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Echoes of Frankenstein in The Fountain
By: Caitlin Carter
English
10/24/08
The film, The Fountain, remediates a message in Frankenstein; that the fountain of youth or the secret of creation is possessed only by nature, and it is futile for man to try to combat the forces of Nature or God protecting the fountain. The director of The Fountain, Darren Aronofsky, uses biblical quotes, similarly to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, to express the forbidden nature of the fountain of youth, or secrets of creation. The use of barrier imagery by the director in The Fountain parallels the metaphoric barrier, to protect the fountain of youth, in Frankenstein.
The film, The Fountain, remediates the message in Frankenstein by using specific lighting and focus techniques to emphasize the inviolability of the fountain of youth. In the opening scene of The Fountain the first image is a quote from genesis 3:24 in the Bible. The quote states: “Therefore, the Lord God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and placed a flaming sword to protect the tree of life.” The director of this film, Darren Aronofsky, chose to emphasize certain messages in this film, one specifically being that the secret to life (or the fountain of youth) is protected by God and is an unimaginable discovery for man to behold. The director focuses the light to be brighter on that sentence to emphasize its importance. The director also specifically chose to represent the quote as a phrase written with quill on old darker looking paper. This attention to detail reveals the historic influence of the bible and that this idea, that the tree of knowledge or the fountain of youth is protected by God, is a historic and age old concept. The light on the paper is also flickering, like candlelight, once again instilling the idea that this passage is very old and well known; those who try to discover the tree of knowledge or its secrets will be punished by a “flaming sword.”
The use of biblical quotes to emphasize the secrecy of the fountain of youth, was also prevalent in the Frankenstein text. The quotes were used to emphasize the severity of Victor violating the laws of God and Nature. The author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, references the Bible in several passages, comparing Victor to Eve. The message in Frankenstein is synonymous with that of Adam and Eve in the Bible. In Frankenstein, Victor symbolizes Eve; he took a bite of the forbidden fruit, nature’s secrets of creation. After violating the laws of nature, Nature punishes Victor by giving the creation a monstrous character. The novel, Frankenstein, expresses the forbidden nature of the fountain of youth much like The Fountain.
The film, The Fountain, continually emphasizes the sanctity of the fountain of youth through the use of imagery. In multiple scenes of the film the main character, Tom, is traveling through space with a tree in a transparent sphere. The images shown in the film reinforce the message that the fountain of youth, (secrets of creation), are unattainable. The tree symbolizes the tree of knowledge which holds the secrets of creation. The tree is located in space, which can also represent the Heavens, a divine location only reachable by God. The tree is also surrounded by a protective spherical barrier; once again showing the defensive boundary surrounding the fountain of youth, (secrets of creation). This image is shown repeatedly throughout the film and the image echoes the genesis quote presented in the opening scene of the film; that the tree is protected by a “flaming sword”, or barrier, and is forbidden to mankind.
In Frankenstein, the holy nature of the fountain of youth is shielded by the harsh results that occur when the laws of nature are violated. Through the force of God, the creature is born a volatile creature. Metaphorically the monster surrounds the secret of creation, much like the sphere in The Fountain, with his horrid nature. Victor’s violation of the laws of nature leads to disastrous consequences, including the deaths of Elizabeth, William, and Justine. Such horrible results terrify Victor and keep him from sharing this new found discovery with the world. The monster’s diabolical behavior protected the secrets of creation from mankind.
Darren Aronofsky remediates the message in Frankenstein, that the fountain of youth is forbidden and protected, and represents this message in The Fountain. The film focuses more on the literal protection of the fountain of youth, through the imaginative use of a transparent sphere surrounding the tree of knowledge, while Mary Shelley uses a metaphorical barrier in Frankenstein. I think the director interpreted the message clearly and the physical representation of a barrier surrounding the tree of knowledge was very effective in portraying the holy aspect of the tree. The director’s interpretation of the protective barrier in Frankenstein is an interesting concept that can be adapted in other films. Creating a literal translation for a metaphoric concept can be adapted well into film; for film can have much more abstract images that still make sense to the viewer. In The Fountain the director, Darren Aronofsky, creatively remediates Mary Shelley’s message, in Frankenstein, that the fountain of youth is under divine protection.
This work was completed in accordance with the honor code.
Self Evaluation: I feel that my thesis and my analysis of the film, and how it parallels to Frankenstein, is very insightful. I also feel that I was very descriptive and specific about the points I make. I am unsure if my essay is strong stylistically, and I feel that the introduction is restricted and not creative.
