The Fountain [Blu-ray]

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Overview

Requiem for a Dream director Darren Aronofsky switches gears from drug-induced urban malaise to abstract science fiction with this time-tripping symbolic tale of a man's thousand-year quest to save the woman he loves. Moving between representational stories and images, this meditation on life and death focuses on the concept of the mythical Tree of Life that is said to bestow immortality to all who drink of its sap. In one of the film's allegorical timelines, a 16th century Spanish conquistador played by Hugh Jackman sets out to find the tree in order to save his queen (Rachel Weisz) from the Inquisition. Another conceptual story finds Jackman centuries later, struggling with mortality as a modern-day scientist desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi. The third and most abstract concept finds Jackman as a different incarnation of the same character-idea, this time questing for eternal life within the confines of a floating sphere transporting the aged Tree of Life through the depths of space. Even more avant-garde than his breakthrough film Pi, The Fountain finds Aronofsky almost completely abandoning conventional story structure in favor of something more cinematically abstract. Though the film was originally slapped with an R by the MPAA, Aronofsky and co. re-edited it to conform to a PG-13 rating.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/15/2007
UPC:	0085391117377
Original Release:	2006
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Warner Home Video
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:36:00
Sales rank:	15,644

Special Features

Inside the Fountain: Death and Rebirth - gallery of 6 featurettes exploring the movie's various periods and settings; The interview; VFX step by step; Inside the director's mind: scene to storyboard comparison; Peter Parks bonus - Macro photography loop; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Hugh Jackman	Tomas / Tommy / Dr. Tom Creo
Rachel Weisz	Queen Isabel / Izzi Creo
Ellen Burstyn	Dr. Lillian Guzetti
Mark Margolis	Father Avila
Donna Murphy	Betty
Stephen McHattie	Grand Inquisitor Silecio
Cliff Curtis	Captain Ariel
Sean Patrick Thomas	Antonio
Ethan Suplee	Manny
Richard McMillan	Henry
Lorne Brass	Dr. Alan Lipper
Anish Majumdar	Dr. Spencer
Fernando Hernandez	Lord of Xibalba
Renee Asofsky	Lab Technician
Janique Kearns	Young Nurse
Boyd Banks	Dominican Monk
Alexander Bisping	Foot Soldier Del Toro,Foot Soldier Del Toro,Foot Soldier Del Toro
Kevin Kelsall	Foot Soldier Rivera
Patrick Vandal	Foot Soldier Galleano
Marcello Bezina	Foot Soldier Borjes
Abraham Aronofsky	Lab Technician
Hugo Aguilar	Mayan Warrior
Eric Batz	Mayan Warrior
Elfego Castellanos	Mayan Warrior
Patricia Dal	Foot Soldier Galleano
Hugo Salvador Gutierrez Aguilar	Mayan Warrior
Jose Chan	Mayan Warrior
Eric Carmelo Valenzuela Batz	Mayan Warrior
Jose Cortez	Mayan Warrior
Elfego Vinicio Pena Castellanos	Mayan Warrior
Juan Lares	Mayan Warrior
Jose Maria Tol Chan	Mayan Warrior
Benjamin Panjoj Cortez	Mayan Warrior
Juan Salvador Lares	Mayan Warrior
Jose Alfredo Conoz Macario	Mayan Warrior
Guatemaya Chicua	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	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	Mayan Warrior
Xitamul	Mayan Warrior
Yolanda	Donovan
Diget	Lab Support Primate
Granny	Lab Support Primate
Sean Gullette	Actor
Clint Mansell	Composer

