Showing posts with label hugh jackman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hugh jackman. Show all posts

The Fountain (Widescreen Edition) (2006) Review

The Fountain (Widescreen Edition) (2006)
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I was utterly moved to tears by this film. The Fountain is a breathtaking sentimental masterpiece in the vein of 2001: A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray] as it boldly seeks to answer the great mysteries of life, love, death and re-birth transgressing the metaphysical boundaries of the universe. It's epic non-linear narrative spans the centuries with Hugh Jackman delivering an absolutely unforgettable performance as Tomas, a Spanish Conquistador in the 16th century who pledges his loyalty to Queen Isabella (Rachel Weisz) to find the mythical Tree of Life so that Spain will hold the key to the Fourth Paradise, Immortality, denounced as heresy by the Grand Inquisitor. Tomas' quest is interleaved between three converging narratives across time and space. As a modern-day neurosurgeon, Tomas struggles to find a cure for a tumorous disease that threatens the mortality of his beloved wife Izzi who is writing a fable called "The Fountain" chronicling the odyssey of their 16th century quest which can be interpreted as either a fictitious or biographical account of Tomas and Izzi's lives who have endured the centuries together or simply as mythical characterizations of Izzi's unfinished allegorical manuscript symbolizing her husband's obsessive quest to find a cure for her terminal ailment that she has left for him to finish (the past representing Izzi's tale and the future representing Tomas' as he struggles to "finish it") both of which could be argued with equal measure. One of the beauties of The Fountain is its open-ended narrative construct left to speculation and interpretation and can be viewed from entirely different perspectives with each consecutive viewing. Tomas' quest ultimately takes him to the distant 26th century where he has projected himself and the dying Tree of Life across the great void of space in a transcendental bubble to reach Xibalba, the name of the Mayan underworld given to a dying nebula that brings the creation of new life from the wake of its destruction like the yin and yang of the cosmos beyond the confines of this mortal coil. "Our bodies are prisons for our souls. All flesh decays... death turns all to ash. And thus, death frees every soul... "
Darren Aronofsky's poetic film blossoms with rich cultural, biblical, mythical and spiritual imagery that speak the common language spoken by all religions and cultures that have asked the boldest philosophical questions about our place in the universe since time immemorial. For anyone who has ever looked to the heavens and stared in the face of mortality and beyond, The Fountain holds all of the answers to life like a profound epiphany radiating from the heavens. Drink from The Fountain and achieve the knowledge of truth and spiritual enlightenment on the road to Awe. One of the truly great cinematic masterpieces of this century and last, The Fountain will transcend the test of time and eternity.

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Yesterday, today, tomorrow. Past, present, future. Through time and space, one man embarks on a bold 1000-year odyssey to defeat humankind's most indomitable foe: Death. Hugh Jackman plays that man, devoted to one woman (Rachel Weisz) and determined to protect her from forces that threaten her existence. His quest leads him to a Tree of Life...and to an adventure into eternity. Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream) directs, continuing his string of imaginative, involving filmmaking with a tale alive with ideas and filled with astonishing vistas. "Not many films can blow your mind and break your heart at the same time, but this one will" (Drew McWeeny, Ain't It Cool News).

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Australia (2008) Review

Australia (2008)
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I love Howard Hawks' films...Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday, Red River, and Rio Bravo are amazing pieces of entertainment. As I was watching Australia, the new Baz Luhrmann movie with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, I kept thinking...man, Baz must really love Hawks' movies, too.
As evidenced by the films above, the mismatched couple who fight and fight until they realize they're perfect for each other (see Much Ado About Nothing, Taming of the Shrew, and Moonlighting as other examples of the form) and the group of underestimated misfits who come together to fight evil are two big elements used again and again by Hawks. Throw in a bit of John Ford's The Searchers and its hard look at racism leading to inhuman deeds and mix well and you have...Australia.
The problem modern audiences may have with Luhrmann's new movie is it's very, very earnest. This is straight ahead epic storytelling with its heart on its sleeve and hat and boots with never a wink to the crowd in the theater to say "ain't these people quaint". You either buy in or you don't. If you do, like I did, you're in for a hell of a ride.
This, I feel, is the flip-side to The Dark Knight. Good and evil are trapped in something akin to a battle and an embrace in Nolan's Gotham City. You root for Batman, but he does stuff that is on the wrong side of freedom and civil rights. The Joker is pure crazy, but he's the most mesmerizing character in the film. In Australia, there are good guys and bad guys and you are either really good or twirl your mustache evil. The main villain actually may be a bit too two-dimensional in that aspect, but it didn't hurt my overall enjoyment.
Why? Well, epic melodrama is hard to pull off...I'm talking about the real stuff here. The recent BBC production of Bleak House is a great example. There are very good and very, very bad people in that story, but the acting is so fantastic you rarely if ever catch yourself rolling your eyes (like whenever I've watched Smallville...see: bad epic melodrama). Kidman and Jackman sell their characters...the displaced Englishwoman and the rough-hewn "Drover". They are thrown together just to, initially it seems, thwart a nasty cattle baron from monopolizing the beef industry in the country. But the other big story, the main one in fact, centers around Australia's "lost generation". These were Aboriginal children who were fathered by white men who didn't claim them. They were taken by the government, the mothers had no rights, and handed over to the church to be taught to "act white" and then work in the servant class. Nullah, played by the fantastic child actor Brandon Walters, is one of these "creamies" who has been hidden on the ranch now owned by Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman). Lady Ashley discovers what is going on, is horrified by the law, and works to keep him hidden as well. Why the Drover cares so much about Nullah becomes clear later in the film (no, it's not what you think...that would be too easy) and Jackman's experience with stage and musical work does him proud here. He can do earnest better than almost any actor alive when he needs to and his later use of the f-word (the only curse I can remember from the entire film) hits so hard, in just the right emotional moment, that it kills. Russell Crowe was originally cast as the Drover but backed out. If Crowe had done the film, and I have liked him in other things...the Napoleon-era British navy film that I can't remember the name of right now, it would not have worked. Crowe never loses that bit of edge and the Drover, at one point, really has to fully break down and become completely vulnerable. Jackman shines at that point.
Anyway...a warning, the movie is long 2 hours and 40something minutes, but I didn't realize that until I had left the theater. I saw it alone...I was out of town at a pediatrics meeting...and that's a good thing. I didn't have to hide from Holly the few times the movie hit me a bit too hard and do that cough-throat clearing thing we dudes do to cover up a stray tear.

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A romantic action-adventure epic set in Australia prior to World War II that centers on an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) who inherits a large ranch. When English cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle drover (Hugh Jackman) to protect her ranch. Together they experience four life-altering years, a love affair and the bombing of Darwin during World War II.
Audio: English, French & Spanish: 5.1 Dolby Surround
Language: Dubbed & Subtitled: English, French & Spanish
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen: 2.35:1


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