Science Fiction · Drama · Romance
Three stories about one love span a conquistador in the 1500s, a surgeon in the present and a space traveler in the 26th century. All three chase a way to save the woman they love. Look at how the space scenes were made with chemicals and a camera.
At a glance
The Fountain is a 2006 science fiction, drama and romance film directed by Darren Aronofsky. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (1 editing, 1 cinematography, 1 psychology and 1 narrative), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, The Babadook uses several of the same techniques.
Cutting between 3 or more storylines happening at the same time in different places. The pattern draws out shared themes and usually builds to a single combined climax.
How this film uses it
The film cuts between three eras in which the same actors play three versions of a man and a woman. Each thread answers a question the others raise. They come together at the end.
Where to see it
The final stretch. The three timelines move toward the same moment at the tree.
Creating effects physically on set with makeup, prosthetics, built props and camera tricks, with no computer graphics added later. The results look solid and real.
How this film uses it
Instead of building the golden nebula with computers, the effects team shot chemical reactions up close. Specialist Peter Parks filmed them in petri dishes. The images have a strange real texture because they are real.
Where to see it
The space bubble. The nebula around the ship comes from filmed chemical reactions.
Making a character face their own death or age, so time becomes visible. The confrontation changes what they value.
How this film uses it
Tommy refuses to accept that Izzi is dying, and he pushes himself to find a cure. His arc is about learning to accept death. Izzi tells him to finish her book.
Where to see it
Izzi's death. After she dies, Tommy plants a seed on her grave.
Returning to the same physical object again and again until it means more than what it is. It moves the plot and also stands for the film's main ideas.
How this film uses it
The Tree of Life appears in every timeline. Tomás hunts for it, Tommy tests a sample from it and Tom carries one in a bubble. The same object changes meaning each time.
Where to see it
The tree in the bubble. Tom tends the tree as the ship heads toward a dying star.
Questions
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