Technical Credits

Darren Aronofsky

Ari Handel

Darren Aronofsky	Screenwriter,Producer
Arnon Milchan	Producer
Iain Smith	Producer
Eric Watson	Producer
Nick Wechsler	Executive Producer,Producer
Steve Baine	Sound Effects
Stephen Barden	Sound Effects
Alex Bullick	Sound Effects
Brian Emrich	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Laurent Abecassis	Special Effects
Ari Handel	Producer,Screenwriter
Jean B?rub?	Sound Effects
Keith Cooper	Special Effects
Pierre C?t?	Special Effects
Rob Meyers	Special Effects
Marc Bienvenu	Special Effects
Yvon Charbonneau	Special Effects
Georges Chartrand	Special Effects
Thierry Craig	Special Effects
Jacques Langlois	Special Effects
Andr? Fortin	Special Effects
Francis Marleau	Special Effects
Normand Gobeille	Special Effects
?ric H?bert	Special Effects
Louis Pedneault	Special Effects
Andr? Laforest	Special Effects
David Loveday	Special Effects
Alain B?rard	Stunts
Dwayne Wiley	Stunts
Karine Lemieux	Stunts
Javier Segura	Stunts
Michel P?riard	Key Grip
St?phane Pilon	Key Grip
John Walsh	Stunts
Andr? Laperriere	Stunts
St?phane Dargis	Stunts
Les Productions de L'intrigue	Special Effects
Mary Vernieu	Casting
Robin Cook	Casting
Elfego Vinicio Pena Castellanos	Casting
Beno?t Gauthier	Stunts
Jere Gillis	Stunts
Patrick Kerton	Stunts
Marc Moisan	Stunts
Mario Roussy	Key Grip
Helena Lalibert?	Stunts
Patrick Rousseau	Sound Mixer
Geoff Foster	Sound Mixer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Fountain
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16
17. Chapter 17
18. Chapter 18
19. Chapter 19
20. Chapter 20
21. Chapter 21
22. Chapter 22
23. Chapter 23

Menu

Disc #1 -- Fountain
Languages
Spoken Languages
English 5.1
Français 5.1
Subtitles
English
English (For the Hearing Impaired)
Français
Español
Off
Scene Selections
Special Features
Behind the Story
The Interview
VFX Step by Step: Six Major VFX Shots Are Broken Down Into Their Individual Elements
Inside the Director's Mind: Scene to Storyboard Comparison
Inside the Fountain: Death and Rebirth
Play All
Australia
The 21st Century
Spain: 16th Century
New Spain
The Endless Field
The Future
Additional Footage
Peter Parks Bonus: Raw Footage Montage of Some of the Spectacular Macro-Photography Sequences
Trailers
Theatrical Trailer
Play Movie

Editorial Reviews

It should go without saying but it seldom does: people who don't like abstract art shouldn't see non-narrative films. The Fountain is a beautiful and triumphant success as an impressionistic take on the circular nature of life, love, and human frailty, but its achievements may be lost on moviegoers looking for a clear story that they can follow from beginning to end. Where most movies are works of prose, The Fountain is a work of poetry, and the fundamental artistic principles that will endear it to lovers of the abstract style will probably make it tough to swallow for the mainstream crowd. It traces the events of three "timelines" that should not be taken literally (as this would result in a nonsensical jumble), but rather as representations of the paths we may take in both terror and acceptance of death. Darren Aronofsky employs the same perspective here as he did with Pi, applying a subjectivity to the spiritual and existential answers we seek, proposing that even the most profound truths will still be shaped by the limited portal of the human mind. Aronofsky is unapologetic in his almost singular use of symbolic material, but his choices still show that he's aware of the audience's experience. In order to keep the viewer from becoming lost in a clutter of conceptual images, he builds the film around a central story that, while still allegorical, also closely resembles a literal narrative. This part of the film is written in a more common artistic language, providing a cognitive foothold for the audience so they don't get tired of translating the more complex messages. This central story, concerning a neurological research scientist on a fanatical crusade to cure his dying wife's brain tumor, provides Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz with the chance to tap into raw cinematic alchemy, excelling both as characters and as representations. Aronofsky's sum-total statement in The Fountain could surely fill volumes and fuel much debate, but his primary theme is clear: that while there may be no escaping death, we each still drink from the fountain of youth when we breathe our own contribution into the earth's everlasting cycle: eternal life in perennial life.