The Fountain - Darren Aronofsky (2006)

The Fountain analysis

The Fountain, starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz is director Darren Aronofsky’s third film. Classified as a sci-fi romance, the 2006 film estranged critics and audiences alike with it’s exploration of complex themes of life, death, love, duality, morality and reincarnation. Aronofsky used numerous techniques to portray these many themes throughout the film, especially that of light. Light is used expertly throughout The Fountain to express both the enlightenment of characters, and the start of new life.

            Throughout most of The Fountain, the main character in all three parallel stories, Tomas, Tommy, and Tom, do not understand death. They are obsessed with the thought of eternal life, as well as with saving their significant other from impending death. Because of this, none of these characters are engulfed fully in light until later in the film. In the first and second acts of the film, Aronofsky purposely uses dark and dull color hues in the scenes involving, Tomas, Tommy, and Tom, in an attempt to show the audience a manifestation of their metaphorical blindness, or lack of understanding of death.

During this period, the significant others of the main characters are shown, fully bathed in light, when they gain an ultimate understanding of what they must do to create life from death. This is showcased after Izzi learns about the first father, an ancient Mayan who is said to have sacrificed himself in order to create the tree of life, and in turn live forever. After this revelation, Izzi faints while under a circular shaped light, which is shined directly on her. From this point on, she is no longer afraid of death, and sees that it is the only true way to create new life. A variation of this revelation also takes hold of Queen Isabella I of Spain, under whom Tomas is commissioned. She sees the Tree of Life as her way to everlasting life, and love. Under this pretext, she becomes at peace with her current place in life, and thus enlightened. She is then also, cast in a very bright, ethereal light.

In the third act, Tom, Tomas, and Tommy finally reach their ultimate catharsis and understanding. After the tree inside of Tom’s ship, which is inside of a dying star, dies, and the ship, moves towards supernova, Tom realizes that his death is the only way that he can be together with his manifestation of Izzi/Isabella, forever. After this, he is relieved, and upon the star that his ship is in being reborn, he is engulfed in light. Also, when Tomas is able to finally reach the Tree of Life, and inadvertently follows the path of the first father, he is enveloped in a bright light. Tommy reaches his understanding while remembering his refusal to take a walk in the snow with Izzi one day due to his workload. By changing the event in his mind to actually walking with her, in the bright outdoor light, he is able to understand that his work to cure death before her death was fruitless, and he should have spent more time with her. He understands that although a person may die, memories of them will always live on.

To further distinguish this aspect for the film, Aronofsky ensured that most of the lights throughout the movie are circular shaped. This is highly representative of one of the major themes of The Fountain, which is the circle, or cycle, of life. In the scene in which Tomas has been summoned to meet with Queen Isabella, the hanging lights also substantiate the idea of the three parallel story lines of Tomas, Tommy, and Tom.

Further interpretations of the usage of light in the film, can breed even more explanations and meanings. In many instances, the light schemes in the film can also be a symbol of birth, both metaphorically and symbolically. For Tomas, the temple that leads directly out to the Tree of Life represents a birth canal. This is shown through the shape of the architecture, and the bright light of the world which is right beyond it. For Tommy, his venture out of the dark, restricting research facility that he works at, and into the bright light, represents his mental rebirth. Tom’s ship could very well represent a fetus traveling through the fallopian tubes, and the culmination of the supernova, represents his physical and mental rebirth.

Darren Aronofsky is known for being an extremely conscientious director. This is greatly exemplified in his third film The Fountain. Throughout the film, he manipulates countless factors to both further the plot, and symbolize the underlying themes. One such factor, that is represented and used continually to do both of these, is the aspect of lighting.