planned or coincidence?


first off, it's great to find this site after 'you know who' closed their boards. Regarding the movie: as has happened before, the appreciation of the movie greatly increases after reading people's comments here. There seems to be a valid argument for both the 'he imagined most/all of it' vs. 'it really happened' theories. And I suppose that's what makes Coppola a genius, because if he went in beforehand with the idea "I'm going to leave it totally up to the viewer", he had to weave a believable, logical thriller *and* a study of a person probably losing grasp on reality at the same time. For those who strongly push the 'it all happened' theory and deride the other theory: as a pure thriller movie it really wasn't that special, even with the twist based on the inflected "us". But as a combo movie, it moves to another level.


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still confused

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Both murder plots were just imagined by Gene's character, Mitch.

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you can't say that for certain with this movie.

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Yeah, I can. There's no bug in his house and the plot to murder Duvall was absolutely absurd. Lure a guy to a hotel room in order to kill him and then stage a car accident somewhere else? No way, too ridiculous to be ambiguous. The story is about a guy who gets completely paranoid because of guilt and because he has no life.

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i think it is up for debate. it has been debated for nearly 50 years.

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Couldn't disagree more. I think some people just don't like the idea that Gene is just a loonie.

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