DVD Review: The Fountain

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The Fountain (2006)
Film Rating–****
DVD Rating–**

Watching the DVD release of The Fountain is a bittersweet experience. On one hand, the third Darren Aronofsky film is a visual masterpiece. Its poetry resonates throughout the harrowing love story. Anyone who saw the film in theaters and loved it will want to own it, without question.

But for a production that was as troubled as this one was, it’s disappointing to not have any worthwhile DVD extras to illuminate things. There isn’t even a director’s commentary. I don’t know if it’s Aronofsky’s silent protest over his one time $75 million sci-fi epic being turned into a $35 million sci-fi epic or if it’s Warner Bros. continuing to minimize costs, but The Fountain certainly deserved a much grander release than it receives.

How grand? The film is one that spans a millennium. From the story of a Spanish conquistador (Hugh Jackman) sent to the Mayan territories in search for the Tree of Life to a narrative involving a man (Jackman again) traveling to a nebula in search of the Mayan underworld, the film’s ambitious scale is unbelievable. Yet the romance at the center of it all, a contemporary love story about a research scientist (once again, Jackman) trying to cure cancer to save his dying wife (Rachel Weisz), grounds the film. The combination results in revelations and heartbreaking truths about mankind.

Aronofsky’s likes his audiences to consider their humanity in spite of the creations and desires of the mind. He truly is a philosopher-filmmaker, one the world hasn’t seen since Kubrick. The tragedy behind his Hollywood epic shouldn’t be discounted in spite of the masterful results. The Fountain could be Aronofsky’s Spartacus, an embattled film that changes his relationship with filmmaking.

Of course, The Fountain is hardly a failure. It’s a once in a lifetime cinematic experience, one that is visually arresting and emotionally overwhelming. While the small screen doesn’t do justice to its majesty, I couldn’t imagine not adding it to my collection. Like no Aronofsky film before, The Fountain demands attention and imbues its audience with a sense of enlightenment.

Kudos can also go out to both Weisz and Jackman. Jackman continues to allow his acting to take precedent over his stardom. He’s a brazen, calculated performer and The Fountain requires that of the character Thomas. Weisz, likewise, instills the decidedly heady production with viscerally human emotions. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett dropped out as the leads after the budget implosion. The sliver lining to that dark cloud may be that Weisz and Jackman add a level of authenticity that Pitt and Blanchett (okay, mostly Pitt) would have lacked.

I would have loved to see the $75 million The Fountain, but there isn’t much room for improvement with the version that was released. Even a director’s cut DVD isn’t in order. A two-disc special edition DVD is all I ask. The 96-minutes of feature and one piddling extra don’t satisfy one bit. For a film like The Fountain, something spectacular is in order. Criterion Collection, I’m looking in your direction.

The Lone Extra:
The Fountain: Death and Rebirth
A making-of featurette that briefly touches on the troubles of the production.