| The Fountain's theme of thanatophobia, or fear of death, is a "movement from darkness into light, from black to white", tracing the journey of a man scared of death and moving toward it.[4] The film begins with a paraphrase of Genesis, the Biblical passage that reflects the fall of man. Hugh Jackman emphasized the importance of the fall in the film: "The moment Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge, of good and evil, humans started to experience life as we all experience it now, which is life and death, poor and wealthy, pain and pleasure, good and evil. We live in a world of duality. Husband, wife, we relate everything. And much of our lives are spent not wanting to die, be poor, experience pain. It's what the movie's about."[5] Aronofsky also interpreted the story of Genesis as the definition of mortality for humanity. He inquired of the fall, "If they had drank from the tree of life [instead of the tree of knowledge] what would have separated them from their maker? So what makes us human is actually death. It's what makes us special."[6] |
