Northfork

Northfork is about a little town, named after the river that surrounds it, which is going to be flooded. The damm that protects the village form overfloating will be destroyed, therefore the villagers have to be evacuated. To do so the state send six men. All of them are divided into pairs of two and will earn 1.5 acres of land if they evacuate at least 65 homes. The six men agree to evacuate the village and head off to Northfork.
Meanwhile a young mother and father are about to leave the village. With them is their adopted son. The boy is ill and will not make it if he'll leave with his parents. Afraid for their son's life they decide to leave the child behind. His caretaker, Father Harlan, will stay with him, while the boy's parents leave the village. Lying in his bed the boy starts to fantasize. First he meets Flower Hercules at the village's graveyard. The boy, who's name is Irwin, is standing by the grave of his real father and mother. Flower Hercules is looking for someone and speaks briefly with the boy. Before she or he, since Flower Hercules seems not be man or woman, leaves the child, Flower gives him a feather, which the boy holds tightly. Back to the room where little Irwin is lying, a feather falls out of his hand when he sleeps. Father Harlan sees it, picks it up and saves it in a book.
While the six men are trying to convince the villagers to leave, Irwin starts to fantasize again. This time he's sitting on a swing when suddenly he sees a strange reddish creature who's legs are like long stilts. Irwin follows the creature and is led to a house. When nobody opens the door he decides to walk in himself. There he meets Flower Hercules and her fellow relatives who go by the names: Cup of Tea, Cod and Happy. The four of them are looking for a relative they have lost. They ask the boy if he knows about the 'unknown angel'. He says he does. The four ask Irwin to bring them this angel, promising the boy that they take him with him, 1000 miles away as he wishes. When the boy returns all he has with him is a long suitcase. When the four ask him where the unknown angel is, he tells them he's the angel they've been looking for. Suspicious, Happy starts to investigate the boy. First he searches for his wings. When these can not be found, the boy says they took them form him, amputated them. All he got left are some feathers that seem to grow from his body sometimes on an early morning. Next Happy investigates the boy's body, looking for his halo. That too, they took from him, Irwin says. Next Irwin shows them what's in the suitcase. There they find a gun. The boy tells about how he was flying with his flock of angels and got shot from the sky when they were flying across Northfork. This is how he ended up in the village as an orphan. After the boy's story Irwin leaves again, leaving the four discussing over wheter the boy might be their relative or not.
During the boy's fantasies the six men are still evacuating people, like the man who has built his own arc and has two wifes like Noah had two of everything. The wifes are eventually convinced to leave, but the man, Mr Stalling, doesn't want to leave and stays. For the two men, a father and a son, this arc was part of the 65 houses they had to evacuate. Because the man decides to stay they only have evacuated 64 houses. Therefore they won't get the 1.5 acres of ground they could have earned. Not giving in that easily, the son tells the head of state that there's another house they haven't investigated yet. This house, so it turns out is the one where Flower Hercules and the others live.
After rethinking everything the boy has said, Happy concludes that he's one of them, he's the relative they were looking for. Flower Hercules is allowed to get the boy and take him with them. But first the father and son investigate the house. It seems nobody's home. They both investigate the first floor where they find out that in the middle the house is broken up in two separate parts. The father is on one part of the house, the son's on the other. He ask his father to jump so he'll be on his side and they'll be together. The father jumps, makes it to the other side, but hits the floor. When he tries to get up he sees Flower Hercules and the others. Not sure what he saw he decides to leave quickly taking his son with him, but leaving behind a suitcase. This suitcase is almost as big as the one Irwin brought the four. When they open it they find two beautiful wings that look like if it belongs to an angel.
Then Iwrin dies, but not before he has his last fantasy. He's taken by Flower Hercules telling him he's their relative and explaining to him that she will nor be his mother nor his father, since she's both. Together with the other three they leave with a plane, leaving Northfork behind. Next to the bed Irwin has died in, stands a little table. On it are a comic about Hercules, a flower in a vase, a bottle of cod liver oil and a cup of tea.

