The Fountain:

This is a movie starring Hugh Jackman. he plays a scientist named Tom Creo who is losing his wife, Izzy, to cancer.

This movie is yet another movie that contains particular elements that I enjoy to discuss.  If you have read my other movie blogs, you can probably guess where this is headed.  Although, depicted with a twist, this is another movie that depicts gnostic ideals intertwined with messianic themes.  Although, one can say they are the same because to an extinct gnostics or those involved in mystery schools believe men can become their own Savior.  They belief this process and knowledge is reserved for the worthy or those in the know and like Jesus said “let those who have ears to hear, hear and eyes to see, see”

The movie is broken in up into a Trinity of sorts.  Tom lives out three different lives within this film.  And like the last movie that I reviewed, Sublime, the three story lines are told concurrently and tend to intertwine.  So that the viewer does not know where one ends and the next begins.  Tom’s three lives consist of that of mid-evil times representing his lower man–lower self.  That of contemporary time–representing his current state of mental progression–a machine like being where the belief in technology can save all.  And that of a spiritual time–outside of time and space–representing his higher self–ascension.

Thus, Hugh Jackman plays multiple roles within this movie; he plays himself, but throughout different past life regressions or in this case progressions. He starts off as a Spaniard invading a Mayan Temple, in which he is mortally wounded in an epic battle at the top of a Mayan ziggurat.  He is stabbed below the ribs, in the same location as Jesus was when Jesus was upon the Cross.  The Mayan that stabs him says the first step to enlightenment is self-sacrifice.  Alluding to the gnostic belief that Jesus indeed “killed” himself (by allowing himself to die on the Cross when he had the power to save himself) to achieve enlightenment.

Another prevalent Gnostic belief is that we are spiritual beings that are held  prisoner on this plane of existence by our spiritual body. A quote in the movie that reflects this belief is stated by a Priest during the time of inquisition he states “The body is a prison and ‘death’ frees every soul.” This sentiment is also repeated by Iz, Tom’s wife.  She also plays multiple roles throughout the film.  She is Tom’s queen during the Mid-evil period, she is his dying lover in present time, and in the spiritual time she is represented as being the “Tree of Life”.  And as she is dying of cancer she echoes the gnostic sentiment that she is not afraid of death because she sees it as a freedom an opportunity for renewal–essentially reincarnation in the liberal sense.

Tom is seeking a cure for his wife’s brain tumor. He ends up finding a cure but not before his wife passes away.  Concurrently, when she dies in real life she dies in the spiritual life.  This happens while Tom is in this bubble being transported towards a state of Nirvana or ascending towards Shibalba (state of nirvana beyond the nebula of a dying star) this is the state in which all things upon the earth was created.  The state is of renewal or a Phoenix like rebirth-from-the-ashes state.  Encased in this bubble is Tom and “Tree of life”. he is completely bald headed as though he is in a state of being initiated.  On his arms are tattoos like rings of bark on a tree, symbolizing all of the past life regressions that he has lived through.  Iz dies and it becomes a lesson learned for Tom.  As she dies from the tumor concurrently does the Tree of life begin to wilt.  Tom panics and begins to scale the “Tree of life”.  He revisits a past life–reshapes a memory–and consequently he scales the tree of life and burst out of the bubble, levitating into Shibalba (Eternity-renewal).  At the same time he reshapes the initial scene of the movie, in which he receives the mortal wound.  As he is struck by the Mayan priest, Tom ascends to a state of levitation (symbolizing his higher self) and the Mayan warrior/priest who struck him falls to his knees in praise/worship and offers himself up in sacrifice.  After slicing the warriors neck, a revitalized tree of life is revealed at the back of the Mayan temple. Tom stabs the tree and draws sap, the sap hits the ground and flowers immediately begin to blossom, he puts some of the sap on his wound and it is immediately healed. As so, Tom drinks as much of the sap as possible and realizes the tree is Iz.  The sap overcomes him, his mortal body dies and is overcome by rebirth in the form of plants growing feverishly from his body.  At this point he finally reaches Shibalba and his body is no more and he is one with Nirvana.

This movie did not his as poignantly as other movies I’ve seen, say like Sublime but it offered insight nonetheless.  There were no prominent characters of color, so I really could not analyze the movie from my common white-male-patriarchal perspective.  But did offer great insight into my belief that the female energy is the purveyor of Creation.  She, essentially is the source of Creation, as being the first human like being on this planet. It is through her all things came and through her all things shall be sustained. As Tom’s role, I believe is the man’s job to protect this sacred feminine energy by any mean’s necessary, even  if it means self-sacrifice–laying down one’s life.  All and all, I found this to be a solid movie–very insightful to a specific belief structure–that I tend to hold as being more truthful than naught.