The Fountain

At the Everyman Theatre, a certain aroma and feeling came through to me as we walked in. And it was the nicely stocked bar, the nicely prepared canapes, or the nicely stacked glasses of champagne for easy consumption. No, i knew this film was going to be an experience, something possibly life changing. I heard about The Fountain almost a year ago when it first came out in the States. Just as IMDB states, the plot keeps true as a "story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world."
The visuals intrigued me the most, more than any other amazing aspect throughout this film. the father-son scene designer tandem was at the theatre to answer questions and actually see the complete film for the first time. Their forte was in the chemical reaction of certain elements and compounds and capturing them on film. before the start, they gave a brief history of their work. The father spoke of his chemistry-esque work in film, most notably Superman: the movie. Once he said that, he had my full attention. My childhood (and probably all-time) film was Superman, my hero. In the opening credits of the first two Superman films, if you ever saw them, the viewers flies through space, seeing abstract explosions and oddly-shaped galaxies. this was his work, an i remembered it vividly. Once the film started, i made it essential to spot out the designers contributions to the film.
The film had three core time periods where everything took place: old Conquistadorian Spain, present day, and 2500. the story is about this Spanish soldier, hugh jackman, who finds the fountain of youth. only in the 2500 era do you really see the designers contributions, though. Jackman's character is moving towards a dying star to save his love. the scenes in space are so vibrant and radiant with particles slowly flying by Jackman's "space bubble." it's just amazing thinking how these two people would slave over a microscope seeing how each combination of elements will give a certain reaction, and how they happened upon the exact formula to create the scenes in this movie.