- Hardcover: 176 pages
- Publisher: Vertigo (Nov 2 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1401200591
- ISBN-13: 978-1401200596
- Product Dimensions: 30.2 x 22.6 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 1 Kg
- Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,524,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Booklist
When his plans for the ambitious, millennia--spanning fantasy film The Fountain were derailed, Pi and Requiem for a Dream directorAronofsky recast the story as a graphic novel, and although the movie was subsequently revived (starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz; it's due out later this year), the comics version stayed on track. Its three parallel stories, set in sixteenth-century Central America, the present day, and the distant future, respectively, depict the same man as a conquistador, a scientist, and an interplanetary explorer, always trying to prevent the death of the woman he desperately loves. Aronofsky's epic boldly blends mysticism and science, which coalesce in the hero's discovery of the mythical Tree of Life. Williams' lush, painted artwork, stylistically and narratologically reminiscent of Sandman illustrator Dave McKean's work, perfectly matches the script's passion and challenging abstruseness. Not simply an adaptation of the movie--the screenplay that is its basis being significantly altered when the film project was revived--the lavish, oversize graphic novel ought to be fascinating to compare with the released movie. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Product Description
Darren Aronofsky proved himself a film maker to watch with his provocative debut, Pi. His follow-up, Requiem for a Dream, continued the accolades, receiving Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. His latest film, The Fountain, is presented here as a gorgeously painted, oversized original graphic novel about the timeless truths of life, love and death.The story cross-cuts between three very different time periods: 1535, where Thomas is a captain of a Spanish army that enters into a spectacular march through Mayan temples and Central American jungles in order to find the key to eternal life for his love, Queen Isabel; the present day, where Thomas is a doctor trying to find the cure to the cancer that is slowly killing his wife; and the far future, where Thomas is an explorer, traveling through space, trying to save the life of a tree that represents the memory of his wife.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Clashing fountain,
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Fountain (Paperback)
Before Darren Aronofsky turned "The Fountain" into a beautiful movie, this exquisite story of life, death and love was made into a graphic novel. But the graphic novel is a stumbling experience, whose beautiful dialogue and heartrending situations are
The story follows three intertwined storylines -- a conquistador named Tomas, who is battling the Mayans, and thinking of Queen Isabella back in Spain. Then there's a doctor named Tom in the present, who is struggling to save his dying wife from a brain tumor, by using an extract from a strange tree. But death cannot be pushed away, and Izzy succumbs to her cancer -- but Tom won't accept it. It the future, Tom is transporting the tree to a distant nebula, struggling to defeat death once and for all. But is death an end, "nothing"? Or will he fulfil Izzy's last request and finish her book about Tomas the conquistador, and the Tree of Life? It's an exquisite story, full of moving emotion and mystical connections -- everything from Christianity's story of the tree of good and evil to Mayan myths show up in Tom's journey. This is illustrated through the rings in each story -- tattooed, gifted and wedding -- and the eerie, surreally beautiful climax. And Aronofsky tackles the ultimate question of life -- is death an end, or a beginning? Does the existance of death give us greater life? And can love reach out beyond the grave? Unfortunately, Kent Williams' artwork simply doesn't measure up to the exquisite storyline. It feels like a bunch of your basic graphic artists were collaborating in their different styles, only to hit a deadline and turn in the unfinished work. He captures delicate moments -- such as Tomas kissing Isabella's ring -- but the rest of the time, I felt it lacked. Sometimes there's no background, just aqua splashes or colorless sketched figures. Some of the characters look like photographs cut-and-pasted, and with tacky surroundings merely added in, while at other times they are fully sketched and detailed. And worst of all, it's hard to follow the story because the characters never look the same. Every few pages, they change appearance radically -- Izzy even changes ethnicity for a few panels. "The Fountain" has a brilliant story, but Kent Williams wasn't up to the task of bringing Darren Aronofsky's beautiful story to life. Too bad, because the story itself is full of bittersweet purity.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (24 customer reviews) 23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great stuff.,
By N. Maranto - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Fountain (Hardcover)
I'm a big fan of Aronofsky's films and have been following the production of "The Fountain" since the beginning. I'm sure the endless delays will have been forth it after reading Kent Williams' comic adaptation of the script though.
I don't want to give anything away, because that would take away the joy of discovery. I'll simply say that it's a powerfully written, and exceedingly psychedelic story about love, death, and eternal life. The art is wonderful. Broad water color looking strokes over sketches combined with at least two other styles of illustration. Very fitting for the story. Each section has its own visual continuity that can suddenly shift to reflect the mood. It's really quite an achievement. I paid well over what amazon is charging and I don't feel ripped off at all. It really is great. If you have any love of good, powerful, character/idea driven science fiction I suggest you give this a shot. Yes, it's a graphic novel. Even if you're not versed in the particular vernacular of reading comics you'll still find much to love here. Something about the panel layout makes it feel more like a movie than any book I've read before. Go forth! Buy! 24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing, If A Little Confusing,
By Andrew "Radaar" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Fountain (Hardcover)
With the upcoming film version of The Fountain coming out soon, which is written and directed by Aronofsky, I decided to check out the graphic novel version, which has received enormous praise. Boasting a story by acclaimed writer/director Darren Aronofsky and artwork by Kent Williams, The Fountain tells the story of a man whose love knows no bounds, not even time.
Taking place across three different time periods (Spain and the New World in the 1500s, America in the present, and in a space-worthy pod in the distant future), Thomas Verde will do anything to save the love of his life Izzy. Drawing on ideas from the book of Genesis, Tom searches for the mythic Tree of Life in order to grant immortality to himself and Izzy, but when the tree begins to die, he must travel to a dying star in order to rejuvenate it. While the story is simple to explain, it is a little confusing to read in the book. I should probably read it over again, just in case, though. A second reading is probably required. The artwork is very distinctive, and, for the most part, very beautiful. The art from the past and the future is breathtaking, however, in my opinion, the stuff used for the story in the present is a little bland. It is fairly colorless compared to the brilliance of the 1500 storyline. While the book wasn't everything I was expecting, it was still very good, and, now more than ever, I am eagerly awaiting the movie. 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Misconceptions,
By M. Gautier - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Fountain (Paperback)
Before buying this, I took the risk of finding out whether I would receive the photo book or the actual graphic novel. It turns out, thank God, that I received the graphic novel. (For those who are interested, it is pretty much perfect and just as intriguing and multi faceted as the movie.)
I just wanted to point something out. Some reviews have said that when they bought this item, they received the coffee table photography book (which I plan on buying due to the overwhelmingly good reviews). Be careful when buying this. Make sure this is the cover you see in the cart and not the one of the photography book. As for a formal review of the graphic novel itself, that will come this weekend when I read it over for the second time. I hope this was a little useful to all future buyers. |
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
