The Fountain

Sometimes you chance upon a movie that totally engrosses you from start to finish, that holds you spellbound with it’s sheer beauty and heartbreak. We watched “The Fountain” this past weekend and that’s what it did for me.

In a previous blog I’d mentioned another opportunity to see this film – as an in-flight movie – but I declined. Subtlety + jet engine roar = frustration.

In a nutshell “The Fountain” contrasts the notions of “living forever” with “life everlasting”, an important distinction.

Hugh Jackman plays 3 separate roles in 3 separate time periods; Spanish Conquistador (during the Spanish Inquisition); neural scientist and surgeon (present day); and despondent time traveler (uhm…future). All his earthly time is spent in pursuit of immortality. His obsession with extending life is all-consuming, to the point where he’s no longer actually “living” his own life.

Rachel Weisz, in the present tense, plays his wife who is stricken with brain cancer. While her husband spends most of his time away from her, running a desperate race against time to find a cure for her cancer, she wants nothing more than to have them spend what little time she has left, together.

“The Fountain” is a poignantly told, beautifully illustrated picture of moral dilemma, ethical transgression, and ultimately love.