The Fountain (graphic novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Fountain is a graphic novel illustrated by Kent Williams published in 2005 by Vertigo Comics, based on the script of Darren Aronofsky's film The Fountain.
The graphic novel was a way to salvage something from the film project, whose first production was cancelled. As Aronofsky said, "I knew it was a hard film to make and I said at least if Hollywood fucks me over at least I'll make a comic book out of it."[citation needed] Later, the film project was resurrected by Warner Bros..
[edit] Characters
from 1500s:
- Captain Tomas Verde
- Father Avila
- Ariel
- Mayan Priest - Lord of Xibalba
- Queen Isabel
- Silecio the Inquistor
- The Franciscan
- Captain Rivera
from 1997 & 2005:
- Dr. Tommy Creo
- Izzi
- Antonio
- Dr. Lillian Guzetti
- Dr. Lipper
- Betty
- Donovan (Monkey)
from 2463:
- Tom
- Woman ("Izzi")
[edit] Plot summary
The Fountain is written in many different parts which are generally out of chronological order. The story begins in the winter of 1535; it starts with an army of Spanish soldiers searching for the tree of life. We do not know much about why they are searching for it but we do know that their search thus far has been long and arduous. Father Avila feels that their long journey is about to serve its purpose when he notices that a symbol on a blade he is carrying (though we do not know yet where this blades origin is) matches a symbol drawn in the sky, as well as on the ground. He presumes this must be the spot of an ancient Mayan tomb that houses the Tree of Life. The soldiers are reluctant and feel that the Avila's theories will only add to the great loss of soldiers they have had. We are now introduced to the story's protagonist, Captain Tomas Verde. He is seen holding a gold ring. He kisses the ring and says to "prepare the men." The Spanish army begins their assault on the temple only to be met by a plethora of Mayan warriors who are protecting the ancient temple. Many die in the onslaught. Father Avila advances up the temple and is met by a Mayan priest who slowly and calmly emerges from the temple. He grabs Avilas throat, takes his knife and cuts out his heart. The heart still beats as the Mayan priest takes a bite from it. Captain Tomas progresses up the temple stairs to meet the Mayan Priest, he tells the soldiers left standing that all he must do is drink from the tree and no one can harm them. Tomas and the Mayan priest stand ready to fight, when the priest takes his knife and stabs Tomas deep in the shoulder. Tomas is about to die, he is afraid.
That arc of the story abruptly ends and we are now in the winter of 2463. We see a man meditating on a tree. He and the tree are in a bubble, on the edge of a nebula that is surrounding a dying star. The nebula is named Xibabla. The man is young “except for his wound.” We assume at this point that the wound is from the Mayan Priest. He grabs sap from the tree to spread across the wound. It never heals. A woman appears to the man, a woman that “never leaves” but is also never there. The woman tells him the tree is dying and if he continues to use it, they will die together. The man says he will not use the tree anymore, he will wait. He claims that once they reach the nebula, the energy will make the tree bloom again, they will both live. He can’t resist. He hungers for the tree's sap and indulges himself. He begins meditating. Meditation is all that he can do, nothing else exists in his world but the tree and him. He tells us of the tattoos on his arms. One ring for every year alive, just like the rings of the tree. His “record of eternity.” The man tells us he has tried to seed the tree, but all to no avail. He then goes to drink from the tree to discover it has died. After a scream of frustration, he notices particles from the nebula's edge. He knows they are close and thinks he can save it. He exits the bubble he is in with a knife. His plans are to cut a hole in the bubble to let the nebula's particles inside, to save the tree. The lady calls him Tom for the first time. She tries to stop him and tells him there is nothing that can be done, the tree is already dead. Tom falls off the bubble and drifts away from the Tree as the lady tells him to “remember your promise.”
This story ends and we enter the winter of 1997. We are quickly told of a time when Thomas Creo met a woman named Izzi and they shared an intimate night under the stars. During sex, Izzi says that she wants to be with him, “together, forever.”
The story now cuts to the year 2005, and Dr. Creo is looking incredibly fatigued, sitting at a computer. He is about to do surgery on a monkey that has a tumor. His colleagues tell him the surgery is off and they are going to euthanize the animal. Dr. Creo brings up an old ethno botanical compound from Guatemala that he insists be injected into the animal. He opens his text and points to the “Tree.” At this point we assume that this compound is the sap of the sacred tree. Against his colleagues' will, the monkey is injected with the sap.
A fellow doctor (Lilly) enters asking how Izzi is. We now learn that Izzi, Dr. Creos' wife, is suffering from cancer. She then tells him that he should be spending time with her instead of at work. Lilly scolds Creo for his careless choices in the operating room and for injecting the compound into the monkey.
Dr. Creo goes home to find Izzi outside looking into the sky. She tells Dr. Creo she is staring at a Nebula named Xibabla. She explains that this is the place where the Mayans believed dead souls go to be reborn. Creo asks where this knowledge comes from; she laughs and says it’s all part of her book. He gives Izzi a bath and notices she has no feeling of temperature changes. He worries and puts her to in bed. She stays up to write more of the book she is working on when Dr. Creos' office calls asking him to come down, they have seen something strange in the monkey and need his advice.
He leaves her.
In the office, he learns the tumor is exactly the same but the monkey is having a vast increase of neural activity. He goes back home to find his wife sleeping. He lays next to her and falls to sleep. He awakes abruptly and screams for Izzi, he feels his shoulder as if he is in pain from something. Creo realizes he is still alive but Izzi is gone. Creo finds a note that says she went to the museum.
