Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain (2006)


One of the most beautiful movies ever made depicting the past, present and future in a mystical tale of man's search for immortality. The movie has 3 stories each of them in a different time line spanning a thousand years, however connected beautifully in essence. The sacred tree of eternal life from the Mayan culture, our physical mortality and our quest to beat death make the foundation to this magical journey called 'The Fountain' !

Aronofsky says the film is about the fabled fountain of youth. "The desire to live forever is deep in our culture," he says. "Every day people are looking for ways to extend life or feel younger. Just look at the popularity of shows like Extreme Makeover or Nip/Tuck. People are praying to be young and often denying that death is a part of life. Hospitals spend huge sums of money trying to keep people alive. But we've become so preoccupied with sustaining the physical that we often forget to nurture the spirit, which is eternal, which is the true essence of who we really are. So that's one of the central themes I wanted to deal with in the film ! The Mayans believed, "Death is the road to awe" ...


Hugh Jackman who plays Tomas / Thomas in all 3 stories, as the futuristic astronaut is traveling in a space bubble to a nebula which the Mayans knew as Xibalba, their underworld, a place of birth and death. There is certainly a lot symbolism used in the movie to incorporate biblical references and mayan beliefs to depict the metaphysical reality of our infinite nature which we seem to have forgotten somehow and find it too far out to be real ! Rachel Weiss plays the lead lady in all 3 stories and is the reason why Hugh Jackman is on the journey to the Tree of Eternal Life & Xibalba. She shines bright ! :)

* Brad Pitt was initially casted to play the character of Tomas.
* Kate Blanchette was considered to play the role as the lead lady.
* The movie was initially called 'The Last Man'.


The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality and the fragility of our existence in this world !


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is my favorite movie! a true enlightening and spiritual journey that makes you think. It reminds me a lot of Alex Grey's art work and Hugh Jackmen couldn't have been a better candidate for Thomas!

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