not watched it yet (I have an addiction to picking up previously viewed DVD's from the rental stores for dirt cheap). These two people are true soulmates, meeting each other in different lives throughout history... etc... and something always seems to happen to the wide... not entirely sure... as I said, I haven't watched it yet. But it looked interesting... I love bizarre movies... to prove that, my favorite movie of all time is Buckaroo Banzai...


Amanda
 

jellybella

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
2,314
Purraise
3
Location
UPNY
Um, yeah...there's a reason it took him 10 years to get that movie made. It's kind of a mess. There are parts of it that I really enjoyed, but a lot of it was just pretentious and silly...it did look good though. Some of the special effects were really fascinating (and many were not computer generated).

Luckily it's short.
 

pipersjo

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
996
Purraise
3
Location
Home of WVU Football!!!!
It was a good movie but you had to sit through the whole thing to make any sense at all-- and then it wasn't making all that much sense either! I love confusing movies like that, but I watched it with a group of friends and they couldn't follow it.
 

fred&nermal

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Messages
1,167
Purraise
6
Location
Ontario, Canada
I think they ran out of money while watching it, so had to just peice together what they had. The astronaut thing was so beyond me. I thought it was just some yoga thing!
 

luvmy2cats

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 22, 2007
Messages
4,616
Purraise
11
Location
Goshen, IN
Yeah I've seen it. I was very confused as well but I thought some of the effects were cool.
 

rubsluts'mommy

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 1, 2005
Messages
2,211
Purraise
11
Location
On the west side of... of... somewhere.
Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

So did he ever end up saving her?!
I hate spoiling movies, but as you probably aren't going to re-watch it, she does die.

Okay... now that that's out... I have just finished watching it. Bascially it's this pair of 'star crossed lovers' i.e. true soul mates, who go through time trying to beat the odds. it is hinted at that he is 'the original father' of the Mayan 'faith.' but maybe not. As near as I can tell, the whole saga begins in Spain, where the 'current day wife' is the queen and Jackman's character (the modern day husband) is an extremely loyal conquistador. The queen is in search of the Tree of Life, of Biblical fame (think Genesis, I believe), and sends Jackman on this quest, promising him that she'll be 'his Eve' upon returning with the prize (sap from the Tree).

Propel them forward to modern day where they are a husband and wife. He is a medical researcher, and she is his dying wife. She looks to have a highly aggressive form of cancer, and is close to dying. Just as he gets the news that the treatment he's working on (from a South/Central American tree... ahem) IS doing battle with the cancer (along with other effects, which show first) and winning, she goes into defib (heart attack, more or less) and dies.

Now for the odd part: the future. I didn't so much take it as absolute future, but as transcendentalism (in a way). See, from how it's edited, both modern self and future self can see the Nebula (more on that in the next paragraph), and pull from the other lives. I don't *think* the Conquistador can see his future selves... but modern guy envisions the Nebula and the inspiration it gives him (such as to use the sample from THAT particular tree).

The Nebula... known in the movie as Xibalba (I had to look it up... pronounce it Shebalba). In the movie it is a nebula (the movie was a lot to take in, so I think it was a nebula... definitely not a star, though... that point is made in the movie). Pulled from Wikipedia: Another physical incarnation of the road to Xibalba as viewed by the QuichÃ[emoji]169[/emoji] (Mayan) peoples is the dark rift which is visible in the Milky Way. So... the 'future' guy is kind of transcending life as we know it to be reborn with his wife... but instead he blows up the Nebula (Men... go figure *snerk*). This, however, forces him back in modern day to heal the emotional aspect of mourning and he plants a seed on his wife's grave so a tree will grow.

Now, to try and bring ALL of this into perspective (if you're still reading)...

Somewhere in my Wikipedia page scanning, I noticed a rference to them believing in a cyclical existence. That we relive our lives (that's what I'm getting from it, although may not be the proper wording for it). Similar to reincarnation.

The movie may also be leaning toward a more science fiction-y approach of alternate realities... but the wedding ring and the tattoos and all the little details that run throughout the movie between times tells me it's more along the reincarnation kind of thing...

I've probably confused you all even more... I can certainly say one thing about this movie: it's not one to be easily reviewed. It's hard to describe what happens... and not confuse the bejeezus out of your readers...

I would recommend watching it all the way through, beginning to end. the weird stuff at the beginning makes a little more sense near the end. it also does go back and forth between all three 'lives'. I'm used to reading/watching multiple storylines like that, so I guess I'm used to it. if I watch this one again, I may understand it even more...

I hope that helped a little...
Amanda
 

carolpetunia

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Messages
9,669
Purraise
17
Location
Plano, Texas
I haven't seen that, and I don't guess I will! But your descriptions of the temporal-dislocation aspect of it make me think of "Dead Again" -- remember that one? Wow! I really loved that movie, and it's time to see it again!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #14

natalie_ca

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
21,136
Purraise
223
Location
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Originally Posted by RubSluts'Mommy

I hate spoiling movies, but as you probably aren't going to re-watch it, she does die.
Thank you


I definitely have no intention of ever trying to view that again. I remember when it was on Video on Demand. The static image used to advertise it looked interesting and I almost rented the movie. Boy am I glad I waited for it to come out on one of the movie channels. Certainly not worth the money...actually, not even worth the time tuning into it for free either. At least IMHO!
 
Top