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pragmatica

The Fountain: an epic movie about immortality

Coming soon to theatres this fall is an epic, thought-provoking movie dealing with immortality and the concept of the tree of life.  It's called "The Fountain" and was originally titled "The Last Man".  Darren Aronofsky directs this movie that spans an epic 1000 years (1500-2500).  He is well known for his thought-provoking and critically acclaimed independent films "Pi" and "Requiem for a Dream". The Fountain has been a long time coming after it was initially dropped after disagreements between Darren and the original lead actor. The film is slated to be released October 13, 2006. Early screenings are underway, and all reviews so far are positive. Make sure you don't miss this film!

Here is a preliminary review of The Fountain, which rates it 9.8/10. Excerpt: "Brilliant is really the only word I can use to describe the film. It took Darren Aronofsky years to get his movie made, but every day was worth it. The Fountain is the sort of movie that makes me want to write a book about it. What’s most important, though, is that The Fountain vaults Aronofsky to a new level as a filmmaker. Before he was a cult director, a fringe talent who appealed to the film geeks and the people who look to the edge. The Fountain’s not a mainstream movie – it’s really fucking smart, for one thing – but the director who made this movie is a man coming into his own. The Fountain is beautiful, gripping and utterly transcendent. It’s the best film of 2006."

MULTIMEDIA (requires Flash and Apple QuickTime player):

Teaser video

Trailer (longer, more detail)

General site containing additional links:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/thefountain/

"An odyssey about one man’s thousand-year struggle to save the woman he loves. As a 16th century Conquistador, a modern-day scientist, and a 26th century astronaut, he searches for the secret to eternal life. The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world."

Directed, screenplay, and story, all by Darren Aronofsky.

In Theatres: October 13th, 2006

Other works by Darren Aronofsky:
Pi (1998)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Published Monday, July 24, 2006 9:50 PM by pragmatica

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liveforever22 wrote on July 24, 2006 10:39 PM

I just saw the trailer for this movie the other day. This movie looks stellar, and the visuals look really terrific.

I can't wait for it to come out, it should get a lot of people talking about Immortality, and the possibility.

 

liveforever22 wrote on July 24, 2006 10:48 PM

Also, for those of you that don't have Quicktime, you can view the trailer on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IP_Rjx4wVY

 

Mr. Farlops wrote on July 25, 2006 12:59 AM

I *absolutely* loved Pi! I definitely need to check this movie out.

By the review and the trailer I get the impression that this is also a movie about time travel too. I do wonder if people will draw the right conclusions about agelessness after viewing this film though. At least it will be thought provoking and that's not a bad thing!

 

liveforever22 wrote on July 25, 2006 1:11 AM

I don't believe time travel is involved in the plot, other than that they are alive for so long that they live in different time periods.

 

Mr. Farlops wrote on July 25, 2006 1:46 AM

Liveforever,

Maybe so but, after reading the review pointed to by pragmatica and a few other sources on the Web, I got the impression that there are three stories interwoven here:

1) 1500: The story of 1500 is actually a book being written by the dying wife of the scientist lead in the present day. She's cleverly turned it into an allegory for her husband's desparate search to find a way to cure her cancer. Aronofsky is probably going to do some clever interleaving here.

2) The present day: The scientist is trying to find a cure for the author/wife's cancer. Here I'm not so clear. Perhaps in his attempts to find a cure, he stumbles on a method for cellular rejuvenation. But despite this he fails to save her life.

3) The future, five centuries from now, 2500: The scientist is still alive, probably as a result of his, or someone else's cure for aging. However he still obssessed with bringing his wife back to life. Somehow space travel and bizarre astrophysical phenonomena figure into his plans. Perhaps he takes a trip to the ergosphere of a blackhole or something and, in a Tiplerian way, casts his ship back to Earth's past where he can save his wife.

Maybe he overshoots to 1500 and accidentally or intentionally makes his wife's novel true. Maybe not. Anyway, more opportunities for Aronofsky to interleave and mess with our heads.

I could be wrong but those were conclusions I got from the scanty evidence I could find. Agelessness does happen because, somehow, the scientist survives to 2500 and world of interstellar space travel but it might also be a story about ageless people trying to restore the dead of the past. For that you need time travel as well.

Anyway, I still wanna see it, especially if I'm totally wrong about it!

 

pragmatica wrote on July 25, 2006 8:23 AM

From what I gathered in various interviews and reviews I read last night, it does not focus on time travel. The film seems to be done with all three plots happening somewhat simultaneously and interwoven.  I believe the 'tree of life' containing the chemical compound that drastically extends life is found in all three plots, but the main plot takes place in the present day.  I really can't wait to see this.  When people start comparing Darren to Stanley Kubrick that's pretty impressive! :)  I've been waiting for a good, non-fantasy type sci-fi that makes you think to come out for some time now.

Here's a few more related articles:

http://thefountainmovie.blogspot.com/

http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=reviews&id=7133

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Aronofsky

http://movies.about.com/od/thefountain/a/fountain072205.htm

 

EmbraceUnity wrote on July 27, 2006 7:05 PM

I absolutely love Darren Aronofsky movies! I am very excited about this one now, thank you for bringing it to our attention.

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About pragmatica

I'm a Canadian woman very into living a healthy lifestyle. I am also a global moderator at the official NIN band forum at forum.nin.com and enjoy world travel. I am the owner of Erinworld Enterprises, my business for selling my handmade steampunk, neo victorian, and cyberpunk jewellery found at http://erinworld.icraft.ca
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