MovieChat Forums > The Fountain (2006) Discussion > I wish the book she wrote would have bee...

I wish the book she wrote would have been real.


For some reason I was under the impress that this movie started in the year 1500 A.D. and spanned 1000 years to 2500 A.D.

I was very disappointed because I was waiting for the part where everything would be super technologically advanced.

I think they should remake this movie except don't make the interesting parts part of a book. I also want a better ending, I felt horrible about how it ended lol. I was expecting a nice ending, big let down. She just dies and the credits roll. It should also go to into the future as they reincarnate (kind of like in cloud atlas).

Who agrees?

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Becca: Japanese won't stop till they create the ultimate sex machine
Sara: We have to stop them

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This film obviously went completely over your head.

Izzi dies at almost two thirds of the movie, so there's still a whole third of the runtime left (rougly). What kind of version were you watching???

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Idk they made it look like she was going to come back to life.. or that they were going to meet again.. then at the end he goes to her grave.. looks at it and then it ends.. so depressing... makes me wonder why they went with that version in the first place

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Becca: Japanese won't stop till they create the ultimate sex machine
Sara: We have to stop them

reply

Not really... After he looks at the grave, he looks up and the xibalba lights up. Afterwards Tom and Izzi exchange a few comforting lines and only then we see the credits that roll over the rebirth of the universe which is the result of the exploding xibalba.

While it's true that some aspects of the movie are depressing, they are necessary to convey Tommy's grief, so we can get an opposite themed climax at the end - that of closure, redemption and hope.

You shouldn't have walked away feeling depressed. I don't blame you though, as there is a ton of symbolism and complicated storytelling. I suggest you give this movie a second go.


On whether the story in the book is real or not; I don't really have an answer. Some consider the 2000 story as the anchor of the film, 1500 being a book and 2500 as Tommy's allegorical overcoming of grief and/or him finishing Izzi's book. Some consider the 2500 story real as well. Some say the 2500 story is the centric one, 2000 is flashbacks and 1500 again just a book. Some consider all 3 as being real.

Honestly, you can make a good case for anything you see or want to see. The Tree of life is real in pretty much any case and Izzi's book is based on history and myths, which again might actually be accurate. It's not too much of a stretch. At this point you might ask: "what's the point if there is no definitive story?". And most people think the movie is therefore pretentious, but to me, while the stories are great, it really doesn't matter which are true and which aren't. It's completely irrelevant. The answers of this movie are hiding in its themes and ideas.



Seeing how you liked the conquistador story, you might also want to pick up The Fountain graphic novel. The graphic novel was made after Darren Aronofsky (the director) thought that this film is never going to be made, so he said "*beep* it" and released his story on paper. So there you can see what his original vision was. There's a lot more to all 3 storylines and there's a lot more action in the 1500 and 2500 stories as well.


PS: did you by any chance watch the trailer before going into this movie? That might be the reason for your unfulfilled expectations, because that trailer is horrendous. It draws in the wrong audience and repels the one for which the movie was made for.

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in the commentary Aronofsky talks about the sci Fi future scenes not being the final chapter of the book but actually happening.
When I first saw this movie I wasn't sure if the "future" scenes (in space with the tree) were actually happening or if they were depicting Tommy's last chapter of Izzys book that he wrote. Very cool tho that it can be perceived as open to interpretation I think.

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