1. Eynouf 1
John Eynouf
Professor Janus
ENG II
3 May 2015
David Aronofsky’s The Fountain: Exploring the Purpose of Life and Death
The one irrefutable fact of human existence is the inevitability of death. But what
happens after death? Is there punishment for transgressions committed in the ethereal world of
mortality? Is there a purpose to life that transcends death? The questions of life and death are the
greatest mysteries of all and throughout the span of time man has created endless explanations
for its existence. Whether it is an all-knowing, all-seeing God or life as a more cyclical process
of reincarnation, in the end, the purpose of life and death is up to each individual’s interpretation.
Unfortunately, individual beliefs of life and death can be extremely polarizing to the point where
most people never allow themselves to question their own mortality from other viewpoints. Due
to the polarizing nature of the subject, very few films in Hollywood have ever been able to tackle
the purpose of life and death in a powerful and pragmatic way like David Aronofsky’s The
Fountain. On the surface it’s is a drama film about a doctor named Tom Creo (Hugh Jackman)
who is desperately fighting to save his dying wife Izzi (Rachel Wiez) by harnessing the power of
the Tree of Life, i.e. the Fountain of Youth. But The Fountain is so much more than a simple
love story as it takes you on an emotional and spiritual journey that you don’t see coming.
Aronofsky brilliantly uses the universal understanding of love as the vehicle to take viewers past
the defensive walls of their personal beliefs in order to explore death from other viewpoints.

2. Eynouf 2
When delving deeper past the surface level love story between Tom and Izzi, it’s
apparent that there is much more to learn regarding the purpose of life and death. Tarja Laine, a
Professor at the University of Amsterdam, touches on the importance of the serious questions the
film raises, “Yet the film does not actually presume to resolve the enigmas upon which it
touched, such as what the origin and purpose of life are. Instead, The Fountain raises questions
that seem of greater weight than any film could seriously propose to answer” (Laine). While it’s
true that the film does not answer these questions of life and death in concrete terms, it’s the
journey through Tom and Izzi’s love that allows someone to reveal answers by questioning their
own mortality during the movie. Throughout Tom and Izzi’s drama, Aronofsky employs a
pragmatic approach to bringing up the issues of one’s own mortality that incorporates countless
references and symbolisms from different religious perspectives and beliefs. In doing so, he has
allowed for any viewer to not only relate to the love facets of the movie, but also on a spiritual
level, no matter your religion or beliefs. In other words there’s something for everyone. It’s
imperative to first recognize the most prevalent spiritual themes in the movie’s to eventually
understand why the movies purpose can be confusing. Of all the beliefs commonly perceived to
be portrayed by the movie, reincarnation is the most prevalent.
The cyclical themes throughout the movie naturally results in a general consensus for
most people that the film purports life and death to be a product of reincarnation. But what
exactly is reincarnation? In a research study by Mysore Medical College and Research Institute,
reincarnation is elucidated, “It simply means that we leave one life and go into another; it is all
for the sole purpose of soul development and spiritual growth…However, reincarnation implies
that the person remains essentially the same, while occupying the new body” (Mysore, et al). The
point to focus on is the fact that the person being reincarnated is fundamentally the same person