Is it any good?

Northfork is a very different movie. I don't think I have ever seen anything like it. First off, the movie has a very slow pace, which fits the story well and gives it a haunting feeling. The music is lovely, very relaxing and the images look beautiful. Also the costumes, in particular that of Flower Hercules, look amazing. Overall Northfork has a kind of surrealism to it. It looks very arty, like a painting. The colors that are used make it look really peaceful. The story uses a lot of symbolism and has biblical references which shows in the spoken dialogue and in some of the characters. The movie is filled with these references that you may not always be able to place. All actors are great. Especially Daryl Hannah as Flower and Nick Nolte as Father Harlan. Anthony Edwards, whom I only know from E.R., I didn't recognize at all. He definitely looks different as Happy.
Some people call this movie boring, but I thought it was interesting enough to keep me watching. At times I kind of felt that I had the urge for something big to happen, but this never made me look away from the screen. This movie is a bit tough to understand immediately when you first watch it. I'm not quite sure what it all means. But the way it is brought is really comforting. Watching this movie just feels really nice. Right now it isn't a movie that I instantly love. Maybe if I watch it again or put more thought in it I will come to love it. But for now it's just a really nice film, with a story that seems like a little fable, a story you tell your kids before they go to bed.

Is it a must-see?

Nope, I don't think so. It's not a movie you need to see, because it's so awesome, it's so great. But it's definitely something else. And if you like something else, than you should watch it. But to me it isn't a movie that I feel I really should have watched. It's nice, but nothing more. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't really have missed something.

Is it inspiring?

Not so much. Northfork didn't have me going: wow I want to make a movie like this! I did like the way the story is told, though. I love the images and the costumes. The location where it's shot is tremendously beautiful. Very breathtaking scenery. It would be great to shoot a film in a place like that. It seems to have a very dramatic feel to it. It's really a character in itself. Just the colors, they make for so much emotion. It really is a haunting landscape, so open, so empty. Also the scene in the church, that did not have a back wall, was a lovely sight. Nice and original. That had me in awe for a moment.

Best scene

The best scene is the part where Flower Hercules and Irwin meet for the first time. When we, the viewer, see Flower for the first time she's surrounded by this bright white light. The way this is shot looks very beautiful. And really adds something to the lovely costume Daryl Hannah is wearing. I also liked the red creature, of which I'm not sure what it is and what it means. But it really fitted the story. And it added to the strangeness that is Northfork. It was that little extra that makes it more special and different from anything else. It's nice that a strange creature like that is added without giving an explanation of what it is or what it means. It was just there.

Best piece of dialogue

I loved the dialogue in this movie. It sounds poetic and deep. My favourite line has to be this one: "We are all angels. It is what we do with our wings that separates us."

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The Fountain

The Fountain is about Tommy and Izzi, a very in love couple. Izzi has cancer which cannot be cured, therefore she will die. Tommy, who is a doctor and who's full name is Tom Creo, will not accept the fact that his wife will die. He keeps searching for a cure that will safe his wife's life. This search starts to consume him, which worries Izzi who believes death isn't the end. She knows she will die, but also that she will live on and never entirely leave this earth. During the time that Tom tries to make a medicine which he tries on apes, Izzi has written a story. This story is centered in the past, in a time when Spain is on fire. The queen has sent her servants on a quest to find the tree of life, the one tree from Eden, that is hidden somewhere at the navel of the earth. Tomas Vere, a conquistador, will lead the quest and the queen, who's name is Isabel promises to be his Eve once he finds the tree of life. The story Izzi has written is about her and Tom, hence the names Tomas and Isabel. It consists of eleven chapters, but isn't finished yet. When Izzi's lying in the hospital, close to dying, she asks Tom to finish the story. Tom reads it, but can't finish it yet. He isn't able to give into the fact that his wife's going to die. When the right cure is finally found it's already to late. Izzi has died. All that's left for Tom to do is to finish the story just like Izzi wanted. This was her last wish. The reason she left it open, is so Tom will come to realise Izzi's right and Tom should just enjoy his life and except it. She will never really be gone, she will be with him, he doesn't have to be scared. She'll always be present.
The story ended at the moment Tomas encountered the guard that will lead to the tree of life. It's now up to Tom to decide wheter he finds the tree and will be given immortality or that he fails, not able to conquer death as he so badly wants to.
Tomas finds the tree but as he drinks from the tree's sap, new life grows, but he himself, dies. All that's left are the flowers that have grown out of him. Queen Isabel and him meet and he's given a seed. Back to the present, Tom goes to Isabel's grave and plants the seed, which shows that the story Izzi's written isn't just based on their life, but really is their life. They've lived that life in the past.
Also, Tom changed the present by following Izzi when she visited Tom at the hospital just before he would go into surgery. Right then, Izzi's still alive. Instead of just dying in hospital, Tom will now make sure Izzi will live forever, like she wanted to. The ending he writes contains all of this.

