The Fountain (film)

Movie
German title	The Fountain
Original title	The Fountain
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	2006
length	93 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	Darren Aronofsky
script	Darren Aronofsky ; Ari Handel
production	Arnon Milchan ; Iain Smith ; Eric Watson
music	Clint Mansell
camera	Matthew Libatique
cut	Jay Rabinowitz
occupation
	Hugh Jackman : Tomás / Tommy / Dr. Tom Creo; Rachel Weisz : Queen Isabel / Izzi Creo; Ellen Burstyn : Dr. Lillian Guzetti; Mark Margolis : Father Avila; Stephen McHattie : Grand Inquisitor Silecio; Fernando Hernández : Lord of Xibalba; Cliff Curtis : Captain Ariel; Sean Patrick Thomas : Antonio; Donna Murphy : Betty; Ethan Suplee : Manny; Richard McMillan : Henry; Lorne Brass : Dr. Alan Lipper;

The Fountain (around the fountain or the source ) is a centuries umspannender Fantasy Film of the American director and screenwriter Darren Aronofsky from the year 2006 . The plot unfolds over three interlocking time levels and describes the story of a search for the fountain of youth in the form of a living organism, with the themes of "love, death, immortality and the fragility of human existence" dominating.

The premiere took place at the 63rd Venice Film Festival ; in Germany the film was shown in cinemas from January 18, 2007.

action

The film consists of three interwoven storylines that span a total of 1000 years:

In 1535, the Spanish conquistador Tomás was looking for the tree of life , which should grow at the fountain of youth in the Maya kingdom , in order to bring its sap to his beloved Queen Isabel to save her from death.
In the present, the scientist Tommy Creo is desperately trying to develop a drug with the help of plant extracts from the rainforest of Guatemala to save his wife Izzi from death from a brain tumor. The preparation has astonishing effects, but is not yet the desired remedy. Meanwhile, Izzi has written a book that tells the story of the conquistador Tomás. The book is not finished yet: Tom is supposed to complete the last chapter.
It was not until the year 2500 that Tommy received answers to his questions after a fantastic transcendent journey through the space-time continuum in a large bubble. These inspire him to bring a tree growing in the bladder (again an incarnation of Izzi) to the dying star Xibalbá , which, according to the Mayans, is a place in the hereafter where the dead can be reborn.

In the course of the film, these three worlds of time are linked by recurring symbols (the wedding ring, the tree of life, the star constellation, the nebula of Xibalba, etc.) and thus tell a story of the search for eternal life. The fear of death and loss is repeated in every epoch, and a new story is created through reincarnation . The rebirth is not so much a new possibility to change fate as an urge to experience it again and again until redemption. The source of eternal life does not lie in finding a cure (the tree of eternal life), but in accepting dying, in entering into the cycles of nature.

production

On April 21, 2001, Darren Aronofsky announced that he was planning a nameless, epic science fiction film produced by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow ; one stands in "serious negotiations" with Brad Pitt for the main role. They are also trying to win over Cate Blanchett for the project. Aronofsky said he wanted to make a sci-fi film that went beyond technology and science, that the interesting things were “ the ideas; the search for God , the search for meaning ”. It is also "the most ambitious thing [he] has ever done and the greatest challenge". After several delays due to problems during pre-production and Blanchett's pregnancy, should the production with a budget of over 70 million US dollars to start.

Brad Pitt left the project two months before production began to devote himself to the film Troy . Despite rumors that there had been "creative differences" between Pitt and Aronofsky during preproduction, the latter stated in an interview that the break was not Pitt's fault: "The ultimate reason [The Fountain production] was canceled was because related to Brad, but Brad is not responsible. He didn't come to Australia, but the reason for that lies in many different things and has to do with both personal attitudes and previous experiences with another film. ” After Pitt's rejection, the project was put on hold.

On February 27, 2004, The Fountain was revived by Aronofsky, with the help of Warner Bros., but on a budget of only $ 35 million. Before that, after the failed project with Pitt, Aronofsky realized his idea as a comic of the same name at Vertigo (a sub-label of DC Comics ). Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz have been signed to replace Pitt and Blanchett in the lead roles. Production began in November 2004 and was filmed through 2005.

Reviews

On February 6, 2017, the film received 7.3 out of 10 points (almost 196,000 votes) on IMDb , 51% on Rotten Tomatoes , but 74% in the audience rating.

“A visually powerful attempt, which is not always easy to decipher, to prepare the human-moving theme through the allegories and symmetries of the three interwoven stories in a very individual way for an audience trained in fantasy films. - Worth seeing"

- Film service

“[…] Spectacular images with enormous suggestive power […] Darren Aronofsky's great merit is to want to create cinematic worlds that must be considered non-filmable. […] A big movie theater! - Predicate: Particularly valuable "

- Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden

“[…] A breathtaking, exhilarating journey through three different ages, a mythical-visionary cinema trip with the theme of life and death and immortality. An overwhelming and rousing film that I was so enthusiastic about that I saw it again at the next press screening. 'The Fountain' is an addicting film. Addicted to these incredibly wonderful images of space, to the mysterious events in this feverish, dripping, dark jungle, to the unsettling results of this immensely exciting search for a cure. [...] And then it's just a real pleasure to watch the fantastic actors. "

- Julia Edenhofer : Filmhai.de

“Darren Aronofsky wallows in Eso-Kitsch for 97 long minutes with 'The Fountain', also a major US contract. […] The salad of pictures in 'The Fountain', on the other hand, is prepared in the finest quality, changing in a cascade of tireless central perspectives between the 16th century and the present. [...] With exquisite pathos and in visual and acoustic predominantly golden tones, the film celebrates its mix of Mayan culture, Christianity and Buddhism. "

- The daily mirror

“Pictures of floating beauty in 'The Fountain' - […] Esoteric quark, unbelievable love story, half-baked myth recycling. [...] Not a masterpiece, but ambitious, original and strangely short. "

- Stern.de

“Then there is the trash, which is not intended as such, the worst category of all: the art film that has mutated into a catastrophe. The long-awaited 'The Fountain' by Darren Aronofsky is such a specimen […] One can be particularly sorry for the actors. [...] Art should be, meaningful and important. In fact, it's just banal, pretentious and annoying. "

- Spiegel Online