Death and Immortality
R and I went and saw The Fountain after work today. This is Darren Aronofsky’s new film.
I had at least one coworker tell me that he wanted to hear what I thought of it when I told him this afternoon that I was going to see it.
I’m not sure what to say to him though. It is a beautiful movie, visually and otherwise. Very few movies actually affect me on an emotional level and most of those are the ones that make me feel anger at the injustices of the world, not a sense of both loss and beauty. The Fountain is far from a perfect movie and is, in fact, very limited in a way. While it is so lush visually, on the level of story, it is quite simple and sparse.
I found that I appreciated and enjoyed the circles that the store made in time, logic, and symbolism. The literalist in my younger self would not have appreciated it but I did. It is easy to empathize with the drives of the main character and the sense of duty and impending loss as he watches what he loves go to a fate that he may not be able to avert.
I found myself thinking in Buddhist terms of both his clutching and his fears, especially when contrasted with what his love was expressing (both his love in emotional terms and his love in the person of his other…).
It is definitely worth seeing on the big screen for both immediacy and the visual impact.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:08 pm
cool, i’m going to see it tonight.
i think lots of drugs will be appropriate.
December 4th, 2006 at 2:57 pm
gawd, that was SO disappointing, and i was really looking forward to it. i hope our sarcastic running commentary ruined it for anyone in the theatre who actually thought this shit was profound, because there was absolutely nothing of value to be found in the ad-hoc collage of pretentious, pseudomystical crap.
talk about starting with a bunch of cool ideas and completely failing to tie them together in any sensible or satisfying manner. oh well, at least the visuals were occasionally compelling.
December 4th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
Hmm… I guess opinions varied. I loved it.
I hope your commentary didn’t ruin it for other people. There is nothing worse about going to movie theatres than other people who talk constantly and ruin the experience for others because they can’t just watch a movie.