blakngold
Posts 40
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6/7/2007 8:10 PM
posted awhile ago
What are your favorite endings?
Hello to whoever has stumbled upon this group in some way or another. I've listed some of my favorite endings in film that have left quite an impact on me in some way. Now it's your turn. I want to know your favorite endings and why and how they have made it to your favorites. Now you must really think back on all of those films that struck you hard on the last frame and left you speechless or in some cases breathless. Now I will end this the way it should end. Let's begin the discussion of greatest endings throughout film history. GO!
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quint
Posts 94
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6/8/2007 12:35 AM
posted awhile ago
Re: What are your favorite endings?
I don't know that these are my favorite endings, but they did surprise me. All are Sci Fi:
A Boy and His Dog. As to why, well, last minute taboos always surprise me.
A more obscure one would be Ikarie XB-1. This is the opposite sort of ending where I am surprised by a charming bit of humanity I had not expected.
The Thing. And here is the synthesis. Human or not human? Enigma sometimes works as resolution.
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Jakegittes1
Posts 5
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6/8/2007 12:33 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: What are your favorite endings?
Off the top of my head here are a few: SPOILERS ABOUND The Usual Suspects - Keyser Soze unfolding his body and walking into Kobayashi's car. Touch of Evil - the guy was guilty all along ("he was some man") The Seven Samurai - "it was the farmers who won" When I return, I should have a few that (and you know what I mean, ladies and germs) turn your head around (redeeming another otherwise mediocre film).
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JimBell
Posts 94
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6/8/2007 11:07 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: What are your favorite endings?
Although I have difficulty remember the endings of a lot of films that I have not seen recently, I liked the following: 1. The Human Stain--after the couple in love die happily (so to speak), you'd think the movie was over, especially since it opened with the death scene. But there is an additional scene where the novelist goes out onto the ice in the New England winter where the woman's ex-husband (and murderer) is fishing all alone. The way the killer handles the auger, and talks of the icy depths, and leans toward the author creates a lasting feeling of menace which is totally appropriate for the movie. 2. The Prestige--what the guy was actually going through when he was locked into the tank of water. . . ! 3. Casablanca--"the start of a beautiful friendship"--you gotta love that sense of humour and comraderie under miserable conditions. 4. Cast Away--the ending is not that Tom Hanks survives and returns to civilization but rather how he sees civilization through new, awakened, and critical eyes. 5. Turtles Can Fly--The young refugee rag-a-muffins are always excited to make the best of the next messy war situation, but when the American troops roll in, our hero, young Satellite, turns his back. He has already, as a kid, seen too much of the rape and plunder of war. 6. Slaughterhouse-Five--After the Allies carpet bombed Germany's city of the arts (Dresden), the movie ends with the cry of a new born baby, born to Billy Pilgrim and Montana Wildhack on the planet Tralfalmadore--a wonderful sound in a location as bizarre as World War II Dresden.
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joem18b
Posts 587
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6/9/2007 12:41 AM
posted awhile ago
Re: What are your favorite endings?
I was watching Nuovo Cinema Paradiso last night. Halfway through, there is a scene in the theater where a film is ending and everyone is in tears. One fellow is reciting the lines along with the film. Finally, "FINE" appears on the screen and I discovered that I had shed a few tears myself. So that's my first ending.
And then at the end of Paradiso, Salvatore, back in Rome, is watching the film left to him by Alfredo. He's smiling and crying as the montage of kisses clipped from all the movies that played throughout his youth are displayed in front of him. More tears! Two great endings in one movie.
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BigJeffLebowski
Posts 17
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6/9/2007 1:03 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: What are your favorite endings?
I've always felt that Stanley Kubrick gave us some of the best film endings ever. Paths of Glory's war weary soldiers brought to tears by a song, Dr. Strangelove's "I can walk!" / bomb ride / explosion montage, 2001's star child, Clockwork Orange's "I was cured, all right," The Shining's cryptic photograph, Full Metal Jacket's sing-along to the Mickey Mouse Club theme; each and every one a classic. Even Nicole Kidman's final insistence to Tom Cruise at the end of Eyes Wide Shut is brilliant on its own smaller scale. I'd also maintain that if Spielberg had filmed Kubrick's original ending for AI (the boy is trapped underwater, feet away from the statue for eternity) it would have saved that film. Instead of turning it into a Pinocchio fable, Spielberg should have recognized the power of Kubrick's vision: the boy is a robot with human emotions, and will therefore not only feel pain and sorrow for having come so close and yet failed, but will feel it eternally, since he will never die. It's a tragic, and affecting ending that would have been far more rewarding -- even if it is a bit of a downer.
