MovieChat Forums > Sleeping Beauty (2011) Discussion > The ending: switch the last two scenes?

The ending: switch the last two scenes?

posted 12 years ago by olafkoeneman
10 replies | jump to latest

There is a lot of discussion about the ending. In the one but last scene we see Lucy screaming hysterically after having been woken up. In the last scene we just see her sleep next to the (dead) man. What to make of the screaming, and what to make of the last scene, why is it there? I think the trick is in understanding that you have to switch the last scenes chronologically. Why?

The movie is about a girl who is absolutely bored, thrilled by nothing, who doesn't care about anything and burns her money. We wonder during the movie what makes her tick and why she does the job she does. The answer is in the last two scenes. I think the last scene is a sort of coda, showing you what has happened during the night and explaining why she becomes hysterical. What has happened during the night? Well, absolutely nothing! Here is a girl who gives herself over in an ultimate attempt to experience ANYTHING at all and even in this position, nothing happens, making her desperation complete.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Vxf111 12 years ago

I tend to agree with you that the scenes are not shown chronologically. The last scene is the footage of Lucy sleeping with the dead client. Whether it's her secret video camera or some other closed circuit camera system in the room-- that's earlier on in the night while she's asleep and the client is asleep or dead.

The second to last scene is what happens last chronologically. In the morning after Lucy goes to sleep and the client is voluntarily drugged to death, Clara comes in to wake Lucy up-- discovers Lucy has had some sort of reaction and has to jar her awake. And for the FIRST TIME IN THE ENTIRE FILM Lucy IS ACTUALLY AWAKE. For the first time she breaks out of the stupor of the life she stumbles through and allows herself to have a genuine human emotion-- and she screams from a combination of the disgust at the things she's done to herself, the trauma of losing Birdman and not being honest/grieving properly, her utter isolation and lack of true connection to any person, and the horror of spending the night sleeping next to a corpse.

So why show the video footage last?

Lucy looks so peaceful. It seems to easy. So natural. No pain or trauma.

I think the message of the movie is that you HAVE TO WAKE UP and live you life. But that it's much, much easier to sleep through things. And the question is... will Lucy take the hard path and be awake, or the easy path and be asleep. Most everyone else in the movie is taking that easier path... and the movie sort of asks "could you wake up?"

[–] excel99 12 years ago

Nicely put, Vxf111.

I think the film is, actually, chronological, though. I guess that Clara allowed Lucy to view the film after we see her screaming. Or Lucy viewed it herself unbeknownst to Clara. It really doesn't matter; the point is that the viewer should keep in mind the contrast between the 'sleeping' Lucy (the one we've been watching throughout the film) and the 'awake' Lucy, the one who screams and cries and feels and UNDERSTANDS what's been happening in her life.

This film is a character study, albeit a very unorthodox one. It's important to not think of it as plot driven, i.e. Lucy is working toward some denouement which will 'complete' her, or 'explain' her. Yes, she has 'woken up' when she starts screaming, but the point isn't so much whether or not she would wake up, but rather what it means to be 'asleep'.

I feel strongly that one aspect of this films is about Borderline Personality Disorder (Lucy is somewhat of a textbook case). There's a lot of film craft here, and great artistry, but I can't help thinking Leigh had BPD specifically in mind when she wrote the character of Lucy. The sleeping Lucy has BPD and is completely within its influence, whereas the waking Lucy has a moment of insight and let's her feelings out. But Leigh is not saying that's all there is to it. Lucy is not 'cured'. The final shot of the sleeping Lucy reinforces this; she has made a breakthrough, taken an important step, but she is still in danger. That last shot really brings me back to thinking how precarious Lucy's position is. Without that shot, I might be able to convince myself that Lucy is 'better' now, and that everything will be ok.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 11 years ago

If I were to fit a diagnostic category to Lucy it would be Schizoid PD rather than BPD, which I didn't see much evidence for. Lucy's behaviour was reckless rather than self-destructive as though she were unable to take care of herself as a result of lack of care. She was also remote from people, lacking vitality and anger, lived like someone neglected and was directionless.

Keep silent unless what you are going to say is more important than silence.

[–] lindskatz 11 years ago

Wow, how transcendental you all are. I thought the ending just SUCKED!

puuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrr

[–] empathy44 11 years ago

I'd say PTSD with a good dollop of learned helplessness.

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." Anais Nin

[–] empathy44 11 years ago

I'd say PTSD with a good dollop of learned helplessness.

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." Anais Nin

[–] flora_tink-1 11 years ago

She was more apathetic than anything. I seriously SERIOUSLY doubt she had BPD. I have BPD and I know others with BPD and I know not everyone has the same symptoms but there are marked symptoms that you need to have that she JUST didn't fit. People with BPD are known to be very emotional and have trouble controlling their emotions - literally like a child. She did not exhibit any of the symptoms for BPD besides how she was reckless with her life.

[–] morganseer 11 years ago

I agree with you about BPD, Flora. I think I'd go with Depersonalization Disorder. She was too calm for a Borderline Personality disorder or plain PTSD. I'm not sure about Schizoid, either. Although her relationship with Birdman was mostly one-dimentional, she did genuinely care about him, and she did not prefer to be alone. After his death she even asked his brother to marry her, because she wanted to be with someone, if only superficially.

Also, the whole theme of sleeping seems to me to point to Depersonalization Disorder.

[–] ns_garcia 11 years ago

I'd say a simple panic attack due to stopping breathing and being suddenly slapped back to life. Let's keep it simple. It is a slow movie anyway.