What is going on? You may as well ask. In as much as it's about anything, "The Fountain" is about the many myths cultures have around the idea of eternal life. For the Spaniards, it was a fountain. For the Mayas, it was a tree.
One of the more complex symbols is The Tree of Life. The tree at once represents the tree that would have granted Adam and Eve everlasting life in the Garden of Eden; the Sephirot diagram that's the cosmology of Kabbalah; the sacred fig tree under which Siddhartha attained enlightenment and became Buddha; the Sidrat al-Muntaha that in Islam marks the end of the seventh heaven; and the Norse Yggdrasil, which Odin hanged himself from in order to achieve wisdom. All of these connect the three incarnations of Thomas to the tree, especially in Tommy's pursuit of knowledge, but the Yggdrasil myth seems to especially be of significance since Tom's tree-filled spacecraft looks like the Nordic interpretation of the world. According to myth the first humans were made from the Yggdrasil, and the tree is tellingly said to protect the last man and woman when the world ends. Most wonderfully of all, the Mayan Tree of Life is the Milky Way, where Xibalba is located and Tom journeys. Just as the Tree of Life connects "The Fountain's" triptych, Mayans used trees to symbolize the connection between the Earth, the sky and the afterlife.
But as with Apocalypto, the Maya civilization was gone before the first white man arrived. Apparently filmmakers can't get enough of human sacrifice as a symbolic act.
I think the Fountain was voted one of the worst movies of the year. If I remember correctly, it was in theaters only a short time.
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I didn't see The Fountain, but I did see Pi. It left me scratching my head and wondering if Aronofsky would learn to tell stories more clearly. In other words, it was interesting but flawed.
ReplyDeleteI've wanted clarity in storytelling since I began reading, watching TV, and seeing movies almost half a century ago. It has nothing to do with Star Wars. I didn't like the overlong psychedelic ending of 2001 when I saw it in the theater, either.
ReplyDeleteUnclear storytelling is usually if not always bad. I suppose there are exceptions, and if I think of one, I'll let you know. Pi isn't the exception that proves the rule.
Many paintings would be improved by written texts, or at least by titles. This might make them less "mysterious," but mystery is overrated as a quality in art.
ReplyDeleteI didn't understand or appreciate a lot of art until I took an art history class in college. After reading experts explain various aspects of the art, it made more sense to me.
More to the point, I could appreciate the art more emotionally as well as intellectually. Generally speaking, the more you understand something, the deeper you feel it.
I loved this movie!! It was very deep and finally a break from the norm. I thought it was brilliant!!
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