Overview
Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.
While I don’t think that this movie is nearly as deep and complex as some have made it out to be, that doesn’t make it less of a movie. I can’t think of another movie that better portrays our fear of death and our desire to push it off as long as we can as well as this one does. The film wouldn’t have worked as well if we merely saw the doctor stressing out over his wife’s impending death. The book-within-the-movie (and the choices made by the director on how to tell the stories) is the key to the movie, and it gives the movie a dimension that it otherwise would not have had.
On a personal note, I struggle with the idea of death. It isn’t that I fear it – quite the opposite. As a non-believer, I do not think that there is anything beyond this life. I see that knowledge as a gift and not a curse. At times I find myself in the shoes of the doctor – rather than focusing on the here and now, I am working diligently in the gym to try to fend off the “disease” for as long as possible. I need to stop and bury my head in the flowers more. I need to be more enlightened in these areas. Even so, as we saw in the final scene, this kind of enlightenment won’t change our ultimate destiny.
IHATEBadMovies.com reviews The Fountain
Movie title: The Fountain
Movie description: Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.
Date published: 2025-07-26
Director(s): Darren Aronofsky
Actor(s): Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn, Mark Margolis, Stephen McHattie, Fernando Hernández, Cliff Curtis, Sean Patrick Thomas, Donna Murphy, Ethan Suplee, Richard McMillan, Lorne Brass, Abraham Aronofsky, Renee Asofsky, Anish Majumdar, Janique Kearns, Boyd Banks, Alex Bisping, Kevin Kelsall, Patrick Vandal, Marcello Bezina, Hugo Salvador Gutierrez Aguilar, Eric Carmelo Valenzuela Batz, Elfego Vinicio Pena Castellanos, Jose Maria Tol Chan, Benjamin Panjoj Cortez, Juan Salvador Lares, Jose Alfredo Conoz Macario, Tomas Tol Nix, Luis Alfredo Yac Noj, Mateo Martin Perez, Edson Vasquez Pixabaj, Marvin Leonardo Raxtun Raxtun, Tomas Morales Sacquic, Santos Ajic Sapon, Xaijil Sicajan, Manuel Antonio Salvador Tol, Tomas Salvador Tol, Tomas Augustin Canil Ventura, Carlos Enrique Ramos Xalcut, Octavio Guadelupe Zabala Xitamul
Genre: Drama, Adventure, Science Fiction, Romance
My Review
While I don’t think that this movie is nearly as deep and complex as some have made it out to be, that doesn’t make it less of a movie. I can’t think of another movie that better portrays our fear of death and our desire to push it off as long as we can as well as this one does. The film wouldn’t have worked as well if we merely saw the doctor stressing out over his wife’s impending death. The book-within-the-movie (and the choices made by the director on how to tell the stories) is the key to the movie, and it gives the movie a dimension that it otherwise would not have had.
On a personal note, I struggle with the idea of death. It isn’t that I fear it – quite the opposite. As a non-believer, I do not think that there is anything beyond this life. I see that knowledge as a gift and not a curse. At times I find myself in the shoes of the doctor – rather than focusing on the here and now, I am working diligently in the gym to try to fend off the “disease” for as long as possible. I need to stop and bury my head in the flowers more. I need to be more enlightened in these areas. Even so, as we saw in the final scene, this kind of enlightenment won’t change our ultimate destiny.
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My Review - 8/10
8/10