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mitch-4
Posts 10
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6/9/2007 5:28 PM
posted awhile ago
Nights of Cabiria Re: What are your favorite endings?
(Spoiler --- but I guess this whole discussion thread and even group imples spoilers...) The end of Fellini's Nights of Cabiria is unsurpassed. Somewhere on spout there may be a list of top 5 closeups, and I ought to go find that and list the final shots of Giulietta Masinatrudgng along that miserable road, having lost everything, everything, and the teenagers on their vespas weave around and start playing a guitar and singing, and somehow, from somewhere in her soul, Cabiria starts to smile She smiles! Where, o where, can that be coming from? There's no answer to her practical disaster, it isn't a deus ex machina, yet somehow it has trned around and the ending is upbeat, we believe again in hope and possibility.
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blakngold
Posts 40
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6/9/2007 6:04 PM
posted awhile ago
Cinema Paradiso
Of Course, how could I have left out Cinema Paradiso and it's simply perfect ending. I never thought of the film having two endings. Although there are two different versions of the film and both of them are great. You know it's interesting how some of these films use music so perfectly to match the last scene and the entire film of course. With Ennio Morricone's score for the final scene in "Cinema Paradiso", there's a much deeper power that many are unaware of because they get so caught up in the story that all they want to see is what happens at the end. Music has worked magic in film and especially how they are used for the endings. In older hollywood films they would end with a big bang and then have "The End" flash onto the screen. If you look at older japanese films, most end in a sort of subtle way and basically it's like they are leaving the audience in a peaceful manner. Then in horror films, you are usually left with an uneasy feeling like not everything is all right even though the movie is over. Hollywood brings happy endings to the public whereas independent films don't usually deliver these happy endings. But what's interesting is when a film brings a happy and a sad ending to the audience. That's exactly what "Cinema Paradiso" did and they placed that scene at the perfect time, at the end.
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blakngold
Posts 40
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6/9/2007 6:34 PM
posted awhile ago
JeffLebowski
Ah yes, Kubrick's endings. The only ending I can remember from any of his films was 2001:A Space Odyssey. That ending is still swirling around in my head, teasing me and telling me that the ending is all the mysteries of life and the psychology of everything. That is one of the most debated endings of all time and it's still new everytime you see it. About Speilberg and his version of A.I. Now even though i've never seen Kubrick's A.I., I know that it probably contained the better ending of the two. But you must take into consideration what Spielberg always says about movies. He says,"Make a movie that everyone wants to see and one that everyone wants to know what happens next." That being said, he knows what the majority of people want in movies. They don't want a "non-happy ending" unless it's a true story that everyone knows about, such as "Schindler's List". If he ended it the way Kubrick did, do you think the movie would have been as successful as it is? I'm not saying that he only uses "hollywood happy endings" in his films but he knows that he can't end any of his films with a "downer" because he's very aware that most people that go to the movie theaters want to be satisfied with at least a minor happy ending. I think that the movies would be less popular if Hollywood mostly came out with sad endings and they might contain a much more poignant ending to many of their films,but because of all this it would probably create a much darker atmosphere for the theaters and less enthusiasm about wanting to see the next depressing movie. I love sad movies but then again I don't have a large crowd standing beside me for this type of love. They're usually in the theater next to me. You know what I mean?
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joem18b
Posts 587
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6/9/2007 8:29 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: JeffLebowski
I'm too lazy to try and prove it, but I'm willing to bet that more great movies have sad endings than happy ones. Brief Encounter and Easy Rider immediately pop into my head. Robert Towne wanted Chinatown to have a happy ending. Thank goodness he didn't get his way. 28 Days Later has both happy and sad endings on the dvd. I was just talking to my son about the ending of 2001. I was making a list of baby movies and wanted to include it because of the fetus at the end. He informed me that it was purely symbolic and that Arthur Clarke hated it. Oh well. Back in the 50s, it seemed like every other B sci fi movie ended with "The End... of the beginning?" or "The beginning of... The End...?" Speaking of Ennio Morricone, I'd like to tip my hat to the ending of Once Upon a Time in the West. The plot threads are tied up. Jason Robards has expired (cut out of the US drive-in version. boo.). The camera pulls back, up, back and we see the new town being built, the workers on the railroad, Claudia Cardinale bringing out water to them, and the symphonic Morricone music soaring. wow.
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