Death in Circles
I finally decided to do something that I've been meaning to do for a very, very long time.
Watch the Fountain, scene by scene if needed, and note down every single possibly notable symbol/metaphor. And watch it over, and over and over again till I get it all down.
So, who wants to bet that I'll have lost a part of my mind by the end of this?
So. I’m done re-watching it. I lost count honestly as to how many times I did watch it, but it was somewhere from 5-8 times.
My brain feels like addled soup, and I feel like crying.And now I'm going to totally regret shoving off my homework and what not for tomorrow.
And cause the livejournal cut apparently has a limitation on how many words you can cut per segment...I'm not bothering.
Bible quote-How Adam and Eve are banished from Eden, and the angel with the sword of fire guards the tree of life
Circular pattern=tunnel towards the end? Maybe some sort of symbol of his constant journey towards the final revelation? The golden clouds are a distraction of sorts
The sun motif cross- her seems to be the source of the light rays
His face is in shadow, yet facing the light; inability to see the light, maybe.
He walks away from her, away from the light filled doorway. Could be rejecting the idea at first
The ring is important- a promise, symbol of their marriage? Maybe his love for her.
Conquistador Thomas- Approach to trap is to break through it; unstoppable force, upright stance
The environment is dark, dank and filled with skulls- reminder of their mortality, perhaps, or what Thomas thinks he’s leaving behind
Pyramid structure; prominent in the past
Conquistador is resolute and is the only one that survives (for now). Could be the natural cycle of things: the soldiers give in and die, whereas he refuses to and continues living on.
Through her command we will live forever; I will not die, no here, not ever
As Thomas climbs the stairs, we see the stars- the triangle formation of the map is present in the background again
The temple lighting is much akin to a gateway, or the dawn coming through or beyond
The priest's headdress somewhat resembles a pair of wings, and he has a flaming sword. Could be the angel who guards Eden
The tunnel is wet, dank, and later bloody: some sort of metaphor for a birth canal or rebirth.
Thomas drops the dagger- possibly the loss of his resolve/sight?
Future Tom meditates now- perhaps he's achieved some grace/understanding?
The ring is the first thing that is seen on Izzie. A reminder of his guilt/failure
The tree now personifies Izzie; is it the tree that he’s planted, or is the tree from Central America?
The motif of the three stars- except he's passed by them now. Could they be a sort of similar temple entrance?
Finish it
He ingests the bark of the tree. If the tree is to be the literal personification of Izzie’s body and likewise soul, it’s almost like he can let her live forever through him, in a manner. Could also represent the unresolved guilt on the matter.
Izzie has a white coloring associated with her- Future Tom’s clothes are dark/black
Future Tom constantly flips back to the pivotal ‘Will you take a walk with me’ scene. Might just be him being unable to come to terms with what he did wrong? She has long hair, yet never has it in the present we see
He's floating adrift in space; maybe no real full recognition of his goal? More like an indefinite, vague thing
Future associated with circles
Please, leave me alone. I don't know how it ends.
He's in the shadow again- she leaves into the snow/light through the doorway
Tom takes his ring off. The loss of the ring/placing it off represents the loss of his goals/blurring of his desires
Tom has a vision through the window of light, the square- golden clouds; a misplaced message or distraction
Present associated with squares
The adhesion pattern is something like the dying star
Loss of the ring; it bugs him, but when asked about research, he forgets about it completely. Single minded about work
I’m here for her- she doesn’t have cancer yet; he can’t have known about it already? She had cancer before, it seems
Painting- mix of past and present
Introduction of the star- the triangle idea again
Dead souls are reborn, and he acts out badly for no good reason; maybe this is a recollection of the present combined with the interludes from the book (the past and future)
Tree changes to Izzie- further personification. For future Tom, the tree is Izzie
Parallel path in all three times- similarities in all three times
The sun cross thing again-except now it’s a piece of paper/stone, instead of her hair
Thomas is in darkness as ever
Transcendence of the body and the continuation of the soul, false paradise, immortality, vanity etc. speech by Grand Inquisitor. Something as to what present Izzie espouses
Stars surrounding him, Queen is in the light again or is the light
Thomas is ready to die for Spain, but Queen isn’t. Curious.
