'The Fountain' Gets All the Boos

It's been months and months since word got out that the maker of 'Requiem for a Dream' was preparing for yet another heart-breaking drama. First, 'The Fountain' was supposed to star Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchet as the leading characters and had an estimated budget of a little over $70 million.

But, when Pitt left the project, he took Blanchet with him and the money the investors were willing to put in. So, the director went for Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, as being equally talented actors but with a much lower salary in mind.

'The Fountain' is a tragic love story that spans over the three temporal dimensions: Past, Present and Future. It presents the drama of a man (Jackman) who sees his wife (Weisz) on the deathbed and is forced to seek through time and space for a cure for her cancer.

In the end, it's a story about learning that dying is a part of everybody's life, something no one can fight against and which turns a blind eye to love, loyalty and passion. It's the eternal 'search for God, search for meaning' theme, that here leaves the grieving husband without any answers to the questions that torment him.

The plot may sound a bit off-line, but the way the movie manages to integrate and intersperse three different genres (action film, love story and science fiction movie) into one brilliant ensemble makes 'The Fountain' the appropriate candidate for the title 'best sci-fi movie of the past decade'.

Despite the good reviews that it got from some critics and the sense of expectancy, last night's premiere at the Venice Film Festival made the audience boo and leave the theater. Most of them didn't like the movie, labeling it far too 'complicated' to be worth watching, while others simply lost track of the plot as it enfolded on a multi-layered level. All in all, Aronofsky's movie failed to reach the audience because it dwelt on much complex issues than, well, shooting machine guns and killing the bad guys.

After Venice, 'The Fountain' will enter the Toronto Film competition and only after that it will hit cinemas in the United States. But do not be mislead by the reaction it got on its first official screening and do go and see it if you have the chance. If you're considering the latter option, click here for the trailer for 'The Fountain'.