I’ll split it this into parts so that I don’t have to work so hard at it.
Now it is time for an esoteric interpretation (note that I italicize the word ‘an’)…grab your popcorn, a soda, and pull up a chair. Virtually everything in that movie was symbolic of something else. The next time you watch it pay attention to the symbology and imagery that you are shown
At the start of the movie you saw a world which was dark and lifeless. As the Earth moves down the moon appears, and then the sun. As the movement progresses there is a partial eclipse that takes place and those who know something about Egyptian tales will recognize the form of the boat of Isis. As the sun rises on top of the crescent it becomes Osiris. Together they symbolize Osiris riding across the heavens upon the boat of Isis. This is to signify creation, both of the universe and the world. Osiris also represents the triumph of life over death and note what this triumph is going to bring forth upon the lifeless, barren planet that is shown in the next few scenes…
As the light of day begins to emerge you hear the noise of primitive life (insects) and witness a barren plain, rocks, desert, with essentially nothing growing on it. The sun continues to rise in the east above the horizon and this is meant to signify the birth of the world. Next, the wind begins to blow as the sun continues on its journey. The significance of the wind is to tell you that something was/is happening. Sure enough, in the next scene you see that small green plants make their appearance, and following that another scene shows the development of trees. Don’t overlook that you are being shown rock formations which bear a resemblance to the male reproductive organ, complete with testicles. For those who have some knowledge of the occult you would understand the significance of this. It is a symbol of the generative force of creation. This symbol has other forms too, but the thing to understand at this point is that the sun traveling across the heavens is not meant to signify a day, no, it signifies an age.
As the sun reaches it’s most powerful aspect (zenith) animal life has developed. This is first seen in the form of an animal skull, then of a collection of bones including a humanoid skull. As this ‘age’ wears on you are then shown primitive man in the form of an ape munching on some plants/vegetable matter. This is symbolically important as what you are being shown (and are about to be shown) is that man and the animals lived side by side, neither harming the other. This represents vegetarian man living in a state of innocence. For an interpretation involving the Bible, this state of being is depicted in the book of Genesis as innocent, vegetarian man, living in the garden of Eden. Notice, even when man and the animals were competing for food in this desolate environment no one was harmed, just some grunting, arm waving, etc. As the day (age) wears on a leopard jumps one of the apes but is not shown to actually kill the ape who squeals loudly as he escapes at least once from the cat. The scene blacks out and leaves to your imagination how this encounter might have concluded…
Next comes the watering hole episode. As a group of primitive man has been satisfying their thirst, another group approaches. There was a great amount of screeching, arm waving, and other body gestures before the group which had already taken a drink backed away and the next group moved in. The important thing to take from this scene is that no one was either injured or killed. As the sun begins to set in the west you see the leopard again, this time with a definite kill it has made. Primitive man seeks shelter inside a cave (a cave is representative of things too, but that is another story). Notice that they are all afraid, eyes open, afraid of the dark and the predatory animals that lurk about in it. There is a mother holding and comforting a small child to her breast. The symbology of this is that primitive man is beginning to evolve from apelike beings into humans that could actually think, as they clearly had some fearful thoughts going on inside their little craniums.
To sum up a few points, the birth of the world occurred with the ‘rising sun’ and as it progressed across the heavens, first plants, then animals, emerged. Primitive man was living in a state of innocence, harming nothing. By the time it went down in the west primitive man was showing signs of what it shares in common with much of modern man. That being fear of the dark and the longing for the return of the son, err I mean, sun…
More later, as my back is killing me.
