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I don't understand what happened at the end?!

posted 13 years ago by WWu777
11 replies | jump to latest

*** SPOILERS ***

I don't get what happened at the end. The whole film dragged with boring scenes and dialogue. I couldn't wait for it to end. Then at the end, there is one scary scene where a midget dressed in red stabs Donald Sutherland. WTF?

Who was that little red riding hood? And why was Sutherland chasing her? And how does it connect with the rest of the film, which was very noneventful?

Also, when that old dwarf lady turned around, she was far away from Sutherland. How did she suddenly get so close to him and why didn't he block the knife? It should have been easy to do so.

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[–] deliaw1946 13 years ago

WWu777, he thought he was seeing the dead daughter, Christine, who had a red raincoat ("mac" in Britain) on when she died. Don't forget, there was a killer in Venice. I think th dwarf was the killer and as he died, I feel it all became clear to him, sadly too late. Hopefully, others on this board will also contribute. Many ways to read this haunting film.

[–] bushuangaa 13 years ago

oh yes I can understand your frustration. the storytelling is so long and boring the audience as us generally have problem on focusing on the plot. the midget seems to be the killing demon.

[–] Ithilgore 13 years ago

Kids.

I don't have to listen to these wild allegations!

[–] ryanwhittaker666 13 years ago

WWu777 I did some research and her name is actually Mary Antoniou, she is related to your family on you fathers side and she is coming to see you while you sleep on the evening of 18th May 2012. Just letting you know

I had a conversation with someone today that died 3 years ago

[–] kobong 13 years ago

Sounds like serious business.

[–] somesunnyday 13 years ago

See skip run, see skip jump....you have some reading and comprehension skills to hone.... or maybe just go back to watching Final Destination

[–] PrawoJazdy 12 years ago

I'm pretty up on artsey stuff, but I too came here to read people's thoughts on the ending.

Very, very strange. But very creepy.

That dwarf lady really gives everyone the willies!

[–] kobrakai-1 12 years ago

Essentially throughout the movie there's moments of discussion about there being a killer in Venice during John and Laura's stay there. John ends up chasing the dwarf in red because despite his disbelief in what Heather (the blind psychic) tells his wife, these sightings give him a shred of hope that his daughter is still alive, since Christine had died in a red raincoat just like the dwarf's (and he even says directly at one point in the film that 'seeing is believing').

This is why the second half of the film is dominated by John searching for his wife; he swears up and down that he sees the two sisters on a boat in Venice along with Laura, despite Laura having just left on a plane for London hours ago, but what he doesn't realize is that just like Heather, he also has psychic abilities- or at least to some extent. When he sees the boat with Laura and the two sisters on it, he doesn't realize that he's looking into the future and seeing what his wife is going to be going through following his death (that was my interpretation from it anyway; someone can feel free to correct me on that since I'm still fresh from watching it).

And so it's not until at the last moment when he's finally done chasing this mystery figure in the red raincoat that he gets a vision that warns him that he's just made a terrible mistake- and as far as him not blocking the knife? Easily could have just been mere shock and being paralyzed with fear. I can't blame him- I just watched this tonight for the first time and that dwarf lady legit frightened me. Wasn't expecting that.

I can understand a lot of the clues in this film going over people's heads, but there really is a lot more to the 'boring scenes and dialogue' if you pay attention and look at the big picture when it's all said and done.

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[–] fishboy22 12 years ago

I think you nailed it. Thanks for connecting the dots for me re: the boat funeral scene. I get it now, that's how John's psychic abilities are hinted at and then confirmed.

So basically John's "tragic flaw" was that he didn't heed Heather's warning, connect that warning to his premonition of his own death, and then get the hell out of Venice.

I also think there might be something to the fact that the sisters seem to indicate that one or both of them lost a child. Perhaps this kind of traumatic experience, which John and the sisters both share, is what gave them their psychic abilities in the first place? Note that John's first premonition - a cut to the image of his son Johnny running toward the house - seems to come to him at the exact moment his daughter Christine is drowning.

[–] josebut8 12 years ago

Yes, John is psychic and is literally told so by one of the sisters (in the story, quite directly). He chooses to deny this or his rational mind (he's British in the story, natch) simply cannot accept it. In the story, John thinks the "figure in red" is a terrified little girl running from some abuser and he goes into the house to save her, never for a moment thinking she's the killer (or his daughter for that matter). It is Roeg's film that develops the ideas of the daughter/dwarf/figure in red being intertwined in the past and present (and future).
In both versions, John goes into a sort of shock when he realizes the figure in red is not a little girl but a dwarf. In the story, she throws the knife at him and it lodges in his neck. This is one of the few movie deaths that seem horribly real to me...not like an actor pretending to die...but someone actually dying. I'd say that's pretty powerful filmmaking.
But back to the issue of "boring". This film is deliberately slow paced. It is a movie more concerned with creating a mood and a creepy atmosphere than providing the viewer with non-stop thrills. You have to pay attention to it, focus on it...it requires you to think. What could be more creepy than a murderer on the loose in off-season Venice? A city that's pretty damn creepy in the on-season? The only off notes are the 70's fashions and hair styles. A particularly awful time for style across the boards and it has cripplingly dated many films from the period. Even The Exorcist is a little less scary now because you're snickering at the awful clothes.

[–] xzz66663 12 years ago

I think pretty much everyone will agree with the late Roger Ebert that the identity of the dwarf psycho killer is not important. What's important are the message and the theme -- the grief, and nothing is what is seems...etc.
And if I have to provide an elucidation on her identity, I would say that the killer is Death personified. If you cannot let go of the loss of your love one, like John, you will meet your end through the knife of Death. You keep chasing after the dead, and you will end up becoming one yourself.
Wiki suggests that the dwarf killer might be a doppelganger -- of his daughter. This theory is also valid. The point is to see the killer as a metaphysical, allegorical figure. She is not human. She is not of this mortal realm. And that's why she can just move across a short distance within a micro second. That's why John cannot defend himself -- besides the shock that prevents him from doing so. For how can you fight against something as great as fate?