The Fountain (2006)
Drama, Mystery, Romance |
The Fountain is a American epic romantic drama film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. Blending elements of fantasy, history, spirituality and science fiction, the film consists of three storylines involving immortality and the resulting loves lost, and one man’s pursuit of avoiding this fate in this life or beyond it. Jackman and Weisz play sets of characters bonded by love across time and space: a conquistador and his ill-fated queen, a modern-day scientist and his cancer-stricken wife, and a traveler immersed in a universal journey alongside aspects of his lost love. The storylines—interwoven with use of match cuts and recurring visual motifs—reflect the themes and interplay of love and mortality.
Aronofsky originally planned to direct The Fountain on a $70 million budget with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in the lead roles, but Pitt’s withdrawal and cost overruns led Warner Bros. to shut down his production. The director rewrote the script to be sparser, and was able to resurrect the film with a $35 million budget with Jackman and Weisz in the lead roles. Production mainly took place on a sound stage in Montreal, Quebec, and the director used macro photography to create key visual effects for The Fountain at a low cost.
Conquistador Tomás Verde in New Spain fights a band of Mayans to gain entry into a pyramid, where he is attacked by a Mayan priest. The story intercuts to a similar looking man, tending a tall tree in a glass dome biosphere travelling through space, annoyed by a woman called Izzi. Finally, a third iteration, present-day doctor Tom Creo, is losing his wife Izzi to a brain tumor. Tom is working on a cure using samples from a tree found through exploration in Guatemala, which are being tested for medicinal use for degenerative brain diseases in his lab. Izzi has come to terms with her mortality, but Tom refuses to accept it, focused on his quest to find a cure for her. She writes a story called “The Fountain” about Queen Isabella losing her kingdom to the Inquisition and a commission given by her to Tomás Verde to search for the Tree of Life in the Central American forest in Mayan territory. As she does not expect to finish her book, Izzi asks Tom to finish it for her.
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Writers: Darren Aronofsky (screenplay & story), Ari Handel (story)
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Sean Patrick Thomas, Ellen Burstyn, Cliff Curtis, Donna Murphy, Mark Margolis
Cast:
Hugh Jackman | … | Tomas / Tommy / Tom Creo |
Rachel Weisz | … | Isabel Creo |
Ellen Burstyn | … | Dr. Lillian Guzetti |
Mark Margolis | … | Father Avila |
Stephen McHattie | … | Grand Inquisitor Silecio |
Fernando Hernandez | … | 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 |
Abraham Aronofsky | … | Lab Technician |
Renee Asofsky | … | Lab Technician |
Anish Majumdar | … | Dr. Spencer |
Janique Kearns | … | Young Nurse |
Boyd Banks | … | Dominican Monk |
Alex Bisping | … | Foot Soldier Del Toro (as Alexander Bisping) |
Kevin Kelsall | … | Foot Soldier Rivera |
Patrick Vandal | … | Foot Soldier Galleano |
Marcello Bezina | … | Foot Soldier Borjes |
Hugo Salvador Gutierrez Aguilar | … | Mayan Warrior |
Eric Carmelo Valenzuela Batz | … | Mayan Warrior |
Elfego Vinicio Pena Castellanos | … | Mayan Warrior |
Jose Maria Tol Chan | … | Mayan Warrior |
Jose Panjoj Cortez | … | Mayan Warrior |
Juan Salvador Lares | … | Mayan Warrior |
Jose Alfredo Conoz Macario | … | Mayan Warrior |
Tomas Tol Nix | … | Mayan Warrior |
Luis Alfredo Yac Noj | … | Mayan Warrior |
Mateo Martin Perez | … | Mayan Warrior |
Edson Vasquez Pixabaj | … | Mayan Warrior |
Marvin Leonardo Raxtun Raxtun | … | Mayan Warrior |
Tomas Morales Sacquic | … | Mayan Warrior |
Santos Ajic Sapon | … | Mayan Warrior |
Xaijil Sicajan | … | Mayan Warrior |
Manuel Antonio Salvador Tol | … | Mayan Warrior |
Tomas Salvador Tol | … | Mayan Warrior |
Tomas Augustin Canil Ventura | … | Mayan Warrior |
Carlos Enrique Ramos Xalcut | … | Mayan Warrior |
Octavio Guadelupe Zabala Xitamul | … | Mayan Warrior |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia