The first time I saw this movie, I loved it, but I knew for a fact that it would've done disastrously in the box office. The beauty of this film lies in its nuance and subtlety that allow you to interpret it based on your personal perspectives and points of reference. From a Buddhist perspective, all three storylines are real. The first incarnation of Thomas was driven by his ambition and lust. The second, more enlightened, incarnation of Thom was driven by his love for Izzy and his passion to defeat death, which he incorrectly identified as suffering. The astro-Thom or the Arhat-Thom, who had advance far enough along the path of enlightenment, achieved a certain level of liberation but was still plagued by attachment throughout the film, until he learned to let go of the self and accept death, thus liberating himself from the karmic cycle.
***** repeat viewing definitely helps with this movie, and this is one of those rare movies that can hold up to repeat viewing. From a Christian perspective, the film can be seen as a spiritual metamorphosis in which mankind transforms from a narrow dogmatic understanding of faith to metaphysical spiritual union with the divine.
"When you eat from the tree of knowledge, the tree of life is hidden for you" is the analogy I found, revolving in all the three versions. Tree of knowledge represents human's perception of death as a disease and immortality as cure. Tree of life represents acceptance of death, because death concludes life. Which conveys, when you try to escape death you are missing life itself. In all three versions he is looking for immortality to save her, (sap from tree of life, Medicine, Nebula's rebirth). When she said she is full and held, she accepted death and the tree of life revealed to her. She wants him to embrace death and experience it by himself and deliberately left the last chapter for him to finish it. In the end, all three embraced death. The conqueror drank the sap, could not contain the soul in his body and merged with earth (accepted death physically). Dr. Creo instead of taking the path of lab (tree of knowledge), took the path where she went (tree of life) (accepted death mentally). Astro Tom smiled and said he is going to die, left all he carried with him(knowledge) and he merged with the creator himself (The first father) (accepted death spiritually). The nature of death as perceived by three versions also had to do with the time it happens ( see four age-cycles or yugas ).
Overlaying your Christian beliefs discredits the movie itself. Death is a decease that is not immoral. Is fact. Whether you use knowledge to prolong life is not being immoral. Knowledge has prolong human life and help humanity better itself than any pseudo religious beliefs in the whirlwind.
@@Epyon2007 quoting a biblical ref doesn't mean I'm religious. I just looked it from a spiritual point of view. If you think you know all about life and death, you could just be ignorant and not know it. Debating beliefs Vs science (basically you're talking about technology) is just noise, there seems to be something more that this movie captured in a way, which I guess you missed. And btw, immortal and immoral are two different things.
this is what happen when you make a movie for the human spirit , soul , for the the spirituals , some low life without soul or brain will come tell you it's a bad movie. this is the best movie i've ever seen.
This is one of the best movies I've seen in my life and I've seen like million of them.. Needless to say it's not for everyone, not everybody can think and understand so profoundly. It takes me to a whole different world, makes me feel some really inexplicable things and every time I watch it, I need certain time to recover from it. I don't know how to put it into words, but I feel touch of death after watching this movie, it both terrifies and frees you..
Thats because you are what could be consider a reincarnation. A soul that has been reincarnated over and over. Coming across this movie that depicts so deeply the true nature of spirit and life and the journey invark in both aspect reflects on your soul. It feels more like a sign of release. You feel as though this movie confirms your deep understand of our existence as soul. I know this movie helped you remember a few things from your past life experience that has connected you to a deep level of soul searching that has connected you to your past and the many memories you have lived. Though you can't physically remember them you can feel them. You felt them in the tears you dropped as you watch this movie. That feeling in your chest was the feeling of remembering, remembering the fact that you have been here before and have already done this thing we call "the journey of life".
@@mewrozchannel3330 🙏🏻💙🙌🏻 I loved what you said ….it had been a very long time without seeing this movie this movie, fast forward to the now, and I get such a different feeling and perception of it now that I’ve been on my spiritual journey for sometime. I felt this deep in the soul.
While there is a lot of symbolism in this movie, it's actually a pretty straight forward movie. There's 3 different stories; Past Tom, future Tom, and Izzy's fiction story. Basically, the tree of life is real. After Izzy dies, he develops an eternal life compound from the tree that everyone on earth benefits from. Hundreds of years pass, humanity advances to the point where technology is soo ingrained in society, that it's basically invisible or like magic. The bubble is a highly advanced space ship, with propulsion and gravity and life support. He brings the tree with because it's the tree he planted over Izzy's grave. Her body would have been long ago absorbed into the tree growing over her grave. So the tree is in essence, all he has left of her. He had it dug up and placed inside the bubble, where he was set off on his journey. What probably started his journey in the first place was that advances in science probably made it possible to predict when a star is going to go super nova, and that meant he could plan to arrive at the exact time it would explode. How long this trip was, no one knows. He could have been floating in that bubble for potentially centuries. That's not to say he couldn't have gotten there quicker, it's just he set his journey's pace based on how long he needed to take to get there on time for it to explode. Along the way, he basically lived off the tree, sustaining him. He meditated a lot, and eventually started to have visions or hallucinations. After all, he was essentially in a deprivation chamber 24/7. During his trip, he wrote the rest of Izzy's story in his mind, picking up where she left off. He probably always wanted to write it, but could never quite know how to finish it. He probably ran it through his mind thousands of times over the centuries. But in the bubble, his mind was clear and he was finally able to come up with a satisfying ending. Obviously, he had lived centuries at this point, and was ready to die. He of course knew that being reborn was symbolism, since we are all made of star dust. Even when we die, the material that made up our bodies still exists in one form or another. And it's that fact that is at the heart of rebirth. We could infer a lot about his life after Izzy. I don't think he ever fell in love with anyone else again. I think he probably had a normal life for the most part, but was probably very secluded, trying to find meaning in life. With eternal life for all, the earth was probably changing in a lot of ways, too many to even discuss.
The tree in the spaceship is not the tree Tommy plants over Izzy's grave. This is one of the most fundamental misreadings of the movie. In the final scene, the camerawork emphasizes that Tommy is still wearing the ring - that is, he did not choose to operate on Donovan (when he loses the ring) and goes on a walk with Izzy instead. So this final scene is entirely disjoint from the main storyline where he loses the ring, but finds the cure to death, prolongs his own life, and persists Izzy in tree-form. When spaceship Tommy finally accepts death and explodes, he is taken back to that pivotal moment of decision. Crucial to understanding the movie is recognizing that when Tommy chooses to walk with Izzy instead of pursuing the cure to death, that is his ultimate acknowledgement of finitude as what imbues life and love with the utmost meaning. So the seed Tommy plants in the end is just a seed - not Izzy, not a Tree of Life - just a normal seed that Izzy gives him on their last walk together.
dont say it is straightforward then type so much, you dipshit. al you did was present your own interpretation that makes sense to you. don't say it is straightforward on those grounds, you putz!
There is no interpretation going on here. There's 3 different stories; Past Tom, future Tom in space, and Izzy's fiction story. That's not open to interpretation. The rest was just an in depth explanation, and probabilities of what things could mean, like how Tom's life probably went between Izzy dying and him getting the bubble spaceship. It's clear he never moved on from Izzy, otherwise he'd have others to live for. It's not likely that he married dozens of times in his hundreds of years lifespan, then have Izzy become the focus again as he takes a spaceship out to go kill himself. It's clear that Izzy was his last love despite all those years he lived after her, and that he was tormented by her loss.....because he was the man who discovered immortality.....right after his wife died. That's a pretty cruel reality to live with. You save billions of people from death.....but not the one you love most. In the deleted scenes, you could see him essentially taking hallucinogens. There is literally a deleted scene called 'life on ship', which is of him in the bubble, and he's drying out and eating mushrooms.
No I don't think you got it at all. You can't take the story on face value. The only true part of the story is the present day with Tom trying to cure Izzy. When she dies he finishes her book and adds the story of future Tom heading to the nebula of Xibalba to heal the tree of life. However future Tom learns to deal with his own mortality and the death of his wife. So the story is a way to cope with the grieving for his wife and he finishes the book just like she always wanted.
Me and my dad watched it 20 times (i'm not lying) and every time we analyze it and still have some question marks, but now I think we finally got to Awe.
One of my all time favorite movies. I have been telling friends to watch this movie for years. Unfortunately most don't have the same passion for it that I do. I think its just too poetic, artistic and/or just too deep for a lot of people. For someone who deeply analyzes and looks for deeper hidden meaning in movies, this movie is a masterpiece.
Como dije más arriba: NO todos los seres humanos son lo suficientemente humanos para apreciar una Obra de Arte. en-men.blogspot.com/2016/10/la-fuente-de-la-byddha.html 20-11-2022
I found it quite boring when I first watched it. But luckily I rewatched it a few months later and it became one of my all time favourites. I have watched it over 20 times since then. I guess I wasn`t just in the right mood or state of mind when I first watched it. When I would have been a critic at this time I saidly would have given it a bad review too. I am sure there are some critic who regret their bad review from back then.
I sympathize with his character. For him, his romantic attachment (for lack of better words) is the driving force of his passion and goal of defeating death. But it's pretty easy to take it a step further and see that "Death is a disease, it must be cured," and therefore take one's personal love and transform it into a universal love. Spiritually speaking, this is not a foreign concept, but rather the idea of a maturation and an alignment with divine power (for lack of better words).
@@Oxxyjoe It's also about living in the now and appreciating it, without the need for needing "more" or "better". Mindfulness. We die, that's what makes life and time precious.
The book was a guide to go to the next world with her to live together eternally. His love for her pulled him through time and made him immortal. It's just... there are no movies out there like this.. this is the most powerfull love story I've ever seen in any domain.
most people just want a spoon feed story. the best thing about this movie is that it has a lot of layers of theories and ideas, which makes me enjoy it more and more each time I watch it.
My favourite movie of all time, I just finished watching it again and it just gets me every time. It's a film I often don't want to share with people because the majority of them won't "get it", which really saddens me, this film deserves so much praise.
Nos hace llorar con mi señora. Como dije más arriba: NO todos los seres humanos son lo suficientemente humanos para apreciar una Obra de Arte. en-men.blogspot.com/2016/10/la-fuente-de-la-byddha.html 20-11-2022
When I first seen this movie I was going into my late twenties . And started having health issues. Before I really didn’t care if I lived or died doing crazy stuff all the time. I think a lot of us feel that way in our twenties not invincible but very careless . In the sense of coming to terms with death this movie gave me an aspect of peace that I did not have before. Great film will always have a spot in my heart.
Pretty much spot on. Except the timeline changes and, as a result, all subsequent events. Once Astro-Tom accepts death, in turn accepting his own mortality, he finishes the story. This somehow changes his choice to follow his colleague into surgery 500 years earlier, and he instead follows Izzi outside. Since he never goes into surgery he NEVER loses the ring! Which if you look closely, as he brushes snow off Izzi's grave, you'll see he's wearing. I believe this also means Tommy accepts death and does not go on a Quixotesque quest to defeat it. Thus the future timeline (Astro Tom) winks out of existence. The Tree of Life appears to be an Oak and the seed pod Izzi gives Tom is from a Sweet Gum tree. So, two different trees. The Mayan Priest, in a vision, recognizes Tomas as First Father allowing him to pass and Tomas sacrifices himself (unwittingly).
I like this interpretation the best. I mean they put to much importance on the ring for it not to mean anything. I was trying to figure it out and you just explained it perfectly.
Yeah this totally makes sense. And also in this case it shows everything is connected and essentially an infinite Loop which is why I think it shows the rings so often and the circles
Same. I could watch this film for all eternity! Haha. Amazing film. ..I don't think I'll ever appreciate a piece of filmic art, as much as I do this film.
Why watch it when you can do it? The tree of Life is attained by eating/drinking the tea of the Mimosa Hostilis Root Bark. This is a type of Acacia Tree. The Free Masons know this and worship the Acacia Tree. No Joke. It IS the Tree of Life. Make Ayahuasca from MHRB and Syrian Rue. But you will have to die as you are and be renewed in Eternal Life. The essence of this movie is the struggle to except death of the EGO and surrender to the Eternal-Light. It is a very hard thing to do. I have come close to it once. The feeling of freedom is incredible while you let go of the constricted egoic state and expand your consciousness into infinity and eternity of primordial BEING. Here is how to do it. Read my comments and Orange Juice recipe on that page! th-cam.com/video/ewamkPjI_pg/w-d-xo.html
This has been my favorite movie ever since the first time I watched it. People just dont realize how deep the movie goes and how elaborate it becomes at the end.
Nos hace llorar con mi señora. Como dije más arriba: NO todos los seres humanos son lo suficientemente humanos para apreciar una Obra de Arte. en-men.blogspot.com/2016/10/la-fuente-de-la-byddha.html 20-11-2022
I'm still appalled that so many missed this masterpiece; it lets me know how special, unique, and important human life and its conscious expansion are to the experience of the universe.
This movie made me watch it multiple times. Both to understand it and to make me feel it. Yes You feel this movie. Left me wanting more of this mind blowing masterpiece. I don't think it was advertised correctly and it takes time to sink in. I rented this but I think I need to purchase it.
A masterpiece of a movie. You don't have to fully understand it to enjoy it. There's two routes the story can take. Either Tommy gained immortality from the tree that saved Donovan and space Tom is actually real or it was him finishing Izzi's book. Either way, great film.
Totalmente de acuerdo. Como dije más arriba: NO todos los seres humanos son lo suficientemente humanos para apreciar una Obra de Arte. en-men.blogspot.com/2016/10/la-fuente-de-la-byddha.html 20-11-2022
Great point I always thought of it as him finishing the book and coming to terms with death in the end showing that Izzy book helped him come to terms with death .and the other two past and future toms being fiction toms the book toms in other words. Always imagined that Tom stopped his research after finishing the book and just started living .but also kinda thought in the back of my mind their all real in different parallel universes but the same soul reaching shebalba and finally intersect and become one at the end
Tomas and Astro Tom doesnt exist. Its about present-day Tom's acceptance of death. Tomas is in a book Izzie created and Astro Tom is Tom's subconscious moments before he dies in his death bed. The director of the movie said in an interview that he wants people to come to their own reasons but he created the movie about accepted death of loved ones and of yourself. Astro Tom accepted death at the end of the movie and thats because present-day Tom accepted death and at that very moment his life slipped away. I think this movie is a love letter to death. It doesnt have to be bad, its "The Road to Awe" after all.
My thoughts were similar, though I viewed Tomas as being in Izzie's book and Tommy (Astro Tom) as being the mind of Tom, with the struggle to keep the tree alive being a reflection of Tom's struggle with his work in an attempt to avert Izzie's fate. In the end, when Tommy shows up in place of Tomas, I view that as Tom fulfilling Izzie's wish that he finish her story. I can definitely see your view though, as he planted the tree in accordance with the story Izzie has told him. For your view, you see the tree in the Tommy line as being a memory held alive by Tom on his death bed, as both Tomas and Tommy die in the story, making sense that it is foreshadowing the death of Tom as well. That's one of the things I love about this movie, so many subtly variations in the way it can be seen - everyone sees it a little differently.
the three worlds are ONE... in spain, as he kneels before the queen you can see the tree of life pattern on her dress... the same pattern is on the hospital floor when they show a birds eye view of her bed... the pattern he tattoos on his arm is found on the glass at the hospital... the lights in the background are all the same hue as the ascension to xibalba, he is walking down the hallway in the hospital and there are TWO LIGHTS in the background symbolizing Xibalba The queen says " For every shadow, no matter how deep, is threatened by morning light" and then makes TOMAS kneel and they let in the morning light shine on him... when Izzy dies, he destroys the blinds in the hospital room and then you see that in his darkest moment, the morning light shines on him again... future tom to me is spirit tom... not "FUTURE"... inner spiritual world happening in present day Tom's life... TOMAS is a story being told to help him see the nature of his true existence... This and hundreds of more connections to each world... I'm gonna watch it again for the thousandth time tonight! lol
Well at the end you see Astro Tom smiling at Present time Izzie and saying with a smile "I'm going to die". To me that pretty much sealed the deal on my interperatation. It's a beautiful movie even the soundtrack. These kinds of movies don't come along often.
Leonardo Torres I see it the same way, no more times than present and Tom dealing with and finally accepting mortality, his wifes and his own. A long way to overcome his fear, he ate almost all of the bark. Little by little. One of the best movies ever made.
great video, but I think you're over-analyzing the whole thing.. the most important quote for the movie is: “it seems we struggle for a lifetime to become whole.. few of us ever do.. most of us end up going out the same way we came in - kicking and screaming! most of us don't have the strength or the conviction.. most of us don't want to face our fears” the whole movie is about accepting death.. Life cease when we die.. as Death cease as we give birth.. Life and Death are not "enemies".. they're equals.. if we want to summarize it in one sentence it would be: " WHAT CANNOT DIE.. IS NOT CONSIDERED TO EVER LIVE " in my own opinion, is one of the best movies I've ever seen.. and believe me, I've seen a lot! I've seen them all!
some go easy. others worry about the demons they created in this life that will follow them into the next. this is why i think the bible is created. to guide through life without suffering the the way way that others have.
I have seen the movie several times over the years and I interpreted it the very same way. This explanation just naturally occurs after rewatching it. There is one more possible scenario and that is that the "future" storyline might just be a metaphor for the state of Tommy's mind that feels lonely, endless and there are just flashbacks of Izzy giving him the answer he doesn't want to accept the whole time until he comes to terms with definitiveness.
Light and shadow is one of the things the design team explicitly mention in the special features. So often a cliche visual, it's used well in this movie as signifying truth or an acceptance. Tommy hides in darkness, he shuts out light whenever possible, whereas Queen Isabella actually commands someone to, "Let in the morning light."
Yes. Este es un fil acerca del aprendizaje, pero LA HUMANIDAD NO QUIERE APRENDER. Como dije más arriba: NO todos los seres humanos son lo suficientemente humanos para apreciar una Obra de Arte. en-men.blogspot.com/2016/10/la-fuente-de-la-byddha.html 20-11-2022
I lost both of my parents in a very traumatic way in a span of 9 months each, this movie help me to accept on every level the passing of them and move on. And for that reason, not counting the brilliant script, the stunning visuals, the emotional music, and the fantastic casting, this will be forever the #1 movie in the ranking of my heart. Thank you for this beautiful and profound piece of art Mr. Aronofsky
this film is like all those famous paintings, everyone interprets it in their own way. this story is abt love and how its so difficult for us to leave it when it ends
This movie is absolutely heartbreaking. Not only the death-accepting fact, but the almost irrational fear of losing someone you love and adore. This whole tension from the main character on revisiting moments where he would've been closer to her loved one. Even more so than death, this movie speaks to me on the fear of losing someone you've connected with and wanted to be with for who knows how long.
the most plausible explanation is that Creo dies and doesn't live until the year 2500. The Fountain was a gift from Izzy so that he can cope with death and grieve. Chapter 12 is the conquistador drinking the tree sap and simultaneously crashing into the nebula. That's why the final two scenes happen one after the other, as he has just written them in chapter twelve.
I loved this movie. Not often is it that a film makes you think as much as The Fountain, and far less often is it that a truly meaningful movie is a hit. I'm glad that it never became very popular because that can ruin a good story, and I believe that in keeping it a little more hidden, this film became even greater for me. The plot was great, so was the acting, and if I were traveling the great journey of Astro-Tom, I'd have to appreciate the incredible music.
Thank you David Chen, excellent job. Just watched this movie the 4th time, each time I see more and feel more. Since I had an nde in 2015, I am no longer afraid of death and it IS 'the awe of death' that is the sweetest freedom. This movie was loved by those who are awakening and understand. Your interpretation was fine by me. One doesn't need an nde to find out death is life and life is death. And life after death is more real than life in a body. Dreaming, OOB's, STE's, meditating are all ways to find this out and be set free. In a way, the movie showed how A I is trying to prevent death, but in the movie it is organic using trees and organic space ships (which they are!) We mustn't be fooled by eternal life via A I. It is only in ou hearts that we come to know that there is no reason to fear death. And it actually is UNNATURAL to die when we were part of the original earth..the true earth. But that is another story...
Excellent deep dive. This movie has been haunting me since its release. After all these years I think I understand what it's about. I'm considering doing my own review. I'm seeing what others have to say. I love your take and insights. Cheers.
Really great analysis Dave. You should definitely keep doing these. For me I thought that most of your interpretation was spot on. However I did think there was a very reasonable explanation for why Astro Tom was doing what he was doing. It seemed to me that Astro Tom was on a sort of suicide mission. The tree that had for so long given him life was now dying. So he came up with a plan in order for him and the tree to live forever. This plan was flying to Xibalba. However the problem that Astro Tom faces on his trip to Xibalba is that he knows it is ultimately doomed, but he keeps trying to push this rational out of his mind. This struggle is personified in several scenes, like the one shown in your video, where Astro Tom sees his wife and tells her to just leave him alone. He does not want to be reminded that his mission will most likely lead to his death, and he does not want to be reminded that he needs to finish her book. But like you pointed out Dave, eventually Astro Tom comes around and is able to accept his death. He is able to finish his wife's book and ends it with the Conquistador finding the tree of life but this ultimately leading to him dying and becoming a part of the Earth, in this way he "lives" forever. I believe that Astro Tom discovers that this is the way to end the story because he realizes that he has to end his own life this way. Astro Tom knows the tree is dying and knows that he does not have long to live, he also knows that if he does reach the dying star called Xibalba it will not give him the eternal life that he originally wanted. So Astro Tom, unlike the Conquistador, decides instead that he should go up to Xibalba and accept that while it will not make him immortal, his death will lead to new forms of life. In this way Astor Tom becomes the "First Father" and also is able to finally accept death. I'm not sure how much of this is just reiterating what you already said Dave but it sounded like in the video that you were having some trouble rationalizing why exactly Astro Tom does what he does at the end of the movie. I thought I had a interpretation that could maybe help your view of the film. I hope this wasn't too long but I thought such a good video deserved an equally good response.
This is the first time I’ve revisited any discussion about this film. I watched this in 2017 with my partner the day before he died. I was 29, and completely unable to handle the intense grief. For years I tried to forget this film and they pain the soundtrack of those final days with David were filled with. This review just brought a lot of that back, but in a way I need to process and think about. Death is still something I struggle to get my mind around.
I had your exact interpretation upon seeing it. It is also one of my favorite films of all time and the score always brings me to tears. I'm so glad that it has achieved a cult following. I did not understand how so many people could be confused about the story. I found it to be very straightforward, with enough ambiguity to make it tantalizing and enhance its replay value.
That's a god damned great criticism. Your attention to detail is outstanding, and your humility in representing alternate critical explanations is well received. Thanks man.
I literally can't believe I just watched this movie. It's amazing on every single level and it's sad to hear that it didn't do too well because this film is a MASTERPIECE is my heart
"Death is the Road to Awe" was what I was missing and in search of explanation. Started loving the movie when I get to know more and more about it. Thanks a lot!
One of my favorite movies of all time. I don't know that it needs to be explained. It seems every time I watch it I get something different and I love that.
this is one of the best movie I ever seen In my life. its music was straight from pradise. I saw this movie 6 years before and I lived everyday of my life in this movie. cant explain ...
You are correct. It is made very clear in the movie that it is being told from Future-Tom's perspective. The starting scene is from the 1500 Spain story but then immediately cuts to Future Tom waking up screaming. He was replaying the 1500 story in his head. We then see him have visions of 2006 Izzy telling him to 'Finish it' and we see a bald Tom go back into 2006. I know some people this Future Tom is 2006 Tommy's mind/feelings etc but the film essentially shows us that the 2006 scenes are flashbacks/memories and the 1500 scenes are part of Izzy's book. Future Tom tattoo's the amount of decades/centuries on his arms and even uses the exact same pen given to him by Izzy to do so. There's so much evidence pointing to Future Tom being real and the actual 'present day' character from the films perspective.
pretty weak comments from the critics The film was a marvel and it's one of the not so many films with an exceptional soundtrack. I think it's just about the money. They destroy any movie that isn't 100'% formula and mass market.
Noah and the Fountain are both connected. The creation scene in Noah shows the birth (or rebirth) of the universe starting in Xibalba (The visual style is exactly the same if you compare the two). The seed that Noah plants is the same seed that Tom plants. The tree in the Fountain looks like two combined trees while the tree in Noah has the two parts separated. It's all a big loop. Tom is restarting the universe. Or I could be over thinking this whole thing.
My interpretation is that Astro Tom is Tom and his ''Ship'' is includes Izzi's grave with grown tree from that seed that he planted. Now that he is so close to a star as it explodes they are exploded with it together, turning into dust that will live forever in the Universe.
This movie has always been an absolute masterpiece. Visually stunning, Hugh Jackman at the pinnacle of his craft, a timeless human story, and the unique storytelling of Aranofsky all come together to make a film like no other ever made. I remember this was one of the first films I watched in HD and I was absolutely blown away.
I completely agree with your analysis--it's been my interpretation of this film since I saw it in the theatre. I think that Astro-Tom was trying to reach Xibalba because of what Izzi said about it being the Mayan underworld. Once it goes nova, then death would be undone and Izzi would live again. In the intervening hundreds of years he may have actually convinced himself it would happen, but upon arriving, reason took over and he realized that the only way to join Izzi was to follow her on the "road to awe".
How don't known why, but this movie always comes back to me every once in a while. A flash back in a scene, the music, when I see the actors in other movies. I don't know how to explain, feels like this movie awake in you feelings and questions rooted in all of us. I love it.
I will always be amazed by how the film was able to show a love so strong. One of the all time purest couples in love portrayed in a movie, in my opinion. Though it wasn't a happy ending or story the stage of the relationship we were seeing and was sad seeing Tom go through such pain over loosing Izzy, it shows just how far love can drive a human being in love...to loose that. Love can be a amazing thing but comes with risks, so worth it too experience it at that level.
Verdad. Como dije más arriba: NO todos los seres humanos son lo suficientemente humanos para apreciar una Obra de Arte. en-men.blogspot.com/2016/10/la-fuente-de-la-byddha.html 20-11-2022
10 years later and I finally found someone who shared my theory on the film. Everything I read at the time of watching it tried to say that "space Tom" is him finishing the story but from the perspective of a scientist. I absolutely refuse to believe that, the story is so much more powerful knowing the lengths he went to, and how deeply haunted he was with his past.
I saw this movie in the theatre , and then again when they did a second viewing a few years later. One of the most amazing beautiful spiritual films ever
That's how I understand it. Tom is a doctor, who desperately tries to cure his wife from cancer. She asked him to finish her book, then dies. All that conquistador's adventures in the beginning is from the book. Tom couldn't accept her death. He was stressed out and decided to read and finish the book to calm down. All that tree in the bubble take place in Tom's head, and he probably wrote it down in the book. He was not a writer so he come up with a very lame ending-the escape from death on the ziggurat and turning into flowers was just ridiculous. When he finished the book he accepted the death of his wife and planted the tree on her grave. The end.
David, this Glennie Sewell, of Messenger Guardians Paranormal, in Vermont. I want to say thank you for this deep and thoughtful analysis. It was not only mindful, but inspired me to go ahead and find the film and watch it. I was searching for analysis and imagery for Star Wars, Second Trilogy, and found your analysis, as well. You are right. It does take multiple viewings of a film to really understand why certain functions were used with it. I see the great prejudice and "screeches of judgment" being made about Star Wars, Trilogy 2. So, I am using. This movie, however, has inspired my conversation with my students this week. Again, thank you so very much for this. I am now subscribed. I will look for you in Facebook.
I think in the explosion of the dying star, Tom's essence doesn't die but instead is fused into the tree in which his lover resides thus reuniting them in death and letting the two of them be part of a birth of new life that comes after the death of a star.
This film is, I found, something of an “extended release.” I watched it. I enjoyed it though, I didn’t know why. Its message is still being revealed in me. It is most certainly extraordinary and a great surprise. I was not sold on the trailer whatsoever. But something was pushing me to watch it. Then I happened to read a comment below a review I watched. It was a woman whose husband had died several years ago. She watched it with him on his request several times during their marriage. She said she couldn’t bear to watch it again yet but was compelled to do so because he had tried so often to explain it to her but she didn’t “get it.” I don’t know why that pushed me over the edge of my indecision. To think I almost missed this beautiful piece.
I enjoyed and loved this movie. I felt like I was having an incredible experience I could never put in words. I was so immersed in it, I didn't care what it meant. I felt as if I was given a gift.
This is exactly how I have felt watching this movie…the emotions are as strong and complex as any other artistic creation has ever made me experience. The ‘real’ meaning matters a lot less to me…
This is quite literally my favourite movie. Aranofsky's beautiful visual metaphors. Hugh's brilliant acting. And the most underrated part, Clint Mansell's hauntingly beautiful score. I wish I could see it again for the first time.
It does explain everything, and it has a very simple plot. Only the present events in the movie are supposed to be real. The medieval events are just what she wrote in her novel as she came to grips with dying. The future events are what her husband wrote, when he finally got around to finishing her novel, as pert of his grieving process. It is just the simple story of a novel being written by two deluded people.
I though the movie left you hanging if Tommy killed himself in the end. Consider that the end credits song is titled "Together we will live forever", perhaps adding (in death). The conquistador dies and the sap from the tree of life sprouts from his corpse. Near the end of the film Astro Tom becomes enlightened how to save the tree of life, stating "I'm going to die" and sacrifices himself to restore the tree of life. Given the description of the film: "one man embarks on a bold 1000-year odyssey" if we are presented that past Tommy dies, and Future Tommy dies, what happens of present Tommy? At the very end of the film we see present Tommy Creo handing the deceased Izzy a seed of a tree.
One of my favorite movies. Every time I watch it I feel like I understand it a little bit more. I remember watching it the first time and thinking, “I have no idea what I just watched but it was beautiful”.
Just saw it for the first time and I believe the rings symbolism is him being with her. The only way he can be with her is through death and he can only ever put the ring on when he accepts death. Spain Thomas got everlasting life which means he is separated from what he actually wants forever. I also got a little hint that may not mean anything but each story has a point where Tom just misses an opportunity. Izzi dies just before he can fix her brain tumor, Astro Toms tree dies before he reaches the nebula, you could say this is Izzi dying again, and Thomas 'dies' just before reaching the tree of life. Maybe the story was just a way for Tom to show himself what would happen if he got eternal life and what rejecting death lead to. That's what the book may be for. Izzi wrote it to make Tom accept death. Which he finally gets in the end.
Oh and the last lines in the movie are him finally seeing her in heaven after his death. As he finished the book, he accepted death and finally got eternal life with her.
+kbg12ila I think the moral of the story overall is that life is nothing without death. The tree of life is nothing without the dying star. Tom is nothing without Izzi.
Very insightful video. I've chosen to take a more simplistic interpretation of the film. I believe that reality is where Tom is fighting to save his wife from dieing. Tomas' quest is part of Izzy's book what she has written. Tom in space, is Tom granting Izzy's wish and him completing the book. I feel that planting the seed at the end was symbolic of him accepting Izzy's idea of death. Furthermore, I believe that completing the book was a form of Tom coping with his lost love and conceding to death's seemingly perpetual triumph over life. It would make sense that Tom's conclusion of Izzy's book would be visually represented in manner that it is, The visuals give a sense that one is looking at them under a microscope. I think Aronofsky himself said he was inspired by watching yeast under a microscope when he came up with the aesthetics for Xibalba. Anyway you slice it this film is phenomenal and transcends many of my top 5 lists.
The entire story is based in Kabbalah. The one mind used the tree of life to become the many in spacetime duality. This was to escape the loneliness of a timeless all know existence. Adam and Eve symbolize the division of self and the union of duality. To search for our other half is an endless story of love and loss, thus is the human experience. Stop fearing the future and holding onto the past its the here and now that matters. When you realize that you can just enjoy the journey. Its rather silly how people label things they don't understand as something left to personal interpretation. I see this when it comes to Tools music as well. In plain sight this story is told in many films and sung in many songs. Once you've studied the Mystery schools its undeniable. Phil Collins "in the air tonight" is the same story in a song. Trinity and Neo embody this endless loop of time where the two are forever united and torn apart by entropy which plagues the illusionary experience of spacetime duality. The point of the story is that all humans must come to understand they are alone in the end because there is really only one of us experience this story ( the meaning of Trinity's name). In the end the Atman must become ok with his nature in order to be free of his fear of it. Must watch "Mr. Nobody" great movie , very well done in presenting this ancient story.
Kabbalah is a heresy of Judaism, largely embraced by Hollywood sycophants and celebrity low-lifes. Its an amalgamation of Judaism and modern New Age silliness. This movie, however, is great!
Cory Dupont....and yet the movie is still based in Kabbalah teachings. PS- if that's how you perceive Kabbalah you must not really know the teachings or their connection to the Mystery schools.
I understand Kabbalah well enough - I used to practice it! Anyhow, the film is not based in Kabbalah, and there is nothing from Aronofsky (who is a self-proclaimed atheist) or any of the other filmmakers involved that indicates otherwise.
.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephirot Sephirot (/sfɪˈroʊt/, /ˈsfɪroʊt/; Hebrew: סְפִירוֹת Səphîrôṯ),[1] meaning emanations, are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof (The Infinite) reveals himself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms (Seder hishtalshelus). The term is alternatively transliterated into English as Sefirot/Sefiroth, singular Sephirah/Sefirah etc. Alternative configurations of the sephirot are given by different schools in the historical development of Kabbalah, with each articulating different spiritual aspects. The tradition of enumerating 10 is stated in the Sefer Yetzirah, "Ten sephirot of nothingness, ten and not nine, ten and not eleven". As altogether 11 sephirot are listed across the different schemes, two (Keter and Daat) are seen[by whom?] as unconscious and conscious manifestations of the same principle, conserving the ten categories[citation needed]. In Kabbalah the functional structure of the sephirot in channeling Divine creative life force, and revealing the unknowable Divine essence to Creation is described. The first sephirah describes the Divine Will above intellect. The next sephirot describe conscious Divine Intellect, and the latter sephirot describe the primary and secondary conscious Divine Emotions. Two sephirot (Binah and Malchut) are feminine, as the female principle in Kabbalah describes a vessel that receives the outward male light, then inwardly nurtures and gives birth to lower sephirot. Corresponding to this is the Female Divine Presence (Shechinah-Hebrew: שכינה). Kabbalah sees the human soul as mirroring the Divine (after Genesis 1:27, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them"), and more widely, all creations as reflections of their life source in the sephirot. Therefore, the sephirot also describe the spiritual life of man, and constitute the conceptual paradigm in Kabbalah for understanding everything. This relationship between the soul of man and the Divine, gives Kabbalah one of its two central metaphors in describing Divinity, alongside the other Ohr (light) metaphor. However, Kabbalah repeatedly stresses the need to avoid all corporeal interpretation. Through this, the sephirot are related to the structure of the body and are reformed into Partsufim (Personas). Underlying the structural purpose of each sephirah is a hidden motivational force which is understood best by comparison with a corresponding psychological state in human spiritual experience.
Great review!! This movie is an absolute gem by Darren Aronofsky. I found it in a bargain bin years ago, then watched it a dozen times!! One of my all-time favorites.
good job explaining. For me a lot of this was intuitively graspable upon viewing. Explaining it is a different story and I think you did a very nice job.
Seems like the mid is the only actual story. The old is a design of an overworked guy who only exists to the goal. The future is about acceptance of death and rebirth. After re-watching years later, Astro Tom is part of the end of the story of The Fountain (the book in the movie), as Izzy wanted him to finish it in his own way. To be able to accept things need an ending. "It starts in Spain, and ends there...[points to Xibalba among the stars]" So yeah, the mid-chronology is the reality. Tomas Verde is part of her story, Astro Tom is Dr. Tom Creo writing in himself as the immortal scientist who needs to die with his acceptance of death after the haunting of his lost love and creating something new in that acceptance and sacrifice.
Ladies and gents! We are totally forgetting the quote from one of our holy sources at the beginning of the movie. It is the key to it! The movie's plot is about the struggle of man dealing with mortal life since "eating" from the tree of life would have made him live forever and that was a major "no! no!" after becoming sentient and understanding right from wrong, if you remember well. The movie's main characters represent the Yin and Yang or the anima and animus of human nature. The affinity for each other is the drive in the struggle. "For my queen, for my wife, for my beloved. I'll search, I'll find and I'll conquer even death so that love is not taken away from me." (Get it?) In the end we come to understand that it is not a "tree of life" but rather a "circle of life." The movie presents this as a composite visual metaphor of three interconnected time lines. I think it is a breathtaking piece of work combining facts and cinematographic techniques with the talent and beauty of the actors. OK, that's my piece.
Their is an overall theme not explained. She is the hero of the movie, teaching him the eternal life he discovered was nothing more then a prison. He diddnt love her, he was just afraid of dieing/losing. She tried to tell him but ultimately had to find other means, that's why she wrote the book
he isnt a future self per say as in a spaceship or that his a space man.... his soul is passing on to the next life......the traveling is the merging of life...flash backs and certain keys of his life are flashing before him playing out their roles until his road of awe ends........with love as the answer....his undying love.....
There's some plot points you missed. The tree in the bubble is his wife in some way. You see him blow on its bark at one point and tiny hairs rise like the hairs on an arm in a chill breeze. That's why he talks to it, caresses it, kisses it. The tree contains her somehow. She said she wanted to see the star go supernova, so he does his best to take her there. But before they can reach it the tree begins to wither and dies, so he fails and loses her yet again.
My basic interpretation, Conqueror Tom is the spiritual ancestor of Scientist Tom, the reincarnated form of him. Scientist Tom is Astronaut Tom 500 years in the past. He goes to Xibalba after living centuries of life using his compound which allows cellular regeneration. But he never forgets his first great love, Izzy. It haunts him for all his days. Then, after a horrific global war that destroys most of Earth's population, and ends the lives of many of Tom's friends and loved ones and leaves the Earth in a shattered state, he decides to commit suicide. He travels to Xibalba in a space ship carrying on board Izzy's tree. After many decades of space travel, reaches his destination. He ends his story, rather their story that is (Izzy and Tom) by heading straight into a star in the nebula, in a symbolic action. It is quite beautiful, a very creative and wonderful story. The movie was underappreciated. But, glad to see that it does have a cult following, because it is such a great story and the film was truly excellent.
My thoughts are in tune with yours. I take it one step further on a philosophical level and like to think that Astronaut Tom upon merging with the nebula is in fact entering into what Hindu's refer to as the Brahman. That is, "the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world." It is also referred to as "the highest reality." In a sense, it is the Hindu form of god wherein all the individual beings (presumably in metaphysical states, which I would like to think Astronaut Tom is in) become a part of this cosmic being (again, the Brahman). Just like the physical form, which is temporary, one could even argue that the highest form of reality is also temporary. As such, we see Conqueror Tom die and perhaps enter into the Brahman (after being devoured by nature so he could "live forever"). We see natural death as we know it today with Izzy as a part of Scientist Tom's story. We can assume this Tom also dies, as do all. But his thoughts live on of wanting to live forever, and moreover, wanting to be with his lover eternally. And through time, he does in the form of Astronaut Tom who dies the ultimate death and merges with the dying star entering into the spiritual alternative reality of the Brahman. Together at last with his lover and everyone else for that matter. It's even more beautiful when you begin to view love as itself metaphysical, yet attraction is physical. Tom was attracted to Izzy (we can assume physically and psychologically). However, the love he shows for her is not limited to time or physics. It exists even when she dies, and he dies, and continues to exist. When the screen fades to black it is truly all that exists.
the psychological battle with in, the human experience. our drive for glory and everlasting life. iggy is the road to awe. acceptance of what will be. it is death that makes us beautiful. a lifeless being might not love as deep as one where the clock is ticking. finish it!
From the moment our Universe began, we have all been assigned a purpose, a mission if you will. We first ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil Which is why we are here on earth, we experience both Good & Evil, Pleasure & Pain, Hot & Cold Earth is the realm of Duality Only Life cures Death Our goal is to achieve enlightenment by eating from the Tree Of Life
It's an absolutely brilliant and subtle film. I was never confused by it. I was astonished. The story is easy to follow if you have patience and are able to pay attention without a constant barrage of explosions and jump cuts. "The Fountain" is one of the human films I've seen. It encompasses everything. It operates on a cosmological scale and yet the core of it's story revolves around only two souls. I hope to meet Aronofsky sometime to thank him for this film. It's a masterpiece which I hope will become more appreciate as our world becomes more intelligent and self-aware.
My interpretation is one of reincarnation where Tommy seeks to preserve his love for his Queen, his Wife and his Tree (symbolising his wife). As he reaches enlightenment, he realises to fulfill ever lasting love is to die and accepting this is able to see he was blind to living and experiencing life however short with the one he loves. The rings of tattoos on the monk symbolising the many many lives it took for him to reach enlightenment.
Very underrated masterpiece, I love this movie.
Me too
another underrated masterpiece is the assassination of jesse james
It's beautiful and meaningful.
You have good taste.
meow
The first time I saw this movie, I loved it, but I knew for a fact that it would've done disastrously in the box office. The beauty of this film lies in its nuance and subtlety that allow you to interpret it based on your personal perspectives and points of reference. From a Buddhist perspective, all three storylines are real. The first incarnation of Thomas was driven by his ambition and lust. The second, more enlightened, incarnation of Thom was driven by his love for Izzy and his passion to defeat death, which he incorrectly identified as suffering. The astro-Thom or the Arhat-Thom, who had advance far enough along the path of enlightenment, achieved a certain level of liberation but was still plagued by attachment throughout the film, until he learned to let go of the self and accept death, thus liberating himself from the karmic cycle.
Excellent interpretation!!
***** repeat viewing definitely helps with this movie, and this is one of those rare movies that can hold up to repeat viewing. From a Christian perspective, the film can be seen as a spiritual metamorphosis in which mankind transforms from a narrow dogmatic understanding of faith to metaphysical spiritual union with the divine.
Xavier Aponte thank you.
Spot on!
Great stuff. I read the film completely differently but this interpretation is very impressive.
"When you eat from the tree of knowledge, the tree of life is hidden for you" is the analogy I found, revolving in all the three versions. Tree of knowledge represents human's perception of death as a disease and immortality as cure. Tree of life represents acceptance of death, because death concludes life. Which conveys, when you try to escape death you are missing life itself. In all three versions he is looking for immortality to save her, (sap from tree of life, Medicine, Nebula's rebirth). When she said she is full and held, she accepted death and the tree of life revealed to her. She wants him to embrace death and experience it by himself and deliberately left the last chapter for him to finish it. In the end, all three embraced death. The conqueror drank the sap, could not contain the soul in his body and merged with earth (accepted death physically). Dr. Creo instead of taking the path of lab (tree of knowledge), took the path where she went (tree of life) (accepted death mentally). Astro Tom smiled and said he is going to die, left all he carried with him(knowledge) and he merged with the creator himself (The first father) (accepted death spiritually). The nature of death as perceived by three versions also had to do with the time it happens ( see four age-cycles or yugas ).
Overlaying your Christian beliefs discredits the movie itself.
Death is a decease that is not immoral. Is fact.
Whether you use knowledge to prolong life is not being immoral. Knowledge has prolong human life and help humanity better itself than any pseudo religious beliefs in the whirlwind.
@@Epyon2007 quoting a biblical ref doesn't mean I'm religious. I just looked it from a spiritual point of view. If you think you know all about life and death, you could just be ignorant and not know it. Debating beliefs Vs science (basically you're talking about technology) is just noise, there seems to be something more that this movie captured in a way, which I guess you missed. And btw, immortal and immoral are two different things.
"Creo" means to know in Spanish
the best explanation I've seen so far.
@@mrblank-zh1xy more precisely "I believe"
this is what happen when you make a movie for the human spirit , soul , for the the spirituals , some low life without soul or brain will come tell you it's a bad movie. this is the best movie i've ever seen.
I feel you.
I wouldn't say that this is from the best movies but it definitely puts your brain to work..
Same
Definitely top 10! I cry every time I watch it.
what's so brainy about this movie?
This is one of the best movies I've seen in my life and I've seen like million of them.. Needless to say it's not for everyone, not everybody can think and understand so profoundly. It takes me to a whole different world, makes me feel some really inexplicable things and every time I watch it, I need certain time to recover from it. I don't know how to put it into words, but I feel touch of death after watching this movie, it both terrifies and frees you..
Somehow your words were able to articulate everything I didn't think I could
Thats because you are what could be consider a reincarnation. A soul that has been reincarnated over and over. Coming across this movie that depicts so deeply the true nature of spirit and life and the journey invark in both aspect reflects on your soul. It feels more like a sign of release.
You feel as though this movie confirms your deep understand of our existence as soul. I know this movie helped you remember a few things from your past life experience that has connected you to a deep level of soul searching that has connected you to your past and the many memories you have lived. Though you can't physically remember them you can feel them.
You felt them in the tears you dropped as you watch this movie. That feeling in your chest was the feeling of remembering, remembering the fact that you have been here before and have already done this thing we call "the journey of life".
@@mewrozchannel3330 🙏🏻💙🙌🏻 I loved what you said ….it had been a very long time without seeing this movie this movie, fast forward to the now, and I get such a different feeling and perception of it now that I’ve been on my spiritual journey for sometime. I felt this deep in the soul.
Have u link for download
All of this!!
While there is a lot of symbolism in this movie, it's actually a pretty straight forward movie. There's 3 different stories; Past Tom, future Tom, and Izzy's fiction story.
Basically, the tree of life is real. After Izzy dies, he develops an eternal life compound from the tree that everyone on earth benefits from. Hundreds of years pass, humanity advances to the point where technology is soo ingrained in society, that it's basically invisible or like magic. The bubble is a highly advanced space ship, with propulsion and gravity and life support.
He brings the tree with because it's the tree he planted over Izzy's grave. Her body would have been long ago absorbed into the tree growing over her grave. So the tree is in essence, all he has left of her. He had it dug up and placed inside the bubble, where he was set off on his journey.
What probably started his journey in the first place was that advances in science probably made it possible to predict when a star is going to go super nova, and that meant he could plan to arrive at the exact time it would explode. How long this trip was, no one knows. He could have been floating in that bubble for potentially centuries. That's not to say he couldn't have gotten there quicker, it's just he set his journey's pace based on how long he needed to take to get there on time for it to explode.
Along the way, he basically lived off the tree, sustaining him. He meditated a lot, and eventually started to have visions or hallucinations. After all, he was essentially in a deprivation chamber 24/7. During his trip, he wrote the rest of Izzy's story in his mind, picking up where she left off. He probably always wanted to write it, but could never quite know how to finish it. He probably ran it through his mind thousands of times over the centuries. But in the bubble, his mind was clear and he was finally able to come up with a satisfying ending.
Obviously, he had lived centuries at this point, and was ready to die. He of course knew that being reborn was symbolism, since we are all made of star dust. Even when we die, the material that made up our bodies still exists in one form or another. And it's that fact that is at the heart of rebirth.
We could infer a lot about his life after Izzy. I don't think he ever fell in love with anyone else again. I think he probably had a normal life for the most part, but was probably very secluded, trying to find meaning in life. With eternal life for all, the earth was probably changing in a lot of ways, too many to even discuss.
Underrated comment.
The tree in the spaceship is not the tree Tommy plants over Izzy's grave. This is one of the most fundamental misreadings of the movie. In the final scene, the camerawork emphasizes that Tommy is still wearing the ring - that is, he did not choose to operate on Donovan (when he loses the ring) and goes on a walk with Izzy instead. So this final scene is entirely disjoint from the main storyline where he loses the ring, but finds the cure to death, prolongs his own life, and persists Izzy in tree-form.
When spaceship Tommy finally accepts death and explodes, he is taken back to that pivotal moment of decision. Crucial to understanding the movie is recognizing that when Tommy chooses to walk with Izzy instead of pursuing the cure to death, that is his ultimate acknowledgement of finitude as what imbues life and love with the utmost meaning. So the seed Tommy plants in the end is just a seed - not Izzy, not a Tree of Life - just a normal seed that Izzy gives him on their last walk together.
dont say it is straightforward then type so much, you dipshit. al you did was present your own interpretation that makes sense to you. don't say it is straightforward on those grounds, you putz!
There is no interpretation going on here. There's 3 different stories; Past Tom, future Tom in space, and Izzy's fiction story. That's not open to interpretation.
The rest was just an in depth explanation, and probabilities of what things could mean, like how Tom's life probably went between Izzy dying and him getting the bubble spaceship. It's clear he never moved on from Izzy, otherwise he'd have others to live for. It's not likely that he married dozens of times in his hundreds of years lifespan, then have Izzy become the focus again as he takes a spaceship out to go kill himself. It's clear that Izzy was his last love despite all those years he lived after her, and that he was tormented by her loss.....because he was the man who discovered immortality.....right after his wife died. That's a pretty cruel reality to live with. You save billions of people from death.....but not the one you love most.
In the deleted scenes, you could see him essentially taking hallucinogens. There is literally a deleted scene called 'life on ship', which is of him in the bubble, and he's drying out and eating mushrooms.
No I don't think you got it at all. You can't take the story on face value. The only true part of the story is the present day with Tom trying to cure Izzy. When she dies he finishes her book and adds the story of future Tom heading to the nebula of Xibalba to heal the tree of life. However future Tom learns to deal with his own mortality and the death of his wife. So the story is a way to cope with the grieving for his wife and he finishes the book just like she always wanted.
in my 27 years, best film score ever
+James Livingston Clint Mansell is a fucking BEAST!
Me and my dad watched it 20 times (i'm not lying) and every time we analyze it and still have some question marks, but now I think we finally got to Awe.
This and Requiem for a Dream both have amazing scores!
I listened to the soundtrack for years before I watched the movie. I didn't want it to ruin the music. It didn't!
James Livingston Also for me (17 years old)
One of my all time favorite movies. I have been telling friends to watch this movie for years. Unfortunately most don't have the same passion for it that I do. I think its just too poetic, artistic and/or just too deep for a lot of people.
For someone who deeply analyzes and looks for deeper hidden meaning in movies, this movie is a masterpiece.
Como dije más arriba: NO todos los seres humanos son lo suficientemente humanos para apreciar una Obra de Arte. en-men.blogspot.com/2016/10/la-fuente-de-la-byddha.html 20-11-2022
true!
Concur 100%
How could any human being not absolutely love this movie. It's so captivating
I saw it and it was heartwarmingly inspirational.
I found it quite boring when I first watched it. But luckily I rewatched it a few months later and it became one of my all time favourites. I have watched it over 20 times since then. I guess I wasn`t just in the right mood or state of mind when I first watched it. When I would have been a critic at this time I saidly would have given it a bad review too. I am sure there are some critic who regret their bad review from back then.
Because it forces you to come to terms with death. Most people are in denial.
because narration is bad... thats y u need to watch it 3-4 times... and then watch a video like this to fully get the plot...
because it requires you to think and most people dont like to think
He is writing the book and doesn't want to finish it cause that means he will have to let the last part of her die, that's what makes it so sad.
PeyoteIguana it not a book, it's real, the book was used for inception. He made it all come true. Or at least it's what I believe
I sympathize with his character. For him, his romantic attachment (for lack of better words) is the driving force of his passion and goal of defeating death. But it's pretty easy to take it a step further and see that "Death is a disease, it must be cured," and therefore take one's personal love and transform it into a universal love. Spiritually speaking, this is not a foreign concept, but rather the idea of a maturation and an alignment with divine power (for lack of better words).
@@Oxxyjoe It's also about living in the now and appreciating it, without the need for needing "more" or "better". Mindfulness. We die, that's what makes life and time precious.
The movie ends with Dr. Tom saying "Goodbye" to his dead wife. Future Tom is Dr. Tom's character finishing Izzies book.
The book was a guide to go to the next world with her to live together eternally. His love for her pulled him through time and made him immortal. It's just... there are no movies out there like this.. this is the most powerfull love story I've ever seen in any domain.
I'm not surprised people said awful things about it, it's definitely not a movie for weak minds.. As condescending as that sounds, it's true.
I totally agree. I have bought it about 7 times haha gave the 6 as gifts. one of the most underrated movies to this day.
nice
Totally agree. If your ready to see the truth and beauty of this film, its an incredible experience.
most people just want a spoon feed story. the best thing about this movie is that it has a lot of layers of theories and ideas, which makes me enjoy it more and more each time I watch it.
yea, most people are on a basic level of thinking. self validation and good fun times.
Best part of the movie is the soundtrack
i mean... the ost was amazing
Incredible
Even the OST follows the '3' theme laid out in the rest of the movie.
True
Nahh it was just a big fucking cherry on top.
My favourite movie of all time, I just finished watching it again and it just gets me every time. It's a film I often don't want to share with people because the majority of them won't "get it", which really saddens me, this film deserves so much praise.
Nos hace llorar con mi señora. Como dije más arriba: NO todos los seres humanos son lo suficientemente humanos para apreciar una Obra de Arte. en-men.blogspot.com/2016/10/la-fuente-de-la-byddha.html 20-11-2022
When I first seen this movie I was going into my late twenties . And started having health issues. Before I really didn’t care if I lived or died doing crazy stuff all the time. I think a lot of us feel that way in our twenties not invincible but very careless . In the sense of coming to terms with death this movie gave me an aspect of peace that I did not have before. Great film will always have a spot in my heart.
Ive watched over a thousand times and the music puts me in a place I never want to come out of. Can't get enough of it
Pretty much spot on. Except the timeline changes and, as a result, all subsequent events. Once Astro-Tom accepts death, in turn accepting his own mortality, he finishes the story. This somehow changes his choice to follow his colleague into surgery 500 years earlier, and he instead follows Izzi outside. Since he never goes into surgery he NEVER loses the ring! Which if you look closely, as he brushes snow off Izzi's grave, you'll see he's wearing. I believe this also means Tommy accepts death and does not go on a Quixotesque quest to defeat it. Thus the future timeline (Astro Tom) winks out of existence. The Tree of Life appears to be an Oak and the seed pod Izzi gives Tom is from a Sweet Gum tree. So, two different trees. The Mayan Priest, in a vision, recognizes Tomas as First Father allowing him to pass and Tomas sacrifices himself (unwittingly).
yah,,it can be like that.
thats the beauty of this film.so many possibilities can happen that makes it beaautiful.
Interesting interpretation.
I like this interpretation the best. I mean they put to much importance on the ring for it not to mean anything. I was trying to figure it out and you just explained it perfectly.
Skip Carver NUTSHELL 😎👌
Yeah this totally makes sense.
And also in this case it shows everything is connected and essentially an infinite Loop which is why I think it shows the rings so often and the circles
My favorite film ever, I think I could watch it...forever..
Same. I could watch this film for all eternity! Haha. Amazing film. ..I don't think I'll ever appreciate a piece of filmic art, as much as I do this film.
Tarah Lynn
Is there anything similar to this movie available for viewing pleasure?
I found it rather enjoyable.
Swaglord350 check the Interstellar !!! :)
Stanislav Kazakov
Thanks bro, the movie that just came out right, I have heard good things about it.
Why watch it when you can do it?
The tree of Life is attained by eating/drinking the tea of the Mimosa Hostilis Root Bark.
This is a type of Acacia Tree.
The Free Masons know this and worship the Acacia Tree.
No Joke. It IS the Tree of Life.
Make Ayahuasca from MHRB and Syrian Rue.
But you will have to die as you are and be renewed in Eternal Life.
The essence of this movie is the struggle to except death of the EGO and surrender to the Eternal-Light.
It is a very hard thing to do.
I have come close to it once.
The feeling of freedom is incredible while you let go of the constricted egoic state and expand your consciousness into infinity and eternity of primordial BEING.
Here is how to do it.
Read my comments and Orange Juice recipe on that page!
th-cam.com/video/ewamkPjI_pg/w-d-xo.html
This has been my favorite movie ever since the first time I watched it. People just dont realize how deep the movie goes and how elaborate it becomes at the end.
Nos hace llorar con mi señora. Como dije más arriba: NO todos los seres humanos son lo suficientemente humanos para apreciar una Obra de Arte.
en-men.blogspot.com/2016/10/la-fuente-de-la-byddha.html 20-11-2022
I'm still appalled that so many missed this masterpiece; it lets me know how special, unique, and important human life and its conscious expansion are to the experience of the universe.
This movie made me watch it multiple times. Both to understand it and to make me feel it. Yes You feel this movie. Left me wanting more of this mind blowing masterpiece. I don't think it was advertised correctly and it takes time to sink in. I rented this but I think I need to purchase it.
Add to that the original cut was 2.5 hours long and he was forced to cut 45 mins. I want to see the full version.
is the full version available to purchase?
It's never been released. I'm hoping for a director's cut one day.
Mark David piratebay is your friend
Get on popcorn
Hugely underrated film. Absolutely beautiful for the low budget. Heart-wrenching story.
A masterpiece of a movie. You don't have to fully understand it to enjoy it. There's two routes the story can take. Either Tommy gained immortality from the tree that saved Donovan and space Tom is actually real or it was him finishing Izzi's book. Either way, great film.
27ShowStopper the immortality is the idea...that time is an illusion, past present and future don't exist like Einstein said
Totalmente de acuerdo. Como dije más arriba: NO todos los seres humanos son lo suficientemente humanos para apreciar una Obra de Arte. en-men.blogspot.com/2016/10/la-fuente-de-la-byddha.html 20-11-2022
Great point I always thought of it as him finishing the book and coming to terms with death in the end showing that Izzy book helped him come to terms with death .and the other two past and future toms being fiction toms the book toms in other words. Always imagined that Tom stopped his research after finishing the book and just started living .but also kinda thought in the back of my mind their all real in different parallel universes but the same soul reaching shebalba and finally intersect and become one at the end
Tomas and Astro Tom doesnt exist. Its about present-day Tom's acceptance of death. Tomas is in a book Izzie created and Astro Tom is Tom's subconscious moments before he dies in his death bed. The director of the movie said in an interview that he wants people to come to their own reasons but he created the movie about accepted death of loved ones and of yourself. Astro Tom accepted death at the end of the movie and thats because present-day Tom accepted death and at that very moment his life slipped away. I think this movie is a love letter to death. It doesnt have to be bad, its "The Road to Awe" after all.
My thoughts were similar, though I viewed Tomas as being in Izzie's book and Tommy (Astro Tom) as being the mind of Tom, with the struggle to keep the tree alive being a reflection of Tom's struggle with his work in an attempt to avert Izzie's fate. In the end, when Tommy shows up in place of Tomas, I view that as Tom fulfilling Izzie's wish that he finish her story.
I can definitely see your view though, as he planted the tree in accordance with the story Izzie has told him. For your view, you see the tree in the Tommy line as being a memory held alive by Tom on his death bed, as both Tomas and Tommy die in the story, making sense that it is foreshadowing the death of Tom as well.
That's one of the things I love about this movie, so many subtly variations in the way it can be seen - everyone sees it a little differently.
the three worlds are ONE... in spain, as he kneels before the queen you can see the tree of life pattern on her dress... the same pattern is on the hospital floor when they show a birds eye view of her bed... the pattern he tattoos on his arm is found on the glass at the hospital... the lights in the background are all the same hue as the ascension to xibalba, he is walking down the hallway in the hospital and there are TWO LIGHTS in the background symbolizing Xibalba
The queen says " For every shadow, no matter how deep, is threatened by morning light" and then makes TOMAS kneel and they let in the morning light shine on him... when Izzy dies, he destroys the blinds in the hospital room and then you see that in his darkest moment, the morning light shines on him again...
future tom to me is spirit tom... not "FUTURE"... inner spiritual world happening in present day Tom's life... TOMAS is a story being told to help him see the nature of his true existence...
This and hundreds of more connections to each world... I'm gonna watch it again for the thousandth time tonight! lol
Well at the end you see Astro Tom smiling at Present time Izzie and saying with a smile "I'm going to die". To me that pretty much sealed the deal on my interperatation. It's a beautiful movie even the soundtrack. These kinds of movies don't come along often.
Leonardo Torres I see it the same way, no more times than present and Tom dealing with and finally accepting mortality, his wifes and his own. A long way to overcome his fear, he ate almost all of the bark. Little by little. One of the best movies ever made.
.
great video, but I think you're over-analyzing the whole thing..
the most important quote for the movie is: “it seems we struggle for a lifetime to become whole.. few of us ever do.. most of us end up going out the same way we came in - kicking and screaming! most of us don't have the strength or the conviction.. most of us don't want to face our fears”
the whole movie is about accepting death.. Life cease when we die.. as Death cease as we give birth.. Life and Death are not "enemies".. they're equals.. if we want to summarize it in one sentence it would be:
" WHAT CANNOT DIE.. IS NOT CONSIDERED TO EVER LIVE "
in my own opinion, is one of the best movies I've ever seen.. and believe me, I've seen a lot! I've seen them all!
Death cease at the moment of two human beings are destined to make more humans.
I agree. I just want to.
Very powerful!
some go easy. others worry about the demons they created in this life that will follow them into the next. this is why i think the bible is created. to guide through life without suffering the the way way that others have.
This movie made perfect sense to me when I watched it the first time and thought it was a beautiful film.
Also the bubble... I thought it was just a force field that "astro tom" had created around the tree to transport it.
Thats because you are compassionate and intelligent.
Ok Mr. Humble, then what are you doing here on this video...
@@Imperial_Cosmonaut To see other peoples interpretation perhaps?
I have seen the movie several times over the years and I interpreted it the very same way. This explanation just naturally occurs after rewatching it. There is one more possible scenario and that is that the "future" storyline might just be a metaphor for the state of Tommy's mind that feels lonely, endless and there are just flashbacks of Izzy giving him the answer he doesn't want to accept the whole time until he comes to terms with definitiveness.
Light and shadow is one of the things the design team explicitly mention in the special features. So often a cliche visual, it's used well in this movie as signifying truth or an acceptance. Tommy hides in darkness, he shuts out light whenever possible, whereas Queen Isabella actually commands someone to, "Let in the morning light."
Excellent point
Yes. Este es un fil acerca del aprendizaje, pero LA HUMANIDAD NO QUIERE APRENDER. Como dije más arriba: NO todos los seres humanos son lo suficientemente humanos para apreciar una Obra de Arte. en-men.blogspot.com/2016/10/la-fuente-de-la-byddha.html 20-11-2022
I saw this in theaters and was moved to tears. A film that has remained in my consciousness all these years
The only film that breaks me down to tears. Find it and own it.
Agreed. I just wept at the end, after seeing it for maybe the fifth time. It's a timeless, beautiful love story.
I lost both of my parents in a very traumatic way in a span of 9 months each, this movie help me to accept on every level the passing of them and move on. And for that reason, not counting the brilliant script, the stunning visuals, the emotional music, and the fantastic casting, this will be forever the #1 movie in the ranking of my heart. Thank you for this beautiful and profound piece of art Mr. Aronofsky
this film is like all those famous paintings, everyone interprets it in their own way. this story is abt love and how its so difficult for us to leave it when it ends
This movie is absolutely heartbreaking. Not only the death-accepting fact, but the almost irrational fear of losing someone you love and adore. This whole tension from the main character on revisiting moments where he would've been closer to her loved one. Even more so than death, this movie speaks to me on the fear of losing someone you've connected with and wanted to be with for who knows how long.
The film is amazing, and the soundtrack is stunning... so many interpretations, best just to jump in and love.
the most plausible explanation is that Creo dies and doesn't live until the year 2500. The Fountain was a gift from Izzy so that he can cope with death and grieve. Chapter 12 is the conquistador drinking the tree sap and simultaneously crashing into the nebula. That's why the final two scenes happen one after the other, as he has just written them in chapter twelve.
I loved this movie. Not often is it that a film makes you think as much as The Fountain, and far less often is it that a truly meaningful movie is a hit. I'm glad that it never became very popular because that can ruin a good story, and I believe that in keeping it a little more hidden, this film became even greater for me. The plot was great, so was the acting, and if I were traveling the great journey of Astro-Tom, I'd have to appreciate the incredible music.
Thank you David Chen, excellent job. Just watched this movie the 4th time, each time I see more and feel more. Since I had an nde in 2015, I am no longer afraid of death and it IS 'the awe of death' that is the sweetest freedom. This movie was loved by those who are awakening and understand. Your interpretation was fine by me. One doesn't need an nde to find out death is life and life is death. And life after death is more real than life in a body. Dreaming, OOB's, STE's, meditating are all ways to find this out and be set free. In a way, the movie showed how A I is trying to prevent death, but in the movie it is organic using trees and organic space ships (which they are!) We mustn't be fooled by eternal life via A I. It is only in ou hearts that we come to know that there is no reason to fear death. And it actually is UNNATURAL to die when we were part of the original earth..the true earth. But that is another story...
Wonderfull movie, music to die for.
Music to Live for! :-)
Glad you mentioned the score, it is absolutaley amazing.
Excellent deep dive. This movie has been haunting me since its release. After all these years I think I understand what it's about. I'm considering doing my own review. I'm seeing what others have to say. I love your take and insights. Cheers.
Fountain is my favorite lovestory of all time. It tears me apart every time i watch it.
I love it to no end.
Really great analysis Dave. You should definitely keep doing these. For me I thought that most of your interpretation was spot on. However I did think there was a very reasonable explanation for why Astro Tom was doing what he was doing. It seemed to me that Astro Tom was on a sort of suicide mission. The tree that had for so long given him life was now dying. So he came up with a plan in order for him and the tree to live forever. This plan was flying to Xibalba. However the problem that Astro Tom faces on his trip to Xibalba is that he knows it is ultimately doomed, but he keeps trying to push this rational out of his mind. This struggle is personified in several scenes, like the one shown in your video, where Astro Tom sees his wife and tells her to just leave him alone. He does not want to be reminded that his mission will most likely lead to his death, and he does not want to be reminded that he needs to finish her book. But like you pointed out Dave, eventually Astro Tom comes around and is able to accept his death. He is able to finish his wife's book and ends it with the Conquistador finding the tree of life but this ultimately leading to him dying and becoming a part of the Earth, in this way he "lives" forever. I believe that Astro Tom discovers that this is the way to end the story because he realizes that he has to end his own life this way. Astro Tom knows the tree is dying and knows that he does not have long to live, he also knows that if he does reach the dying star called Xibalba it will not give him the eternal life that he originally wanted. So Astro Tom, unlike the Conquistador, decides instead that he should go up to Xibalba and accept that while it will not make him immortal, his death will lead to new forms of life. In this way Astor Tom becomes the "First Father" and also is able to finally accept death. I'm not sure how much of this is just reiterating what you already said Dave but it sounded like in the video that you were having some trouble rationalizing why exactly Astro Tom does what he does at the end of the movie. I thought I had a interpretation that could maybe help your view of the film. I hope this wasn't too long but I thought such a good video deserved an equally good response.
This is the first time I’ve revisited any discussion about this film. I watched this in 2017 with my partner the day before he died. I was 29, and completely unable to handle the intense grief. For years I tried to forget this film and they pain the soundtrack of those final days with David were filled with. This review just brought a lot of that back, but in a way I need to process and think about.
Death is still something I struggle to get my mind around.
I had your exact interpretation upon seeing it. It is also one of my favorite films of all time and the score always brings me to tears. I'm so glad that it has achieved a cult following. I did not understand how so many people could be confused about the story. I found it to be very straightforward, with enough ambiguity to make it tantalizing and enhance its replay value.
That's a god damned great criticism. Your attention to detail is outstanding, and your humility in representing alternate critical explanations is well received. Thanks man.
I literally can't believe I just watched this movie. It's amazing on every single level and it's sad to hear that it didn't do too well because this film is a MASTERPIECE is my heart
"Death is the Road to Awe" was what I was missing and in search of explanation. Started loving the movie when I get to know more and more about it. Thanks a lot!
after years of last seen it, this still gives me tears.
I like that the plotline is open to interpretation. For sure a very interesting story
One of my favorite movies of all time. I don't know that it needs to be explained. It seems every time I watch it I get something different and I love that.
Oh and the people who disliked The Fountain are,,, for lack of a better term... Dumb. They are the type who have to be spoon fed information.
this is one of the best movie I ever seen In my life. its music was straight from pradise. I saw this movie 6 years before and I lived everyday of my life in this movie. cant explain ...
You are correct. It is made very clear in the movie that it is being told from Future-Tom's perspective. The starting scene is from the 1500 Spain story but then immediately cuts to Future Tom waking up screaming. He was replaying the 1500 story in his head. We then see him have visions of 2006 Izzy telling him to 'Finish it' and we see a bald Tom go back into 2006. I know some people this Future Tom is 2006 Tommy's mind/feelings etc but the film essentially shows us that the 2006 scenes are flashbacks/memories and the 1500 scenes are part of Izzy's book. Future Tom tattoo's the amount of decades/centuries on his arms and even uses the exact same pen given to him by Izzy to do so. There's so much evidence pointing to Future Tom being real and the actual 'present day' character from the films perspective.
pretty weak comments from the critics
The film was a marvel and it's one of the not so many films with an exceptional soundtrack.
I think it's just about the money. They destroy any movie that isn't 100'% formula and mass market.
This essay made me cry. Thank you.
Noah and the Fountain are both connected. The creation scene in Noah shows the birth (or rebirth) of the universe starting in Xibalba (The visual style is exactly the same if you compare the two). The seed that Noah plants is the same seed that Tom plants. The tree in the Fountain looks like two combined trees while the tree in Noah has the two parts separated. It's all a big loop. Tom is restarting the universe. Or I could be over thinking this whole thing.
Did you notice that the seed given to NOAH is the same seed that was given to Thomas in the Fountain. I think I am on this crazy boat with you.
My interpretation is that Astro Tom is Tom and his ''Ship'' is includes Izzi's grave with grown tree from that seed that he planted. Now that he is so close to a star as it explodes they are exploded with it together, turning into dust that will live forever in the Universe.
I found this movie very intriguing and completely fascinating because of the fact that it left me in awe, just like it preaches.
This movie has always been an absolute masterpiece. Visually stunning, Hugh Jackman at the pinnacle of his craft, a timeless human story, and the unique storytelling of Aranofsky all come together to make a film like no other ever made. I remember this was one of the first films I watched in HD and I was absolutely blown away.
I completely agree with your analysis--it's been my interpretation of this film since I saw it in the theatre. I think that Astro-Tom was trying to reach Xibalba because of what Izzi said about it being the Mayan underworld. Once it goes nova, then death would be undone and Izzi would live again. In the intervening hundreds of years he may have actually convinced himself it would happen, but upon arriving, reason took over and he realized that the only way to join Izzi was to follow her on the "road to awe".
That is the best vision of this film that I can agree with you 100% . Also a great mind opener to the human fear of death and the road to awe :-)
@@vampyrhunterD55 Yeah, but thre is nothing after death.
An audio visual masterpiece. The most beautiful film ever created. Great review.
No offense to Brad Pitt, but he couldn't pull the acting range that Hugh Jackman did
How don't known why, but this movie always comes back to me every once in a while. A flash back in a scene, the music, when I see the actors in other movies. I don't know how to explain, feels like this movie awake in you feelings and questions rooted in all of us. I love it.
I will always be amazed by how the film was able to show a love so strong. One of the all time purest couples in love portrayed in a movie, in my opinion. Though it wasn't a happy ending or story the stage of the relationship we were seeing and was sad seeing Tom go through such pain over loosing Izzy, it shows just how far love can drive a human being in love...to loose that. Love can be a amazing thing but comes with risks, so worth it too experience it at that level.
Verdad. Como dije más arriba: NO todos los seres humanos son lo suficientemente humanos para apreciar una Obra de Arte. en-men.blogspot.com/2016/10/la-fuente-de-la-byddha.html 20-11-2022
10 years later and I finally found someone who shared my theory on the film.
Everything I read at the time of watching it tried to say that "space Tom" is him finishing the story but from the perspective of a scientist.
I absolutely refuse to believe that, the story is so much more powerful knowing the lengths he went to, and how deeply haunted he was with his past.
I saw this movie in the theatre , and then again when they did a second viewing a few years later. One of the most amazing beautiful spiritual films ever
I'm glad you made this video. It's a misunderstood and an underrated gem of a film.
That's how I understand it.
Tom is a doctor, who desperately tries to cure his wife from cancer. She asked him to finish her book, then dies. All that conquistador's adventures in the beginning is from the book.
Tom couldn't accept her death. He was stressed out and decided to read and finish the book to calm down. All that tree in the bubble take place in Tom's head, and he probably wrote it down in the book. He was not a writer so he come up with a very lame ending-the escape from death on the ziggurat and turning into flowers was just ridiculous. When he finished the book he accepted the death of his wife and planted the tree on her grave. The end.
David, this Glennie Sewell, of Messenger Guardians Paranormal, in Vermont. I want to say thank you for this deep and thoughtful analysis. It was not only mindful, but inspired me to go ahead and find the film and watch it. I was searching for analysis and imagery for Star Wars, Second Trilogy, and found your analysis, as well. You are right. It does take multiple viewings of a film to really understand why certain functions were used with it. I see the great prejudice and "screeches of judgment" being made about Star Wars, Trilogy 2. So, I am using. This movie, however, has inspired my conversation with my students this week. Again, thank you so very much for this. I am now subscribed. I will look for you in Facebook.
I think in the explosion of the dying star, Tom's essence doesn't die but instead is fused into the tree in which his lover resides thus reuniting them in death and letting the two of them be part of a birth of new life that comes after the death of a star.
This film is, I found, something of an “extended release.”
I watched it.
I enjoyed it though, I didn’t know why.
Its message is still being revealed in me.
It is most certainly extraordinary and a great surprise.
I was not sold on the trailer whatsoever.
But something was pushing me to watch it.
Then I happened to read a comment below a review I watched.
It was a woman whose husband had died several years ago.
She watched it with him on his request several times during their marriage.
She said she couldn’t bear to watch it again yet but was compelled to do so because he had tried so often to explain it to her but she didn’t “get it.”
I don’t know why that pushed me over the edge of my indecision.
To think I almost missed this beautiful piece.
I enjoyed and loved this movie. I felt like I was having an incredible experience I could never put in words. I was so immersed in it, I didn't care what it meant. I felt as if I was given a gift.
This is exactly how I have felt watching this movie…the emotions are as strong and complex as any other artistic creation has ever made me experience. The ‘real’ meaning matters a lot less to me…
This is quite literally my favourite movie. Aranofsky's beautiful visual metaphors. Hugh's brilliant acting. And the most underrated part, Clint Mansell's hauntingly beautiful score. I wish I could see it again for the first time.
this film reminds me kubrick's films a lot it does not explain much but makes you feel great emotions
It does explain everything, and it has a very simple plot. Only the present events in the movie are supposed to be real. The medieval events are just what she wrote in her novel as she came to grips with dying. The future events are what her husband wrote, when he finally got around to finishing her novel, as pert of his grieving process. It is just the simple story of a novel being written by two deluded people.
I though the movie left you hanging if Tommy killed himself in the end.
Consider that the end credits song is titled "Together we will live forever", perhaps adding (in death). The conquistador dies and the sap from the tree of life sprouts from his corpse. Near the end of the film Astro Tom becomes enlightened how to save the tree of life, stating "I'm going to die" and sacrifices himself to restore the tree of life. Given the description of the film: "one man embarks on a bold 1000-year odyssey" if we are presented that past Tommy dies, and Future Tommy dies, what happens of present Tommy? At the very end of the film we see present Tommy Creo handing the deceased Izzy a seed of a tree.
Very thorough and insightful. I need to revisit this movie soon!
One of my favorite movies. Every time I watch it I feel like I understand it a little bit more. I remember watching it the first time and thinking, “I have no idea what I just watched but it was beautiful”.
Just saw it for the first time and I believe the rings symbolism is him being with her. The only way he can be with her is through death and he can only ever put the ring on when he accepts death. Spain Thomas got everlasting life which means he is separated from what he actually wants forever.
I also got a little hint that may not mean anything but each story has a point where Tom just misses an opportunity. Izzi dies just before he can fix her brain tumor, Astro Toms tree dies before he reaches the nebula, you could say this is Izzi dying again, and Thomas 'dies' just before reaching the tree of life. Maybe the story was just a way for Tom to show himself what would happen if he got eternal life and what rejecting death lead to. That's what the book may be for. Izzi wrote it to make Tom accept death. Which he finally gets in the end.
Oh and the last lines in the movie are him finally seeing her in heaven after his death. As he finished the book, he accepted death and finally got eternal life with her.
+kbg12ila I think the moral of the story overall is that life is nothing without death. The tree of life is nothing without the dying star. Tom is nothing without Izzi.
amazing analysis, thanks
This video is so underrated! Great explanation, mate!
