Back in July I briefly touched on the film The Fountain as part of my discussion of films that aren’t successful, but nonetheless develop devoted fans. I stated that “Some of these films find their audience due to an alternate understanding or interpretation of the film, either as an allegory or symbolic representation that the audience connects with.”
Last week David Chen chose to provide some additional evidence to support this when he posted a video in what appears will be an ongoing series “Movies Explained”.
I was truly interested in discovering what explanation Chen was going to provide. However when Chen said “There are precious few clues as to what astro Tom is actually up to and honestly I’m still not 100% sure it makes total sense.” I realized that this was not really an explanation, but more of an appreciation of the film. This was further supported when Chen’s finds himself unable to ascertain the logic of the film in relation to his theory about love and sacrifice when he says “so even though it doesn’t make sense in the conventional sense of the term, I don’t’ actually count that against the movie, I think it actually does make sense in the case of Tommy Creo.”
So, Mr. Chen, while I don’t accept your “explanation” as sufficient evidence that this is a great film, I will accept your appreciation of the film. I agree that it is one of the most amazing visual experiences, and that it has a compelling structure and story, albeit one that falls short of the potential that seems to be gestating just below the surface waiting to break through and give the film a life that would make it a timeless classic, rather than an interesting oddity.