blakngold
Posts 40
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6/22/2007 6:16 PM
posted awhile ago
Confusing Ending?
Here is were we will discuss the endings that kept us guessing or the ones that we must clear up for others that may have not understood the ending. Let me start off with a film that had an ending that I never found confusing but for some reason everyone i've ever asked about the ending just ended up guessing. I'm talking about the film "The New World" with Christian Bale and Colin Firth. The ending was perfect! Who knows or has absolutely no idea what the last images in the film meant? Any takers?
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Risselada
Posts 1235
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6/23/2007 3:29 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Confusing Ending?
Might it be often the case that people are sometimes looking for a certain kind of meaning in an ending when there really is none? Or at least there is not a defininative meaning of the kind they think must be there? Sometimes endings feel perfect because there is no ending that must be cleared up for others who don't "understand"
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blakngold
Posts 40
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6/24/2007 10:42 PM
posted awhile ago
The Response!
Yes, much of what you're saying is true. The endings in films are like our own lives. We are constantly searching for truth and we want answers. Not everything ends up being crystal clear to us and sometimes we'll never find what we're looking for but in film there's always a reason for the ending they chose, just like our lives. It's obvious we won't always understand an ending and sometimes we might make up our own. Most of the time the writer and director know what their ending is suppose to mean even if no one understands it. Terrence Malick knew exactly what his ending meant in "The New World" and he knew that if the audience truly paid attention to his film, then the ending would make perfect sense. There's not always a meaning to every ending and this is indeed true. Our preconceived notions when going into a film aren't always fulfilled and that's an interesting psychological truth to film. We can all see the same ending and yet we have all seen the same thing from our own perspective which creates a different ending for all of us. One person may expect a happy ending while the other may expect a sad one. What if neither are satisfied because they weren't sure if the ending was a happy or sad one? Does that mean that the film contained no meaning? Now what you are writing about is your philosophy on the viewers perception of the ending of films and that is not the answer to the discussion I began. What I am asking is about the films that seemed confusing but in reality have a perfect reason of why they ended that way. Have you seen "The New World"? If you have then did you understand it or did you guess? If you understand film then you will know after careful analysis if the end of a film could mean anything or if there was a specific message or statement being presented to you! Many endings are debatable, this is true, but then there are endings that involve you to put all of these pieces that you gathered from the film to come up with what the filmmaker intended the audience to understand. Right?
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Risselada
Posts 1235
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6/25/2007 12:24 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: The Response!
Well I actually haven't seen The New World, so I can't really comment specifically in this instance. Once I see it I'll come back to this thread to let you know what my impression was. Thanks.
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tmoney
Posts 181
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7/6/2007 11:32 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: The Response!
 Risselada:Well I actually haven't seen The New World, so I can't really comment specifically in this instance. Once I see it I'll come back to this thread to let you know what my impression was. Thanks.
Oh Rizzo I cannot believe that you have yet to see The New World. When I first saw it I was blown away yet hesitant to leap this level of praise on it, but in retrospect, I can now say this is my favorite film. period. My heart aches just when i think about it.
But you have to see it on a big screen. it won't do the cinematography justice otherwise. and make sure you are not tired when you watch it because some people I talk to refer to it as the most boring film ever. but i was so captivated by it when i first watched it i didn't notice its slow pace. If you like Terrence Malick, this is in my opinion, his best work. And that is saying a lot.
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tmoney
Posts 181
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7/6/2007 11:50 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Confusing Ending?
blakngold: Here is were we will discuss the endings that kept us guessing or the ones that we must clear up for others that may have not understood the ending. Let me start off with a film that had an ending that I never found confusing but for some reason everyone i've ever asked about the ending just ended up guessing. I'm talking about the film "The New World" with Christian Bale and Colin Firth. The ending was perfect! Who knows or has absolutely no idea what the last images in the film meant? Any takers?
