Film: The Fountain (1/4)

I had heard this film was an exquisite mess, but I loved Pi and was disappointed by Requiem for a Dream, so I had to see what was next.

I LOVED THIS FILM!

That neither means that I would say it was a great film, nor that I would recommend it. (It is generally being referred to as a “you’ll love it or hate it with no in between".)

I love Darren Aronofsky for the courage of his convictions, and I really love what this man does with an extreme closeup.

I love Rachel Weisz for reasons that are probably not worth trying to put into words; you just have to see her to understand—and bollocks to the reviewers who said, oh yes, she does a good job of standing around looking lovely; excuse me, but I think she does a little more than that.

And how about that Hugh Jackman? Not that I ever had any doubts about him. And how glad are we that Brad Pitt did not do this with Cate Blanchett as originally planned? Sorry, I just can not see it, and I had enough of them in Babel.

Ohmigod, I just came across this article from Wired that explains, among other things, that no CGI was used in this film. Damn. And how they did it is pretty cool, check it out.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/outsider_pr.html

I love seeing a film that shows me images I have never seen before and could never have imagined, where I do not know what is going on or where it is going, the sheer luxury of being treated to a unique vision. A lot of the time I sat there with my mouth open, either in awe of the visuals or just baffled by his chutzpah and wondering what was going on (oh my god, dude, you’re insane!). There are some images in this film that are among the most stunningly breathtakingly beautiful I have ever seen. No doubt a lot of people will find this all to be overheated ridiculously pretentious dreck, so that is why I would hesitate to recommend it. There was also a lot to take in, so I would really need to see it again and try to figure it all out, before making any definitive conclusions about its ultimate merit as a work.

I liked this from an online interview:
“A Love Poem to Death”: One of my personal favorite descriptions of The Fountain is something Aronofsky says his producer came up with. “I think that’s a pretty good description," agreed Aronofsky. "I also like the ‘psychedelic love story’ or even better, actually, I think ‘a psychedelic fairy tale’ because I think it very much is a fairy tale. It’s an adult fairy tale and I think that’s what the word psychedelic does, it makes it more adult. But, yeah, I do like a love poem to death.”
http://movies.about.com/od/thefountain/a/fountain101906.htm

I was also particularly amused by the title of the review in Time online:
I Admit It: I Liked The Fountain
Richard Corliss risks expulsion from the movie critics' guild with this review of a woozy romantic epic
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1562575,00.htm

Speaking of Cate, she was on Charlie Rose the other night, discussing her departure from film work, as she and her playwright husband have been named co-artistic directors for the next three years of the Sydney Theatre Company*, where they have both directed plays, and she had many award-winning performances before getting into film. So Charlie asks her if she also sees herself directing films in the future, as many major film actors do these days. She replies that if she had a brilliant cinematographer and a compelling project, she might possibly consider it, but that in general she is not inclined that way, because as a stage actress she feels she has a strong understanding of the space on a stage and how to use it effectively, but she does not feel that she has the same mastery of the cinematic medium. I could not help thinking of this repeatedly when I watched The Fountain—that regardless of what you think of his endeavor, inspired or foolish, you can not but acknowledge that you are in the hands of someone who has such a mastery of the medium and is interested in exploring it in an intelligent and creative manner, and I found this deeply satisfying.

*How cool is this?:
Apart from promises of passion and commitment, the only concrete plan articulated by the pair was to make the STC "green". "We intend to initiate discussions with companies with the aim of making the building self-sufficient, to green the building. We are talking solar panels, rainwater, the works," Upton said. "This would ideally generate enough power to do a whole season off the grid. This would be the first theatre company in the world to do that."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/blanchett-theatre-job-no-dalliance/2006/11/10/1162661876275.html

(Note to non-residents) we take these things seriously in Portland:
For 2006, Sustainlane.com ranked Portland as number one in the nation for overall sustainability, and cities around the world have long looked our way for benchmarks of community planning and sustainable development. Read about our sustainable theater here: http://www.pcs.org/armorySustainability.html

Cate Blanchett (and Richard Eyre) on Charlie Rose (streaming):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=915718704972830448&q=owner%3ACharlie_Rose