Very insightful video. I've chosen to take a more simplistic interpretation of the film. I believe that reality is where Tom is fighting to save his wife from dieing. Tomas' quest is part of Izzy's book what she has written. Tom in space, is Tom granting Izzy's wish and him completing the book. I feel that planting the seed at the end was symbolic of him accepting Izzy's idea of death. Furthermore, I believe that completing the book was a form of Tom coping with his lost love and conceding to death's seemingly perpetual triumph over life. It would make sense that Tom's conclusion of Izzy's book would be visually represented in manner that it is, The visuals give a sense that one is looking at them under a microscope. I think Aronofsky himself said he was inspired by watching yeast under a microscope when he came up with the aesthetics for Xibalba.
Anyway you slice it this film is phenomenal and transcends many of my top 5 lists.
This is one of the most brilliant movies ever made despite critics
The entire story is based in Kabbalah. The one mind used the tree of life to become the many in spacetime duality. This was to escape the loneliness of a timeless all know existence. Adam and Eve symbolize the division of self and the union of duality. To search for our other half is an endless story of love and loss, thus is the human experience. Stop fearing the future and holding onto the past its the here and now that matters. When you realize that you can just enjoy the journey.
Its rather silly how people label things they don't understand as something left to personal interpretation. I see this when it comes to Tools music as well. In plain sight this story is told in many films and sung in many songs. Once you've studied the Mystery schools its undeniable. Phil Collins "in the air tonight" is the same story in a song. Trinity and Neo embody this endless loop of time where the two are forever united and torn apart by entropy which plagues the illusionary experience of spacetime duality. The point of the story is that all humans must come to understand they are alone in the end because there is really only one of us experience this story ( the meaning of Trinity's name). In the end the Atman must become ok with his nature in order to be free of his fear of it. Must watch "Mr. Nobody" great movie , very well done in presenting this ancient story.
Kabbalah is a heresy of Judaism, largely embraced by Hollywood sycophants and celebrity low-lifes. Its an amalgamation of Judaism and modern New Age silliness. This movie, however, is great!
Cory Dupont....and yet the movie is still based in Kabbalah teachings.
PS- if that's how you perceive Kabbalah you must not really know the teachings or their connection to the Mystery schools.
I understand Kabbalah well enough - I used to practice it! Anyhow, the film is not based in Kabbalah, and there is nothing from Aronofsky (who is a self-proclaimed atheist) or any of the other filmmakers involved that indicates otherwise.
.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephirot
Sephirot (/sfɪˈroʊt/, /ˈsfɪroʊt/; Hebrew: סְפִירוֹת Səphîrôṯ),[1] meaning emanations, are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof (The Infinite) reveals himself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms (Seder hishtalshelus). The term is alternatively transliterated into English as Sefirot/Sefiroth, singular Sephirah/Sefirah etc.
Alternative configurations of the sephirot are given by different schools in the historical development of Kabbalah, with each articulating different spiritual aspects. The tradition of enumerating 10 is stated in the Sefer Yetzirah, "Ten sephirot of nothingness, ten and not nine, ten and not eleven". As altogether 11 sephirot are listed across the different schemes, two (Keter and Daat) are seen[by whom?] as unconscious and conscious manifestations of the same principle, conserving the ten categories[citation needed]. In Kabbalah the functional structure of the sephirot in channeling Divine creative life force, and revealing the unknowable Divine essence to Creation is described.
The first sephirah describes the Divine Will above intellect. The next sephirot describe conscious Divine Intellect, and the latter sephirot describe the primary and secondary conscious Divine Emotions. Two sephirot (Binah and Malchut) are feminine, as the female principle in Kabbalah describes a vessel that receives the outward male light, then inwardly nurtures and gives birth to lower sephirot. Corresponding to this is the Female Divine Presence (Shechinah-Hebrew: שכינה). Kabbalah sees the human soul as mirroring the Divine (after Genesis 1:27, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them"), and more widely, all creations as reflections of their life source in the sephirot. Therefore, the sephirot also describe the spiritual life of man, and constitute the conceptual paradigm in Kabbalah for understanding everything. This relationship between the soul of man and the Divine, gives Kabbalah one of its two central metaphors in describing Divinity, alongside the other Ohr (light) metaphor. However, Kabbalah repeatedly stresses the need to avoid all corporeal interpretation. Through this, the sephirot are related to the structure of the body and are reformed into Partsufim (Personas). Underlying the structural purpose of each sephirah is a hidden motivational force which is understood best by comparison with a corresponding psychological state in human spiritual experience.
Cory Dupont
And what about the mushrooms? Therein resides the key.
Great review!! This movie is an absolute gem by Darren Aronofsky. I found it in a bargain bin years ago, then watched it a dozen times!! One of my all-time favorites.
Death leads to awe reminds me of a space odyssey where the astronaut dude goes 'it's full of stars'
Beautifully explained, David. Thank you for clarifying some of the confusing bits of this fabulous film.
if you love The Fountain I’m sure you’ll fall in love with the tv show The OA!!! please watch! it it’s more than just a tv show it’s an experience
good job explaining. For me a lot of this was intuitively graspable upon viewing. Explaining it is a different story and I think you did a very nice job.
loved your analysis.
btw, do you have any thoughts about the scene where space tom eventually finds the ring and puts it on his finger.
Seems like the mid is the only actual story. The old is a design of an overworked guy who only exists to the goal. The future is about acceptance of death and rebirth.
After re-watching years later, Astro Tom is part of the end of the story of The Fountain (the book in the movie), as Izzy wanted him to finish it in his own way. To be able to accept things need an ending. "It starts in Spain, and ends there...[points to Xibalba among the stars]" So yeah, the mid-chronology is the reality. Tomas Verde is part of her story, Astro Tom is Dr. Tom Creo writing in himself as the immortal scientist who needs to die with his acceptance of death after the haunting of his lost love and creating something new in that acceptance and sacrifice.
Ladies and gents! We are totally forgetting the quote from one of our holy sources at the beginning of the movie. It is the key to it! The movie's plot is about the struggle of man dealing with mortal life since "eating" from the tree of life would have made him live forever and that was a major "no! no!" after becoming sentient and understanding right from wrong, if you remember well. The movie's main characters represent the Yin and Yang or the anima and animus of human nature. The affinity for each other is the drive in the struggle. "For my queen, for my wife, for my beloved. I'll search, I'll find and I'll conquer even death so that love is not taken away from me." (Get it?) In the end we come to understand that it is not a "tree of life" but rather a "circle of life." The movie presents this as a composite visual metaphor of three interconnected time lines. I think it is a breathtaking piece of work combining facts and cinematographic techniques with the talent and beauty of the actors. OK, that's my piece.
Their is an overall theme not explained. She is the hero of the movie, teaching him the eternal life he discovered was nothing more then a prison. He diddnt love her, he was just afraid of dieing/losing. She tried to tell him but ultimately had to find other means, that's why she wrote the book
he isnt a future self per say as in a spaceship or that his a space man.... his soul is passing on to the next life......the traveling is the merging of life...flash backs and certain keys of his life are flashing before him playing out their roles until his road of awe ends........with love as the answer....his undying love.....
oooh good one! that's actually pretty cool
There's some plot points you missed. The tree in the bubble is his wife in some way. You see him blow on its bark at one point and tiny hairs rise like the hairs on an arm in a chill breeze. That's why he talks to it, caresses it, kisses it. The tree contains her somehow. She said she wanted to see the star go supernova, so he does his best to take her there. But before they can reach it the tree begins to wither and dies, so he fails and loses her yet again.
Great insight, I think you nailed it!
My basic interpretation, Conqueror Tom is the spiritual ancestor of Scientist Tom, the reincarnated form of him. Scientist Tom is Astronaut Tom 500 years in the past. He goes to Xibalba after living centuries of life using his compound which allows cellular regeneration. But he never forgets his first great love, Izzy. It haunts him for all his days. Then, after a horrific global war that destroys most of Earth's population, and ends the lives of many of Tom's friends and loved ones and leaves the Earth in a shattered state, he decides to commit suicide. He travels to Xibalba in a space ship carrying on board Izzy's tree. After many decades of space travel, reaches his destination. He ends his story, rather their story that is (Izzy and Tom) by heading straight into a star in the nebula, in a symbolic action.
It is quite beautiful, a very creative and wonderful story. The movie was underappreciated. But, glad to see that it does have a cult following, because it is such a great story and the film was truly excellent.
No
HogwashMcTurnip Yes.
Chu Kim Whatever.
My thoughts are in tune with yours. I take it one step further on a philosophical level and like to think that Astronaut Tom upon merging with the nebula is in fact entering into what Hindu's refer to as the Brahman. That is, "the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world." It is also referred to as "the highest reality." In a sense, it is the Hindu form of god wherein all the individual beings (presumably in metaphysical states, which I would like to think Astronaut Tom is in) become a part of this cosmic being (again, the Brahman). Just like the physical form, which is temporary, one could even argue that the highest form of reality is also temporary. As such, we see Conqueror Tom die and perhaps enter into the Brahman (after being devoured by nature so he could "live forever"). We see natural death as we know it today with Izzy as a part of Scientist Tom's story. We can assume this Tom also dies, as do all. But his thoughts live on of wanting to live forever, and moreover, wanting to be with his lover eternally. And through time, he does in the form of Astronaut Tom who dies the ultimate death and merges with the dying star entering into the spiritual alternative reality of the Brahman. Together at last with his lover and everyone else for that matter. It's even more beautiful when you begin to view love as itself metaphysical, yet attraction is physical. Tom was attracted to Izzy (we can assume physically and psychologically). However, the love he shows for her is not limited to time or physics. It exists even when she dies, and he dies, and continues to exist. When the screen fades to black it is truly all that exists.
Chris Romans Holy shit that is pretty deep.
Never seen it and only found out about it 15 minutes ago. I think I’ll watch it tonight. Be back to comment afterwards.
the psychological battle with in, the human experience. our drive for glory and everlasting life. iggy is the road to awe. acceptance of what will be. it is death that makes us beautiful. a lifeless being might not love as deep as one where the clock is ticking. finish it!
What I love about this movie is that every person has her/his own interpretation about it. And after all, it's art, you can see it in any way you want
From the moment our Universe began, we have all been assigned a purpose, a mission if you will.
We first ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil
Which is why we are here on earth, we experience both Good & Evil, Pleasure & Pain, Hot & Cold
Earth is the realm of Duality
Only Life cures Death
Our goal is to achieve enlightenment by eating from the Tree Of Life
It's an absolutely brilliant and subtle film. I was never confused by it. I was astonished. The story is easy to follow if you have patience and are able to pay attention without a constant barrage of explosions and jump cuts. "The Fountain" is one of the human films I've seen. It encompasses everything. It operates on a cosmological scale and yet the core of it's story revolves around only two souls. I hope to meet Aronofsky sometime to thank him for this film. It's a masterpiece which I hope will become more appreciate as our world becomes more intelligent and self-aware.
Excellent interpretation of a truly fantastic film :)
My interpretation is one of reincarnation where Tommy seeks to preserve his love for his Queen, his Wife and his Tree (symbolising his wife). As he reaches enlightenment, he realises to fulfill ever lasting love is to die and accepting this is able to see he was blind to living and experiencing life however short with the one he loves. The rings of tattoos on the monk symbolising the many many lives it took for him to reach enlightenment.