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Fountain, TheIn the works for seven years, The Fountain emerges as a baffling project that even the director will find difficult to explain. Fans of Darren Aronofsky, who made his name with Pi (1998) and Requiem For A Dream (2000), are in for another intense ride, but one marked with the scars of its production history. In 2002, the $70 million production was ready to roll when star Brad Pitt pulled out, causing the project to collapse just weeks before the shoot was due to start.
In retrospect, Pitt's decision seems wise, although only the bones of the original story remain, with Aronofsky subsequently re-writing the script so that he could shoot it for half the budget. The final product, a time-travel tale that evidently wants to be this generation's 2001: A Space Odyssey is the visual equivalent of an iPod shuffle, as scenes from the past, present and future collide at will. The core of the story is set in the present-day, as Izzi (Rachel Weisz) lies in a hospital dying of a brain tumour. Her husband Dr Tom Creo (Hugh Jackman) is attempting to find a cure via radical experiments on monkeys.
The film actually begins in the sixteenth century, as a conquistador named Tomas (also Jackman) is sent on a mission to search for the fountain of youth by Spain's Queen Isabel (Weisz).
As it turns out, this is part of a historical-romance novel, written by Izzi, which acts as a metaphor for her own death, with Tomas' quest echoing Tom Creo's scientific search. Then, to really confuse matters, Jackman appears as a bald-headed, yoga-practising astronaut in the twenty-sixth century - less Buck Rogers and more Buddha - who is floating through space in a see-through sphere, haunted by memories of Izzi.
Reuniting with regular cinematographer Matthew Libatique, Aronofsky ensures the film is visually resplendent - particularly in the future-set scenes - with much of the effects work done 'in camera' rather than added in post-production. But it ceases to matter: with the director making no attempt to subtly segue from one time zone to another, it's a film that subscribes to the chaos theory for all the wrong reasons. Compare it to Requiem For A Dream, where he superbly cut between a quartet of tales at the film's vicious conclusion, and The Fountain becomes even more of a disappointment.
With both stars trying their best not to look entirely befuddled by the plot, the result may appeal to hardcore Aronofsky fans but few others. In its own way, this is a fearless work that deserves praise for attempting something original - a look at the memorable demise of Jackman's conquistador character shows this. No doubt it's a poetic piece too; it's just such a shame that Aronofsky's ability as a storyteller has disappeared into a black hole.
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