Just like Tom is shown in the past, he's shown in the future, living in a bubble, an ecosphere, that's floating in space. He meditates and writes with the fountain pen Izzi gave him as a present so he could finish the story. With him in the huge bubble is a big tree. The tree that has grown out of the seed that Tom had planted on his wife's grave, years before when Izzi had just died. Tom spends his days meditating, thinking about the past, about the story, and how he never was able to find immortality. Eventually he has to finish the story. End it. Years later, he has to finally make his last choice. Still haunted by Izzi's voice telling him to finish it. Therefore he starts climbing the tree which has died, finally fully coming to terms with death, realising, also, he will die one day. He has chosen for his wife's believes and apparently has finished writing the story and this is how it ends. He has chosen for the story Izzi believed in, the one her guide told her about the son who planted a seed on his father's grave, out of which grew a tree, a tree of life. Tom, bald and grown old, is finally reunited with Izzi. Now in death they live on forever.

Is it any good?

It is amazing. First off, the music and the images are breathtaking and both Weisz and Jackman give brilliant performances. Jackman is great in this film. I thought he did good in The Prestige, but this one, he's just great. And I actually don't really like him as an actor. But he plays his character really well, easily switching between vulnerability, anger, dertermination, all in showing the struggle Tom goes through. The beautiful close-up's of both actor's faces still haunt you hours after watching the movie. I didn't cry, but I definitely felt the tears in my eyes at some moments and those weren't even the most intense ones.
As for the story, it's great. I don't even know if the summary that i gave above is correct, but that's what makes this movie even better. It's stays open for your own interpretation. It's filled with little details that during the time you watch the movie you can't really place and give you a lot to think about after watching it. Actually, while watching this film you never really get the time to fully rethink everything you have been watching. And it will be afterwards that you really realize how amazing this film is. It's a film that makes you think, wonder, and leaves you puzzled. It's very rich and has lots to offer. You just have to sit and watch and pay really close attention, just let it wash over you. Then at the end, when you've seen everything, and it has ended you can go and put all the pieces together and try to understand everything you've just watched. It's a film you have to see multiple times, which is why it's so good and which is why it will become better everytime you watch it. Everytime you will watch it you will discover new things, but never fully get a hold of everything you see. This story is never fully complete itself, it's never fully finished. You can give a different interpretation everytime you watch it.
As a viewer all three stories are presented to you little by little. You're like a conquisitor yourself, going on this quest to decide for yourself which way you will go. Which of the messages will you keep when you'll be finished watching? The film doesn't have a real beginning, middle and end. Therefore you don't really know when the film will end. You're never sure if this is the final ending, if this is the way Tom has decided to finish the story.
As for everyone who disliked this movie. I can understand them, at least a bit. I understand that the way this movie presents itself to the viewer can be too difficult for some people. If you don't have the patience to sit through a beginning of a film without fully being aware of what's going on, then The Fountain isn't for you. The Fountain really challenges you as a viewer, makes you active. And I really appreciate that. You get all these images that take place in different times, and you're allowed to put them together the way you want to. And it really sticks in your head.