Dr. Creo meets her in the museum. She tells him more about the tree of life. How the Mayan Adam created the tree by sacrificing himself. The tree burst from his stomach, his head became Xibabla and the roots became Earth. Izzi collapses in the museum and is brought to the hospital.
Dr. Creo is stressed and frustrated. He leaves her to return to the lab and the monkey. The monkey is doing fantastic and the tumor is still there. Lilly sees him in the lab and yells at him for not being by Izzi’s side. He returns to her bedside, Izzi is awake. She hands him the book. We learn now that the title is “The Fountain”. He explains it is not finished; she wants him to write the ending.
Dr. Creo picks up the book and begins to read it. We see the first page of the story and it seems to be the story of our 1500 story arc.
We now return to winter of 1532, , which is 3 years prior to our original 1500’s arc which started out the book. A Franciscan man is being tortured by the Grand Inquisitor. He wants to know what was found in Chedumal. He must know but the man says he only answers to the queen. The Inquisitor says they’ve been searching for 1500 years and must know now before he spills his guts. The Franciscan passes out.
The queen enters, clutching a gold ring around her neck. The inquisitor flees the room and slips on a puddle of blood. He looks up and sees the body of a Dominican Monk and notices the knife. The knife with the symbol that leads to the Tree of Immortality. Captain Creo enters and captures the inquisitor whose identity is a man named Silecio. We now learn that the Dominican Church is trying to take over the country. The queen reminds the monk of her superiority. She asks what the church wants, Silecio responds; they want the land that Spain acquired recently, the land Chetumal. She explains that nothing is there but jungle and savages. She plans to protect all of gods’ creatures, even the savages of Chetumal.
The queen excuses herself and summons Captain Creo to her bedroom. They share an intimate moment. The queen tells Creo that she gave the church the land of Chetumal and brings in Father Avila to ask him what the church wanted there. He then takes the Mayan knife out of his cloak. He explains that the knife was taken from around the neck of a Mayan Priest. The words on the knife describe a Mayan City, one that houses the birthplace of life. Silecio says that the tree is life and life belongs to God and therefore he is rightful owner to the tree, not Spain. Creo charges at the Dominican monks until Silecio grabs the queen and places the knife to her neck. He says that Creo and his army must join the church in order to spare the queen’s life. He refuses and Silecio calls for the executioner to chop off the queen's head.
The executioner enters and just when he is about to strike the queen, he reveals himself as Ariel. The queen then grabs the blade from Silecio and murders him. The queen’s guards arrive and greet Creo. Creo and the queen shares an embrace. She tells Creo that they won today’s battle but the Dominican church will be back again. She says the only way out of this is in Chetumal, and that, the tree of life. The queen gives Creo the golden ring and tells him to return and release Spain from bondage. He takes the ring and says he will return with love eternal.
At this point in the story we are brought back to present times and see Dr. Creo with the book Izzi was writing. He looks over to her bedside, she has passed on. Dr. Creo is enraged; he flips out and is restrained by other doctors. He runs out to the hall screaming that he has a new enemy: Death. He will cure it. He is interrupted by Lilly who looks very excited and asks Tom if he heard the good news. He obviously has not and she explains that the monkey’s tumor is completely gone. He is enraged again and flees to her bedside thinking it isn’t too late. Lilly screams at him and tells him it’s over and that she is gone. He weeps and cries “It’s not too late.”
We now return to the 2463, and Tom is falling into oblivion screaming “Izzi.” He begins to remember something. He recollects the Mayan Priest about to take his life after stabbing him deep in the shoulder.
We now jump back to present time. We see Dr. Tom Creo reading Izzi’s story “The Fountain.” It ends…"A dream unfinished." He weeps and cries. He takes Izzi’s fountain pen and gives himself a tattoo of a ring around his finger. The first tattoo. "A replacement for forever."
He sees Lilly who tries to comfort him, telling him that Izzi wanted death. She was not afraid of it, it was something she understood. Creo begins screaming. Death is only a disease to him, a disease that can be cured. He will fight and he will win. And he will never give up…"Never" The story arc ends.
We return to 2463, he runs and hugs the woman and screams Izzi. He is alone, the woman disappears. He says it’s alright, he understands now. He understands that it all life ends. He meditates and remembers everything; he remembers his encounter with the Mayan warrior. The story now flashes back with his memory and we are brought to the moment the Mayan Priest stabbed his shoulder.
The Mayan Priest is about to stab Creo again when he stops and bows. He hands the knife over to Captain Creo. Creo wonders if this is a trick. He takes the knife and murders the Mayan Priest. He runs into the temple and finds the Tree of Life. He Stabs the tree and rubs the sap on his wound. He then stabs the tree more and drinks its sap.
He coughs, and flowers emerge from his mouth. He falls to the ground in pain. The gold ring falls from his hands. He lies on the ground and his stomach is spread wide open. Inside, a lush garden of flowers begin to spill from his intestines. He becomes the tree.
2463. Creo now places the gold ring over the tattoo that he first gave himself. The one that is in place of the ring. He hears the girl’s voice again, “Are you afraid?”
He responds… “A little, but it’s alright.” He then jumps from the bubble and into the depths of space.
Xibabla explodes and the tree blooms again. "Death and rebirth, just like a nebula."
We now see the woman standing next to the lush flowering tree. She takes a seed from it. The Scene cuts back to present times and we see Dr. Creo enter his bedroom and he lays next to Izzi. She asks him if he will stay. This time he responds "Yes, forever."
The story cuts to the woman from the tree and the seed she carries. She walks in the snow to the grave of “Izzi Creo.” She buries the seed in the snow next to her grave. We see Xibabla explode.
The story ends.
