SPOILER AHEAD!
If the ending was meant to depict that the protagonist (John) died because he couldn't climb out of the pit he dug, IT'S RIDICULOUS.
1) The shovel was within reach. He could use it to form a kind of dirt ramp.
2) Even without the shovel, he could use his left (uninjured) hand to pull dirt away from the side of the pit, forming a ramp.
3) He could attempt to climb up on the girl's body.
A knife wound maybe would have clarified the end scene, but a finger? But it was still Rockwell, so I get the part of just giving up. But if were me the stench of the corpse the next day would have me saying "OK this is not working, gotta go"
sharei think he just wanted to die in the end feeling guilty with remorse.
sharejoseph45-732-715081 quit trying to ruin what was a more than decent film and take shots at the ending. Everything you say that was bad about it can be explained away by one reason or another.
1. The shovel was within reach. He could use it to form a kind of dirt ramp.
He was bleeding, exhausted both mentally and physically and it is possible he didn't die from bleeding out like some assume here on these message boards. How about an unknown sudden death being possible?
2. Even without the shovel, he could use his left (uninjured) hand to pull dirt away from the side of the pit, forming a ramp.
He was bleeding, exhausted both mentally and physically and it is possible he didn't die from bleeding out like some assume here on these message boards. How about an unknown sudden death being possible?
3. He could attempt to climb up on the girl's body.
He was bleeding, exhausted both mentally and physically and it is possible he didn't die from bleeding out like some assume here on these message boards. How about an unknown sudden death being possible?
Point I am making is it is easy to come up with one single explanation for all three things you bring up.
In regards to climbing up on the girl's body I did expect him to try that but so what if he didn't?
As for him not being able to climb out of this large pit he dug while injured badly and mentally and physically drained don't you anything symbolic in this? Seriously use your head.
He was just exhausted. After a good sleep he'll be able to get out.
shareThe ending made perfect sense to me. Remember the deer peering down at him? While he was underneath the woman he accidentally killed while chasing said deer at the opening? What goes around, comes around; he accidentally kills someone while hunting and ends up dying BENEATH her as the deer looks on. Genius in my opinion.
shareIt isn't ridiculous at all. His injured hand becomes easily infected. Due to stress his body could have been over producing lactic acid which would trigger sepsis within hours. Or it could have been that he already had a antibiotic resistant staff infection. The staff stays dormant undetectable in his system until injury and stress cause his immune system to be compromise no longer able to combat or hold the staff in check. At that point he could quickly develop sepsis. Sepsis symptoms would cause his organs especially his liver to shut down causing extreme fatigue, hallucinations, and confusion in general. Walking out of the woods would have been outside his capability never mind climbing out of a pit.
Is it a reach? Yeah but your suppose to suspend disbelief when watching some movies.
Where is the understanding of idiomatic speech here? The guy dug his own grave throughout the story, and then he laid down in it. It was a brilliant ending - the choice to represent that figure of speech visually.
You're getting caught up in minutiae. Where that minutiae is concerned, there is no "forming a ramp" or climbing up on the body. The man was bleeding, profusely and unabated, for quite some time, was exerting himself using his arms and hands, and was shoving dirt into the wound. He weakened, the surrounding dirt was moist, and he couldn't leverage himself up.
That's all there is to it.
I think everyone is getting a bit too literal about the ending.
In my personal opinion, it was pretty overt symbolism for the rest of the film. I saw it as, the audience doesn't really know whether or not he dies, and it doesn't necessarily matter.
I took the scene as he had physically dug himself a hole he couldn't get out of, just like the entire film was him digging a hole he couldn't get out of. Even that phrase is a pretty common metaphor. Now, whether he was "digging his own grave" I think is up to the viewer. Whether he dies or wakes up and summons some strength to climb out doesn't really matter. The character dug his own grave, beginning (and then ending) with the girl. He is never going to get his family back either way which is the only thing that really matters to him.
If anything, the metaphor is too obvious, but I thought it worked pretty well.
I agree. And I thought the deer looking down at him was a nice touch as well.
Great film!
[deleted]