Oh there is so much depth to every shot Malick displays. The end of TNW is absolutely breathtaking. Okay let me try and articulate what I interpreted. SPOILER ALERT RIZZO DO NOT READ!!!! I REPEAT SPOILER!!!!! I thought i woud never use the words spoiler alert. Here it goes: We hear from Rolfe of Pocahontas's death. Pocahontas is running in her dress through the gardens. She has been molded into a "civilized westerner". But we then see her standing in a tree. We see her run into a pond, and splash water on herself. It is a reminder of who she was. The film then ends on images of a river, and trees. Nature is a central element in this story. it represents where pocahontas came from, what she left to be with John Smith, and what the english would soon destroy. I think overall the very last shots of nature are allowing the film to "exhale", and allow the viewer to do the same. This film is always SO hard for me to articulate because it is so complex and truely an emotional experience. When the film ended, my roomate and I were both speechless for a little while, then we both looked at each other and simultaneously said "holy sh*t." That was the only way I knew how to articulate how I felt about the film.
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blakngold
Posts 40
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7/7/2007 11:33 PM
posted awhile ago
The Ending!
Even though all of you should know this already, if you haven't seen the ending of "The New World" then STOP READING THIS RIGHT AWAY! Interesting perspective on the ending tmoney. I believe that most of what you're saying is quite true. But you are missing what Pocahontas said to Christian Bale's character which lays out the last images of the film. I've only seen the film once and that was about a year ago so I may be a little rusty on the exact words she said to him. She said,"I will always be like the trees in the forest watching over you and giving you shade; I will always be flowing through you like a river." That's why Terrence Malick decided to put the shot of the trees and the river at the very end because that's who Pocahontas was. Like you were saying, she basically is one with the forest and the trees and river are the main elements of this forest that she represents. She was a calm being just like the forest and she left in a calm way. It's very quiet at the end and all we hear are the rustling trees and the flowing river in the distance. Through every image and sound, she is there. She's now the wind that moves along silently, flowing through the forest which will forever remain who she is.
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tmoney
Posts 181
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7/8/2007 12:51 AM
posted awhile ago
Re: The Ending!
did you watch the theatrical version? because it was cut down from 150 mins to 120 mins for the dvd release and i have only seen it on dvd. and i've seen if 5 times on dvd, but have never heard that quote. when does she say that? because just reading that quote gives me goosebumps and i want to hear her say that!!
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blakngold
Posts 40
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7/8/2007 12:48 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: The Ending!
I saw it on dvd as well! I'd have to watch the film again to be able to tell you when she says that to Christian Bale's character. I know she tells him this after they're married. Watch the film again and just watch the scenes after they are married and are having conversations with eachother. It should be there somewhere. I'm going to try and rent that film again so I will know.
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Risselada
Posts 1235
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7/9/2007 2:07 AM
posted awhile ago
Re: The Response!
tmoney: Risselada: Well I actually haven't seen The New World, so I can't really comment specifically in this instance. Once I see it I'll come back to this thread to let you know what my impression was. Thanks.
Oh Rizzo I cannot believe that you have yet to see The New World. When I first saw it I was blown away yet hesitant to leap this level of praise on it, but in retrospect, I can now say this is my favorite film. period. My heart aches just when i think about it.
But you have to see it on a big screen. it won't do the cinematography justice otherwise. and make sure you are not tired when you watch it because some people I talk to refer to it as the most boring film ever. but i was so captivated by it when i first watched it i didn't notice its slow pace. If you like Terrence Malick, this is in my opinion, his best work. And that is saying a lot.
Oh I know. I've heard you speak the praises of The New World so many times, and I've seen every other Malick movie and like them all. Not sure why I haven't seen it yet. But I'm not sure where I'll be seeing it on the big screen at this point. I can still usually recognize good cinematography even if the screen isn't ginormous though. I had to avoid a lot of your other posts because of the spoiler part. Thanks for the warning. Although usually I don't heed spoilers because I figure if the movie is good enough it won't matter. But you named me specifically, so I heeded the spoiler. My best friend called this movie the closest thing he's ever seen to a poem on the screen. And he is a bit of a poetry snob, so I think he has certain criteria for what is good poetry. Sucks to hear the movie was cut down 30 minutes for the DVD. Is that for real??? That seriously blows.
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