3. Eynouf 3
in the next life. In the movie, there are assumedly three versions of the main character Tom: the
past version as the conquistador, the present version where he is trying to save Izzi, and future
Tom traveling through space in a bubble with presumably the tree of life. The present and future
version are undoubtedly the same person as both have the same exact memories of Izzi while the
past version of Tom as the conquistador does not. Likewise, the present and future versions of
Tom have no memories of the conquistador. As stated earlier, in order for the movie to truly be
about reincarnation, the three versions of Tom should be the same. Aronofsky is not that simple;
the characters in the past and present are not the same. Yes, they have a common connection
through the love between Tom and Izzi and the love between the Conquistador and Queen and
both are in pursuit of everlasting life, but there are fundamental differences between the past and
present characters that dispels the definition of reincarnation as stated earlier. It is also very
evident that the past Spanish characters are simply an enactment from Izzi’s book that embodied
her frustrations with present Tom’s blind pursuit of saving her that in reality kept him from her.
There are however some other areas where one of the tenets of reincarnation can still be seen at
play.
One of the core tenets of reincarnation is the universal thought of the natural cycle of
death and rebirth. Throughout the movie there are many references to this idea of death giving
life or life coming from death. One major example is the story Izzi tells Tom in the museum
about a man who is reborn in typical reincarnation fashion, “They planted a seed over his grave,
the seed became a tree, Moses said his father became a part of that tree, he grew into the wood,
into the bloom, and when a sparrow ate the trees fruit, his father flew with the birds.” What Izzi
is describing is that Moses’s father was reborn into nature, his death giving life to the tree. At the
end of the movie, Tom plants a seed at Izzi’s grave and then after we see future Tom riding with

4. Eynouf 4
presumably the tree that grew from it. Some could suggest that Izzi, like the man in her story,
became the tree again displaying a form of reincarnation. Aronofsky hints at this through the
visual similarities between the hair on the back of Izzi’s neck and the hair on the tree in the way
that it rises to Tom’s breath. In some ways it fits that Izzi would become the tree after the story
she told Tom. While the reincarnation theme is very prevalent, Izzi’s story of the Spanish queen
and conquistador presents a potentially alternate Christian theme for the Tree of Life through the
story from Genesis, as well as various random Christian symbolism of crosses throughout the
movie.
There are a few Christian references to pick up on throughout the movie; some are very
easy to see while others are more subtle. This is also why the movie’s plot becomes so confusing
because it’s impossible to deny both the reincarnation references and the instances of Christian
religious symbolism and dogma. For instance, the Tree of Life is obviously from the book of
Genesis in the Bible as that is the story the queen tells the conquistador to justify his search for it.
In addition, the depictions of the Catholic Franciscan Friar and Inquisitor, and a plethora of
visual cross references randomly throughout the movie are quintessentially Christian in nature
and relatable to viewers of that belief. While interesting and potentially distracting for Christian
viewers, there is not much outside of the potential theme of purgatory that truly relates back to
Christian dogma.
One can see the elements of purgatory towards the end of the movie through Future
Tom’s journey. Future Tom has nothing but time to spend with the Tree and in essence is doing
the one thing he should have done with his wife while she was still alive. Rodolfo Piskorski, a
graduate student at Cardiff University verifies this, “He is a scientist who is researching brain
tumors in monkeys and since she has a brain tumor, he believes he can help if he overworks

5. Eynouf 5
trying to find a cure that might work for her. She, on the other hand, feels that death is close and
thinks that it might be more important that they spend their time together” (Piskorski 83). In a
Christian sense, the above could be interpreted as Tom’s sin was neglecting Izzi. Since he chose
to pursue a cure to death over spending time with his dying wife, he is punished by being left
alone with nothing else but the Tree of Life. Future Tom is traveling on a seemingly endless
journey through space, haunted by the memories of Izzi, and reliving the tragedy of her death by
watching the tree die. In many ways this is the quintessential story of purgatory.
In the famous Christian literary tale of Dante’s Divine Comedy, the original Catholic
theme of purgatory is fleshed out. Gloria Fiero in The Humanistic Tradition: Medieval Europe
and the World Beyond, provides a general explanation of purgatory from the medieval Christian
morality play, Dante’s Divine Comedy, “On a symbolic level, the poem describes the spiritual
pilgrimage of the Christian soul from sin (Hell), through purification (Purgatory), and ultimately,
to salvation (Paradise)” (Fiero 104). In the story of Dante, people are punished by their sins. In
life, Tom spent all of his time trying to save his wife so he would have more time with her but in
the end Izzi was forced to die alone as Tom was never there in her last days. Future Tom’s
punishment is essentially doing for the tree what he didn’t do for his wife and he has been
punished for apparently a long time which is signified by the tattoos covering his arms. The
tattoos could symbolize his journey from hell, like that in Dante’s Divine Comedy, to his
eventual ascension into heaven at the end of the movie where Future Tom travels into the light.
This could be interpreted as his deliverance to eternal salvation after an arduous journey paying
for his transgressions.
Although Tom didn’t realize it until the end of the movie, he was actually punishing
himself by staying alive because only in death could he be reunited with his love. Whether

