The Fountain (2006)
Story, Screenplay, Direction: Darren Aronofsky
It seems that there were two trees in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and decided to savour the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil), God cast them to Earth and hid the other tree, the Tree of Life.
From time immemorial, people have been going to great lengths to locate this 'Tree of Life'. They are under the impression that it could give Man immortality. This story is just about that and the conclusion that the characters draw quite humbling.
It spans three lifetimes all trying to find the 'tree of life' with the hope of attaining immortality! All three lifelines are portrayed interspersed with each other but it all falls into place at the end. In the first one, Tomas (Hugh Jackman) is a Spanish conquistador in search of the tree in South America for Queen Isabella (Rachel Weisz), so that they can live happily together forever. In the second caption, Jackman is Tom Core, a scientist, who obtained a particular tree from South America, which can regenerate nerve tissue. He is banking on this breakthrough to save his cancer inflicted dying wife, Izzi (also Rachel Weisz). Izzi writes a story about a Spanish conquistador who ends up in a nebula, where the Mayans believe souls reside before they are reborn.
Sure enough, in the third snippet, occurring many years in the future, Tom is in a bubble-like space capsule, reaching the said nebula, Xibalba.
In a very complicated way, with many scenes which scream of symbolism and interpretation according to your beliefs, the film tells its own message. Life, as we know it, is eternal if you take the soul as the ultimate thing of life. The physical body is just a vessel to perform our earthly functions. Our life actually comes back. Maybe not in the same form but another form, even in the shape of a plant. After all, plants are also living beings. What makes us so special?
The film also impresses upon us not to be too worried about dying. It is just another phase that we should embrace with an open heart. After all, it is not the end but the beginning of another life.
N.B. Does that mean the universe has a finite number of souls or lives? After all, the population of the world has increased by many folds since the beginning of time. Even if lives are recycled, there will come a time when shortage would happen. Forget one soul living just once and spending the afterlife in eternity! Just a thought.
Story, Screenplay, Direction: Darren Aronofsky
It seems that there were two trees in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and decided to savour the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil), God cast them to Earth and hid the other tree, the Tree of Life.
From time immemorial, people have been going to great lengths to locate this 'Tree of Life'. They are under the impression that it could give Man immortality. This story is just about that and the conclusion that the characters draw quite humbling.
It spans three lifetimes all trying to find the 'tree of life' with the hope of attaining immortality! All three lifelines are portrayed interspersed with each other but it all falls into place at the end. In the first one, Tomas (Hugh Jackman) is a Spanish conquistador in search of the tree in South America for Queen Isabella (Rachel Weisz), so that they can live happily together forever. In the second caption, Jackman is Tom Core, a scientist, who obtained a particular tree from South America, which can regenerate nerve tissue. He is banking on this breakthrough to save his cancer inflicted dying wife, Izzi (also Rachel Weisz). Izzi writes a story about a Spanish conquistador who ends up in a nebula, where the Mayans believe souls reside before they are reborn.
Sure enough, in the third snippet, occurring many years in the future, Tom is in a bubble-like space capsule, reaching the said nebula, Xibalba.
In a very complicated way, with many scenes which scream of symbolism and interpretation according to your beliefs, the film tells its own message. Life, as we know it, is eternal if you take the soul as the ultimate thing of life. The physical body is just a vessel to perform our earthly functions. Our life actually comes back. Maybe not in the same form but another form, even in the shape of a plant. After all, plants are also living beings. What makes us so special?
The film also impresses upon us not to be too worried about dying. It is just another phase that we should embrace with an open heart. After all, it is not the end but the beginning of another life.
N.B. Does that mean the universe has a finite number of souls or lives? After all, the population of the world has increased by many folds since the beginning of time. Even if lives are recycled, there will come a time when shortage would happen. Forget one soul living just once and spending the afterlife in eternity! Just a thought.
