MovieChat Forums > The American (2010) Discussion > The way the ending was filmed was a mist...

The way the ending was filmed was a mistake! (spoilers)

posted 12 years ago by nasdaq311
28 replies | jump to latest

it was not clear to a majority of people who watched this film what happened during the climax of the film !!(the gun backfires, killing her) -- i.e. the gun was rigged to backfire by George clooney's character.

And... the reason a vast majority of viewers did not understand this , is the failure by the director to make clear what happened. This could have been accomplished in a wide variety of ways (slow motion close up of the internal parts malfunction of the gun, for instance) , rather than going for "the understated approach" in a such a pivotal scene

p.s.
before you try to defend how clear the ending was, get a group of people to watch it and write down what they think happened, and see the responses you get.

p.p.s.

I propose they reshoot the scene and fix it like george lucas did to his movies

[–] printsofdarkness 12 years ago

The scene before Jack meets with Mathilde at the rest stop cafe, when he confirms with Pavel on the phone that he is out for good, and is not assured by Pavel's reply, segues to Jack with a worried look and opening the rifle case. That's when he rigs the rifle to backfire.

While this might not be clear enough for a "vast majority of viewers", I appreciated how it was played obliquely. It wasn't a failure by the director to make clear what happened, but a cue to those who were still paying attention by that point.

- You chilled the wine?
- Had to be chilled. Italian cops.

[–] AnonII 11 years ago

Yes, "still paying attention" is the key to this whole sluggish film. And by then, I had no faith in it at all, let alone attention.

[–] pcventures 11 years ago

I thought she was shot by another assassin at first.

"...and Mrs. Taylor sure seems to use a lotta ice, whenever he's away."

[–] salamon90210 12 years ago

It should have been obvious what happened. I dont see how else it could have been interpreted... that the gun exploded because of a malfunction or bad luck? That doesnt make sense

[–] ARabbitsHome 12 years ago

:/ Honestly, I didn't even "see" that until I read your post. Honestly, I thought the old man shot her. I had no idea why and at that point I kind of didn't care. I was quite disappointed in this film. I love Clooney's movies too. I heard this was good.

[–] davannacarter 12 years ago

I felt the same way. I was so disappointed with this movie that I never cared if my unanswered questions were never answered.

[–] AnonII 11 years ago

Totally agree with you and feel same way. I was amazed the movie seemed so predictable...yet, too oblique to make sense or care.

[–] ARabbitsHome 12 years ago

Honestly... :)

[–] billyblackwood 12 years ago

I think the very clear powder burns on her face from the mishap probably gave a better clue lol

[–] mrb27896 11 years ago

yeah, i thought the old dude shot her but i couldnt understand why.

[–] AnonII 11 years ago

Exactly! And "powder burns" visible, billyblackwood ? Really? All I saw was blood.

[–] Cojay8 11 years ago

Don't want to come off as an ass, but I assumed he rigged it immedietly. There is a smalls scene where it shows Jack look at the briefcase and take out the gun. The director made it pretty obvious he was up to something. He had also been working for Pavel for quite sometime, we know this by dialogue shared earlier on "you used to know that". So I assume that he had known that if someone "wants out" they are basically committing suicide. I wouldn't be surprised if he did that knowing that they would come after him and his only true way out was to kill both Pavel and the other chick.

[–] kinsayder 11 years ago

When we see him remove the gun from the case, my assumption was that he had misaligned the sights so that the assassin would miss her aim. Then when we see Clooney and the prostitute together at the procession with the assassin taking aim at him, I was fully expecting the bullet to miss him and hit the girl. So the backfire was a surprise, but it was immediately obvious (to me) what had happened.

It does seem very careless of the assassin not to have checked the weapon, though, given that she knew Clooney was suspicious of her (the scene at the cafe).

[–] AnonII 11 years ago

"I propose they reshoot the scene..."

...But then, it just might "backfire." Again.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ejc15 11 years ago

Until reading this thread I did not get the end. I had the following questions:

Was Clooney the intial target.
Why did the old man shoot her if the old man wanted Clooney dead.
If the old man did not shoot her, then who did.

It was obvious the old man wanted Clooney dead, and that Clooney knew it. They just never made it clear in anyway, even hindsight, that Clooney had rigged the gun to what it did.

I still want to know if Clooney was the intital target or did he become one once he wanted out.

[–] Sidewindr 9 years ago

It was not clear if he was the initial target or not and up to the viewer to make their own interpretation.

[–] Sidewindr 9 years ago

The mercury filled bullets were not what caused the gun to explode.. The mercury was used to create explosive bullets, the woman assassin specifically asked for them when they met the second time at the stream for the test firing and Jack asked her if mercury would do. He did something else to the mechanism or barrel which caused the breach to explode in her face.