So if you do have the patience you'll be rewared, except if you're just really a person without feeling. Someone who only watches movies for some kind of thrill, not longing for a story that will make you think, will make you feel. Some people say this film is a mess or that it's utter crap, which to me makes no sense. Okay, it's alright if you think it's pretentious, that it's trying to be a lot. But why not? Why can't it be? Aronofsky made so much of this story. He really gives you every possibility to look upon this story of a man who's searching for eternal life. Everyone who has a bit of feeling in them at least will find some connection on an emotional level. How can you not feel for Tom on all his travels? How can you just sit watching, without thinking about what you see? If you care about the characters, even just a little, if you can identify with them, feel Tom's pain, his endless struggle, than you would never condemn this movie to the statement 'utter crap'. Because, fact is, it isn't. Everybody should be able to relate to everything this movie offers.
It's just like people saying Lost In Translation is boring. For me, I love it when a movie makes me think. Makes me realize things I never realized before or which I haven't realized in a long time. Or just a film that's on the same wave lenght as I am. The Fountain is just like a big pile of thoughts that keep changing. It just shows the whole thinking process and Tom's mind that's about to explode, because he just don't know what to do anymore.
The Fountain really is beautiful, exceptional, extraordinary even. You can really see that it's a very personal movie, which makes me feel very privileged as a viewer. Aronofsky really takes you into this story, into his world. This is how he sees things. I love that he allows his viewers to get this close to him, to his vision. It's a very powerful film with a lot of heart. Just one man, one, I guess you can say hopeless romantic, that doens't want to except his wife is going to die. How great is that! I myself, don't think I would ever really be able to except something like that. I don't think I could ever fully make piece with the fact that my wife is dying either. Just the thought that your wife will leave you forever and there's nothing you can do. It's devastating and oh so brave of this man, Tom, to try and conquer death. Why not try, even though you know you won't be able to stop death, but at least you haven't given in that easily. It's about that kind of power, this movie. It's about that strong love, that powerful love. Really, how can you not be intrigued by the way this film tells this story.

Is it a must-see?

Wheter you'll like it or not. Just go see it! Yes, it's a MUST see. The images look wonderful. This is a film you want to linger in forever. It's Aronofsky's masterpiece. It's poetry, proze, a painting, a love song, it's everything you can imagine and beyond. And if you won't like it, too bad. But if you do like it, than I'm sure you'll love it. It's a gem of a film. Therefore, it's a must-see. A must-see is a film that's just isn't so and so, but is really good. And this one is just that.

Is it inspiring?

Very. If I would ever be able to make a movie, than this is how I would have wanted it to be. A story about love this strong, beautiful music, acting and images. And a story that is told in a way that has just that little bit of extra complexity that makes it a bit hard to grab. That's what a good movie should be. One that makes you think, long after you've seen it, a movie that sticks and you want to watch over and over again. Darren, you're my hero! This movie was a risk, it's very personal, which make it so nice. You really feel the envolvement. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who can look at life this way.

Best scene

Even though there are many great moments in this movie, e.g. the wonderful tears rolling from both of Jackman's eyes; Izzi sitting on the roof looking at Xibalba; the best scene in my opinion is when Tomas finds the tree of life and drinks from it's sap. A drop falls on the ground and this beautiful white flower starts to grow out of the ground. Then Tomas tries to heal his wound. First it just seems to heal, but suddenly flower starts to grow out of it and before he can do anything, more flowers grow and he eventually falls to the ground. All that's left are flowers and Tomas is death, the flowers have burries him next to the tree of life. This scene really made me go: wow! It was that good, and very unexpected. Wonderful moment.

Best piece of dialogue

I love the dialogue in this movie. Everything that is said is said for a reason, you have to pay close attention. And the things they say are very beautiful and very deep. But a line I really liked was: 'Every shadow no matter how deep is threatened by morning light.' (Izzi/Isabel)

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