Ìý User Rating 
After years of struggle to get it made, Darren Aronofsky's sci-fi drama The Fountain hardly caused a ripple at the box office. As this is the same man who brought us Pi, nobody expected a mainstream romance but this time-hopping tale about love, death and life and stuff (starring Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman) left many pondering the meaning of all this "meandering madness..."
Dipping A Toe In
For every moviegoer who felt robbed of two precious hours, there is another who rather enjoyed this avant-garde film. Those people might also enjoy a feature-length documentary that goes behind the scenes on this very ambitious project. It takes us back to the very beginning when, still in post-production on LPi, Aronofsky began to formulate other stories. "How I write," he says, "is I take a lot of different ideas from a lot of different places that I think are cool and I sort of try to mesh them all together." Of course the advantage of this approach is that you get to fly to Mexico, Canada and Australia on the studio's dollar. But then, not long after the sets have been built, the execs get nervous and pull out. Aronofsky doesn't go into why the studio had reservations, but we can probably guess...
Two years later, the story picks up again and the studio is feeling much more confident since Hugh Jackman has agreed to star. Fly-on-the-wall footage from the Montreal set is spliced with rehearsal video and interviews with the crew. Extreme weather conditions test everyone's patience for the outdoor scenes and then a swooping pigeon tries to steal Jackman's limelight! Eventually the pressure starts to get to the Aussie thesp, who after listening to Aronofsky's direction idly wonders, "Who was that guy? Why is he talking to me...?"
Going With The Flow
With sets and visual effects playing such a vital role in the film, it's surprising to learn that most of these were achieved without CGI. For instance, the visions of outer space were achieved by shooting extreme close-ups on different liquids swirling around a petri dish. The scene where Tomas (Jackman) drinks from the Tree of Life and flowers sprout in his mouth was also done with practical effects. Open wide, Mr Jackman.
Jackman dominates most of the behind-the-scenes footage, but Aronofsky's other half Ms Weisz does benefit from his generosity. In a scene that requires her to look straight at the camera, she becomes distracted by the reflection of her own face (make of that what you will). Thankfully, Jackman is around to stand off-camera and help her focus. Their rapport also comes across on the last day of shooting when they let us eavesdrop on a conversation about their recent experiences. Jackman admits, "I couldn't necessarily disseminate the entire themes et cetera of the piece but... yeah, that's what life's about!" Um. Thanks, Hugh. Even Weisz looks a bit dubious about this conclusion, insisting, "We've gone metaphysical hippy - that's what Darren Aronofsky does to you!"
Capping off the extras menu is an extended sequence that can best be described as a short lesson on how to grow your own mushrooms (they're magic, you know...) In summation, if you relish the idea of a film that won't simply wash over you, then The Fountain might be worth looking into on DVD. Just don't blame us if it leaves you floundering up the metaphysical creek!
EXTRA FEATURES
The Fountain DVD is released on Monday 28st May 2007.
