gothere
Posts 39
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6/15/2006 9:09 PM
posted awhile ago
Why do so many films end poorly?
One test of a truly great film is to examine its ending. It's said that the hardest part about painting is knowing when to stop. We all know how most big budget films rely on formulaic storylines and "Hollywood" endings. But even among good films, a promising start looses its value when the film goes nowhere. Too often, they go on too long, meander aimlessly, or just seem unresolved. I don't mean wrapped in a nice little bow, with no questions remaining. I mean where the last five mintues are as compelling as the first – hopefully even more.
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billhr
Posts 55
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6/18/2006 9:09 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Why do so many films end poorly?
I love the image for this group. From "Barton Fink" right?...a movie with a very questionable ending.
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paul
Posts 251
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6/19/2006 10:59 AM
posted awhile ago
Re: Why do so many films end poorly?
I think the end of the film is where a filmmaker either stays the
course of a story they've begun, or chickens out and goes for a sure
thing. It's where the mettle is tested. A slow film with a truly great ending (Four Eyes Monsters), is worth it's weight in gold. A film with a great start and a stock ending (Batman Begins) can be great, but leaves me feeling like I just spent two hours with a friend who should go back to rehab.
I noticed Goodfellas in the best endings list. When Henry Hill stands up in court and addresses the audience with the "We had it all. We were like movie stars with muscle," monologue, it's such a break in convention. It really turns the film on its ear and leaves the audience to sort through what they've just seen. Hill approaches the audience and confesses, "Yes, I did a lot of bad things. But can't you see why? Can't you relate a little bit?" Most gangster films don't ask you to relate with the bad guy, but Hill does.
The end of Goodfellas, although a drastic break in convention, fits the story Scorsese began. However, Batman Begins started as a very personal journey we're on with Bruce Wayne, then derails into Batman saving the city, which is very impersonal. The point of an ending is to finish telling a story. Where Batman Begins went wrong was when the ending was used to wrap up a story in a tidy box. Finishing a story and wrapping it up are two different things altogether.
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gothere
Posts 39
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6/19/2006 10:02 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Why do so many films end poorly?
Thanks Paul. I added a new list called Then it went terribly wrong and added Batman Begins.
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Kami
Posts 141
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6/21/2006 10:48 AM
posted awhile ago
Re: Why do so many films end poorly?
Here's a horrible ending for you, "A History of Violence"
What in the heck were they thinking? It was bizarre. So anti-climatic.
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gothere
Posts 39
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6/21/2006 8:52 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Why do so many films end poorly?
Bizarre indeed, but in keeping with the rest of the film. It's true that it simply ended without final resolution, but personally I didn't mind it upon first viewing. It leaves one wondering what might happen next, which sometimes is okay with me.
On the other hand, I do think it was one of those films, like many less successful films, which seem to have been conceived in "broad strokes" without a sense of where it might lead. It's as if the premise for the film can make it worthwhile, without a story per se. Like, What if we made Danny De Vito and Arnold Schwarzenegger Twins, or some other Player-esque plot. So in that sense, I see your point. Perhaps Cronenberg was so enamored with the idea of violence being just beneath the surface, and the wonderful tension of the situation depicted in the film, that once we knew the truth and the "bad guys" were taken care of there was far less attention to a satisfactory conclusion.
It begged to be a parable, but there was no lesson.
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gothere
Posts 39
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6/21/2006 8:59 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Why do so many films end poorly?
To billhr's question above.... Yep, the group image is from Barton Fink. A silly beach picture in Fink's apartment suggests a fantasy which manifests itself at the end of the film.
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rotgelbblau
Posts 1
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6/25/2006 3:56 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Why do so many films end poorly?
What about films that start a whole new story in the last ten minutes? Like "In the Mood for Love"? It's so weird that I can't even tell whether the ending is good or bad.
And second question: Are there bad films with good endings? Like "Broken flowers"? A film full of cliche characters I found rather boring. But with an open ending that left me somehow reconciled.
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Jenn
Posts 61
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6/25/2006 4:17 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Why do so many films end poorly?
It's sort of like the first and last thing you say... make it good, because that's what most people will remember. I love films that end on a curious note, one where all the ribbons aren't tied and I get to piece them together on my way home. Happy endings provide closure and leave no anxiety. Would we be so happy if Hollywood chose not to let the heroine live all the time, or if the boy didn't always get the girl?
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gothere
Posts 39
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7/11/2006 9:39 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Why do so many films end poorly?
Does a great ending justify the rest of the film being poor?
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