I recently saw this, and I'm not sure if I have the right grasp on what happened at the end.
Was Fairfax trying to bait Walker into getting shot?
The reason I ask is because he told his sniper to "Leave it" in reference to the package that was supposedly full of money.
Did he say that because he knew there wasn't any money in it or could it be because he knew Walker might come out for it once he saw them leave the island.
Great film, btw
[deleted]
I think he left it there because as he said earlier "he is a man of his word". Also he wanted Walker to work for him, so he wasn't interested in killing him. Plus the sniper was already down there, so who would kill him ?
Plus i think i may have poopied on myself.
I saw this movie when it first came out and I'm getting ready to buy it on ebay. If I remember correctly, the feeling that I had about the end of the movie was that the title was perfect! The whole plot line ended making 'no point'. There was no point to the movie. I always felt that was the reason it was named like that. Of course, after I watch it again, looking at it through eyes that have seen many things, and taking advantage of the wisdom I have acquired over the years, I might just realize that I came up with that initial feeling/interpretation because I was suffering from rectal-cranial inversion.
shareI felt that the Sniper, as well as Fairfax, was quite taken with Walker and that he himself and was looking forward to meeting him. They probably both assumed that Walker would come down and join them, judging by the harsh reaction of Fairfax when Walker didn't come down and simply because the sniper exposed himself. Therefore, Fairfax left Walker the money out of respect for his moxie and maybe because he knew that Walker could be holding a gun on the two of them... Point Blank.
shareYost/Fairfax told the sniper to "leave it" because there was nothing in the package, like the bundle of paper at the L.A. River when Yost/Fairfax's sniper killed Carter and Stegman. Why would Yost/Fairfax leave $93,000 just sitting there? He wouldn't have.
If Walker had gone for the package, the sniper would have killed him. Part of the obvious point (no pun intended) of "Point Blank" is that there is no honor among criminals, despite Yost/Fairfax's statement that he is "a man of his word." Yeah. Right. Walker had learned his lesson about trust the hard way, and wasn't going to chance it -- which is why he faded back into the shadows.
Of course, Yost/Fairfax COULD have actually been leaving Walker his $93,000 out of "respect for his moxie," as another poster suggested -- or for Walker's killing Reese and, through the dogged pursuit of his money, drawing Carter, Stegman and Brewster out so that Yost/Fairfax could have them killed, ridding his "Organization" of four problems. Doubtful.
Walker, and his lust for revenge and the $93,000 he believed was owed him was being "used" throughout the entire film -- and the ending reveals it was by Yost/Fairfax.
If the money wasn't there, then what was the point of the whole story? Walker just walks away empty handed after all that revenge? He could have shoot Fairfax and the sniper, but he didn't? He knew the money was there, because he knew that Fairfax wanted him to work for him. It wouldn't help to convince Walker to work for him if the money wasn't there (if he had come down).
I like that they left that to be figured out.
The money was definitely there. Fairfax would have been a fool not to pay Walker. He knew how far Walker was prepared to go to get paid. I think he called Walker down to offer him some more work. Walker was not interested and waited for Fairfax to leave before collecting what was rightfully his.
shareMy take on this is that the money was left there at the end because, in the end, the money wasn't important. The film was in fact about 'honour among thieves'. Fairfax finally behaved honourably and that was all Walker was looking for. The hitman had the same code, hence his admiration for Walker.
Incidentally, does Lee Marvin's character actually kill anyone in this film? Mal seemed to fall from the roof during a struggle, Walker's wife topped herself, Carter was shot by his own hitman, Brewster was killed by Yost's.
I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.
No, Walker doesn't kill anyone in the film. Jon Boorman makes that point very clear in the commentary on the DVD.
shareIncidentally, does Lee Marvin's character actually kill anyone in this film? Mal seemed to fall from the roof during a struggle, Walker's wife topped herself, Carter was shot by his own hitman, Brewster was killed by Yost's.
Some have interpreted the film as Walker is some sort of a revenant having returned from the dead. That is why he did not take the money.
Good point, Walker never directly slays anyone.
Hm, that's interesting. I actually kept waiting for it to be revealed that he was dead, or dying in the cell where reese shot him, and that the film was his mind trying to give him some sense of justice. At the beginning he staggers once he gets up and keeps wondering if it's a dream. The guy digging graves, the woman saying "You really did die on alcatraz." His disconnected flash backs, etc. Something to consider!
shareWouldn't a ghost also have a singular determination to finish unfinished business, so as to go to sleep finally?
"Wouldn't a ghost also have a singular determination to finish unfinished business, so as to go to sleep finally?"
Yes - in my experience, ghosts like that sort of thing. Over-rated and quite pompously made, this film: The Outfit is much superior.
My take on it was that in fact, there was no money in the package because it was a fictional tale and not neccesary since it was never unwrapped in the movie. But really, they left the package because they didn't want to get blown away by Walker later on, he's a killer umong killers. I liked Marvin and the rest of the cast of the Killers so much better. Bad Ron Reagan, C'mon! Angie hung out a high rise window upside down, C'mon! Cassevettes, C'mon! The Killers is so cool, it's amazing that it was supposed to be a TV movie when it was made. If you have not seen it and enjoyed Point Blank (good movie but a little to artsy for me with that ending), rent it today, and also listen to the extra's on the disc of Seagal's notes, great stuff!
shareI would say that the package actually contained the money, But fairfax could not take that money as it still belonged to the Organization. And in part also belonged to lee Marvin and fairfax was of the belief that he would either be killed by one or the other if he took it
Fairfax's need was to Kill all members of his group, possibly restarting again with Lee Marvin as the main muscle ( Yet Fairfax's impression of Lee's Character was floored in that he wasn't a killer, more a survivor who's initial need was to regain the money that he had been cheated out of and also as revenge )
Yet the closer he ( lee ) actually gets to the money, the more he realizes the less chance he will ever get to it?, The Organization would never allow him to live if he stole from them, and each time he tries he increases his chance of getting killed
Perhaps what drove lee the most was not actually the money or revenge, but the betrayal he had suffered being shot by his best friend, left for dead, with his girlfriend ( no longer loving him ) stolen and her death ( wether from him or his ex partners actions )
The Film slowly repeats actions from the past wether they be Beatings, Death or sex, and it is this perhaps that lee slowly begins to accept or question
K