6. Eynouf 6
reunited in another life like reincarnation or in an afterlife like in Christian theory, the one
universal desire is to be reunited with one’s love. The cult following The Fountain has garnished
in the blogosphere is filled with endless interpretations of how to decipher the movie. From
forums to blogs, there is a plethora of intensely interesting opinions from non-academic sources.
Gerard Wood, a blogger for sciencefictionworld.com stands out for his summarization of the
main theme, “That, I think, is the key to understanding The Fountain: it is about death and dying,
and dealing with both: your own mortality and the terrible death of a loved one” (Wood). As a
race, humans have always struggled with the inevitability of their eventual demise and the reason
for that is because of the fear of losing what they love. If there was nothing to lose, death
wouldn’t be anything to fear. Aronofsky understands this universal concept of love and in many
ways is trying to show that his movie is not only about death and mortality but the bigger picture
is that love transcends death.
In exploring death, the movie uses many different religious perspectives and beliefs to
purposely confuse the viewer. This makes it so no one can pinpoint any one belief as right or
wrong. The point is for someone to look past their beliefs and look inside themselves and
question their own individual mortality from the perspectives presented in the movie. Instead of
challenging viewers directly, Aronofsky allows them to challenge themselves rather than
offending one part of the populace or another by blatantly depicting any one belief. In other
words, the beliefs that are or are not depicted in the movie are not the point. The beliefs merely
force someone down the road of openly questioning their own mortality from other viewpoints.
But why is this important? In an age of religious intolerance in popular culture, it can be
dangerous to openly discuss different viewpoints of life and death in cinema and by contrast

7. Eynouf 7
popular culture. Regardless of belief differences, it’s important to remember that humans are all
connected by the power of love which transcends individualistic notions of mortality.
Love is the only thing that transcends beliefs of life and death and no matter what someone
believes in they can connect spiritually to the story in The Fountain. It’s imperative that modern
society realize that humans can never truly be disconnected from each other just because of
different perspectives of mortality. Indeed, if society focused on the areas that connected each
other like the power of love, there would be much less death and destruction. One just has to
look at the endless wars in Middle East due to religious differences to see how important this is.
Aronofsky’s purpose of The Fountain may be difficult to determine for most people, but it’s
truly worth the journey the movie takes one on to arrive at that determination. All someone needs
is the power of love to take them past their preconceived notions of faith, and they can safely
explore life and death from other perspectives.

8. Eynouf 8
Works Cited
Aronofsky, Darren, dir. The Fountain. Warner Bros, 2006. Film.
Fiero, Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition: Medieval Europe and the World Beyond. New York:
McGraw Hill, 2011. Print.
Laine, Tarja. Bodies in Pain: Emotion and the Cinema of Darren Aronofsky. Berghahn Books,
2015. Print.
Mysore Nagaraj, Anil Kumar, Raveesh Bevinahalli Nanjegowda, and S. M. Purushothama. "The
Mystery of Reincarnation." Indian Journal of Psychiatry (2013): S171-S176. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.
Piskorski, Rodolfo. Vicious Circles: Intersections of Gender and Species in Aronofsky’s The
Fountain. Academia.edu. Essay. 8 Apr. 2015. Web.
Wood, Gerard Aronofsky’s The Fountain - an interpretation. SFW. Web. Blog 17 Oct 2007.