Triangle idea again, then the tunnel clouds again.
The morning light- Queen is almost holy, saint looking, while Thomas is utterly in shadows.
Tom always seems to be looking for/at/searching for her
Tom stands on the edge of the light, but never enters it.
The scene when Izzie falls in the circle of light. She falls in the light..,
Circle of future to present=the similarity of both of them? Maybe the ambiguity, the abstraction of the future?
He’s incapable of facing the problem head on; in that his wife is dying, so he buries himself in reasearch
The sphere contains everything that is Izzie; an extension on the Mayan idea of how people can be part of everything?
Triangle stars again
Circles- Thomas leads us in circles. Circles. Death in circles; some relation to the future, possibly.
The old unnamed man is dying in the hospital with his ring- some sort of onset of guilt? A sort of physical reminder of how Izzie is basically or how Tom has failed? Tom looks to his own hand in panic; he feels responsible to a degree.
Tom receives good news on the positive impact of the tree on the tumor; he runs to save Izzie
He is unable to accept her death- tries to resuscitate her constantly. Absolute refusal of some sort.
He slams down the window blinds, and only looks at the light indirectly for a moment; light pours in on his face, yet he turns away soon after to go back to trying to bring Izzie back to life.
The tree dies once Izzie dies- once more unable to accept it. Metaphysical representation as to what’s going through his head, or maybe a later method in an attempt to come to terms with it.
Death is a disease; I will find the cure
The loss of the ring leads to him inking himself, making a shadow ring. Manifestation of his guilt? Physical reminder- as are the circles on his arms
Izzie has been a constant in his life through time- literally pulling him through time
He leaves the light filled doorway, turning away from the light- single minded
He’s left in darkness of the lab- switch to the future and the star
Leave me alone- he doesn’t know how to deal with it?
The queen- more benevolent: deliver from bondage. Could be Tom’s guilt is literall keeping Izzie there trapped in the sphere with him
The decisive scene of the choice of to walk with her or not. A sort of mental resolution/redemption on his guilt
Future Tom leaves the bubble, enters the nebula. Future Tom is literally leaving Izzie behind along with his guilt
Circle in circle overshot of the dual bubbles. A ring?
Mayan priest has a vision of future Tommy- yet Tommy is still bleeding
Light shining through the tree- light side and dark shade. Thomas still on dark side ever after reaching goal
The tree literally becomes light, some sort of final revelation? The point of his sacrifice as first father?
Thomas is reborn, literally to live forever
Future Tommy finds the ring- coming to terms and puts it on over the shadow ring
The tree blooms again when he dies…
Tom plants the tree- possible start for the future self, yet this is a different tree? If the latter, it could be him accepting it and moving on.
The triangle, then the star explodes, and all fades away….
I finished it.
Is everything alright?
Yes. Everything is alright
Those are the last words that are said. And for the life of me, I can’t decide if it means that the future did really happen or that it didn’t. Cause I’ve figured out with a good amount of certainty that the past didn’t occur at all. And I’m pretty convinced that the future didn’t either: the exploding star, the planting of the tree at the end, the acceptance of her death, and etc. all made it seem like that the future was just some sort of elaborate method for Tom to deal with the guilt/pain of failing Izzie a second time/actually losing her.
Except, at the end, Tom just fades out of the picture before the star explodes…And then we have the last few lines with Izzie and Tom, implying that maybe he did die, and he was reunited with Izzie, or something else.
Or maybe I’m just thinking about this way too hard.EDIT: Ohh, I almost forgot. The part where Thomas says Through her command we will live forever; when he's ingesting the bark in the future, he's quite literally 'living through her'. Or when Thomas dies in the end, he's doing much of the same thing: he's achieved a level of immortality through her.