Help--The End Scene With Rampling Was Confusing
Ok, colleagues, did the Irish Hitman kill her? It looked as if she had blood on her neck and upper chest, but I wasn't sure. Your thoughts would be appreciated.
shareHere's what I saw and what I thought of the film's ending (and yes, I watched the ending more than once).
It's still daylight when Helen returns to her home. It's dark when Will is shown driving the car away from the carwash behind the audio of the phone conversation when he tells her he'll be there in three hours.
It's daylight when Helen is sitting on the stairs with the hitman. That she's wearing her coat suggests that she was ready to leave with Will when she opened her door. There's no blood on her or the wall, she's still breathing, and he's just holding the gun, not pointing it at her or the door.
I think Will was seeking a way to revenge his brother without returning to his old life. It required him to appear to have returned to his old life, hence the barber, the suit, the car. He would finish his business w/Boad, pick up Helen, and leave all that behind.
His plan was not to kill Boad but to ruin Boads life with the fear that Will could return at any moment to kill him. When his anger overcame him and he went back and killed Boad, he could no longer face Helen and left without her. She and the hitman wait through the long night but he never arrives. Is Helen glad that he's not murdered by the hitman? Devastated that he's abandoned her? Exhausted with fear? I think her expression says all those things.
Thanks - that's a great explanation.
shareI thought the hitman had killed her while waiting for Will.Although your explanation seems plausible and welll thought out.
I think it is vague on whether Will will return to his old life, although he didn't seem intent on it.
Anyone know what the director says about it?
Just watched this movie late last night and I know I need to watch it again before sending it back to Netflix. Do like that explanation of the ending though. Couldn't figure why Frank Turner had to be it in at all. Waited through most of the movie for Will to avenge what happened to his brother.
Also agree with the comment.....there are a lot of unanswered questions in this movie.
Clive looks great with the longer hair and fuzz on the face. I didn't even realize that was him at first.....the walk gave him away to me.
Could be a much better movie with a little more meat to it.
I agree that the explanation of the ending was a good one, it made me think of a couple things I did not see. I also agree that turner didn't need to be in the movie at all. I disagree that Clive Owens looks good with facial hair. That man is too good looking to be hiding behind a lumberjack mask. Anyway. I think the point in including Turner was to make it suspenseful(sp?) since the underlying plot itself was not. I was really angry when I saw the ending. The first five to ten minutes after the movie was full of expletives and wonder on why I had rented this suck ass film. But then I thought about it and realized the film ended exactly the way it should have. The movie was about the rape and suicide of Davey and that situation's resolution, not the return of Gangsta Will. The topic is one that was somber and needed a little something to keep the viewer interested- the chance of watching Will kill the crap out of some people kept me going. But, of course, it never got there because it was not what was meant to happen. Will found out about his brother's suicide and wanted to discover why he did it and avenge it. Thats what he did. He found out why Davey killed himself, found the person responsible, and got his revenge. The ending was a great way to leave you hanging, wondering what happened next. It still ticked me off though. And I wish he hadn't of shot the dog, dammit.
shareThis whole thread made me appreciate the movie much more.....
However it wouldve been infinitely more satisfying and entertaining if it'd become a badass revenge flick. I do respect the director for doing something different. But in the end it clearly left a sour taste in most viewers' mouths...
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If Will was an intelligent gangster with a "heart of gold", he would never allow his feelings to involve putting additional innocent people's lives in danger.
The call to the woman was a set-up. It allowed him to get close to Boad without having to manuever. He used her, knowing all along that nothing would happen.
He left in the same way and manner that he scared Boad with.
If anything happened to his brother's friend, or the woman, he made it plainly clear through his actions that he would have the ability to come back at any time and end their lives as well.
Now they have to live with the fact that if they hurt someone else he loves, he'll catch them when they least expect it.
Bravo! well said! I never thought of that - and now I like the movie even more! thanks! (yeah, I know, that's a lot of exclamation points)
shareSPOILERS*******
Thanks for the explanation Odessa! I was mystified by the end and a bit angry. I hate those unresolved, ambiguous endings. I didn't realize that so many hours had passed between the time Clive said he was going to pick up Helen. At least 12 hours maybe? Anyway, now that I think of it he was going to pick her up at night and the scene on the stairs was during the day, I think.
I think you're right with your explanation of the ending - but we shouldn't have to watch it 2 or 3 times just to figure out what we are seeing. I think it was a very effective ending, it just wasn't obvious if Helen was dead or alive, and the scene came and went too suddenly after the excitement for us to realise the significance
shareNice one I never picked that up!! I am glad he survived!! The hitman obviously waited with Helen through the night!! Will's original intention was to come back in three hours for her (or perhaps he knew by her weird behaviour that she betrayed him and thus mis directed her AND HER BLANK REACTION SHOWS SHE KNEW THIS and perhaps was feeling guilty about this!!)
Its definetly early morning and way past the three hour deadline and he is by the sea so perhaps he is going abroad as his original intention was when he saw Davey's ghost!!
The thing is, that her damn face is so frigid that you just don't know if she's dead or not... I think she was born dead!
shareThanks for the explanation. That puts a lot of things in perspective. I liked the tone and pacing of this movie and Will's character, but hate the ending. A more interesting approach would have been to explore Will's character a bit deeper. What caused his 'breakdown' and eventual decision to leave town? I kept thinking a similar tragedy could have happened to another family member or Charlotte Rampling's character to push Will to abandon his old lifestyle, and now another tragedy drags him back in. But nothing came of it unfortunately.
shareI believe his explanation for his own breakdown was that he realized he had wasted his life being a gangster. In the end we see that he lived a lavish life as a gangster but clearly that is not what he wanted to be remembered for...when he is dead. Not much is remembered of the dead.
sharei second that emotion odessas-1. Just posted an almost identical interpretation on another thread.
Good analysis. One wrinkle I'd like to add.
The whole film is about Will deciding if he's going to go back to who he used to be, whether his brother's death is going to make him a gangster again.
It seems as though it has. He tells Helen to pack her things because he's about to retake London and he doesn't want her to be hurt b/c of him.
When he goes to kill Boad he has every intention of killing him and resuming his reign as a gangster. He tells Boad he will kill him eventually, meaning he is intent on staying in London. But then he makes the decision to split the difference. He can be an ordinary person and still kill his brother's rapist. It doesn't mean he has to resume the life he doesn't want. The film applauds that decision by showing that if he did resume his old life, that he would have been killed by the hitman waiting at Helen's house. At the end he's decided to go away again and, as he said to Helen previously, grieve.
(btw, Helen is assuredly alive when last seen)
Thank you very much, I couldn't have put it better myself.
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