Who was "John" in the 2004 film Immortal?

Question

Who or what was "John" in the 2004 film Immortal? He acted as a special consort or guardian of the main character Jill, but what was his purpose for acting as Jill's guardian?

Answer 1

In interviews, the film's director described John as

"a dreamlike smuggler, very Tarkovskian"

_{(Elle est soutenue dans sa quête par une femme médecin interprétée par la sublime Charlotte Rampling et par un certain John, un passeur onirique, très tarkovskien.)}

_{^{ENKI BILAL: VARIATION SUR LE MÊME THÈME - INTERVIEW CINEMA}}

and

"For me, John, in Immortal, is also this character of smuggler found in Stalker."

_{C’est une coïncidence, mais je préfère ces comparaisons là de toute façon. Ca ou Tarkovski par exemple qui sont des influences pour moi. Tu sais, « Avalon » a aussi à voir avec le Stalker de Tarkovski finalement. Pour moi, John, dans Immortel, c’est aussi ce personnage de passeur qu’on retrouve dans Stalker. Puis c’est plein d’autres références aussi : Les ailes du désir, Metropolis, Brazil ou encore Blade Runner, tout ça est inter-pénétrant. C’est ça la SF ! Si on fait autre chose, si on élimine ces codes ce n’est plus de la SF.}

_{^{L'interview Enki Bilal}}

Assuming we take this at face value, this would strongly imply that there is no explanation for his actions (or even his existence) other than a desire on the part of the filmmaker to inject mystery.

Answer 2

Being such an obscure and foreign film, there aren't a lot of details available. It's also very loosely based off a set of graphic novels by the director, so there is no direct relation to the character in the movie compared to the books.

It would seem that John is just a cosmic benefactor trying to protect and guide Jill through her journey.

Answer 3

As he appeared in the 2004 film "Immortal," there are several implications that John was an advanced extraterrestrial or interdimensional entity who had been empowered and instructed by the god Horus (outside of the storyline) to genetically fabricate Jill and deliver her to Earth for the express purpose of breeding with Horus. How John fabricated Jill is never explained, but it is obvious that he is her guardian, providing her with therapeutic drugs to complete her physical development (she's only 3 months old in the movie and is in a constant state of bodily maturation). Yes, John was immortal, just as Jill and Nikopol were immortal; but all three were only made temporarily immortal by Horus for as long as required to complete the reproductive mission. Once John's duties were completed, his immortality expired and he died/vanished/returned to his own dimension. Jill and Nikopol retained their immortality until they were safely out of the Intrusion Zone, whereupon Nikopol again became mortal, and Jill became wholly human to bear the child of Horus.