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Discussion
This thread talks about the ends of three movies, if you haven't seen the three movies it might spoil them for you
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There was a recent thread
Which movie if changed up a little bit could look like a classic or close to being one?
Where I suggested this movie, Von Trier's first English language movie, a brilliant provocation, fails because of its ending. Some disagreed, but the more I thought about, the more I thought it was worth looking at further.
Let me compare two other movies that some might argue fail in the opposite way: The Third Miracle by Agnieszka Holland and Mad Dog & Glory by John McNaughton. First, Breaking the Waves:
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>!Breaking the Waves is about faith and love, the main character, Bess seems to embrace magical thinking, that if she degrades herself, acts considered against man and god, her injured and comatose husband will fully recover. He does fully recover, after her final act of sacrifice. At the end of the film bells from heaven ring out, confirming her belief.
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The Third Miracle
>!is about a beatification of a woman. Three miracles are required for this to happen, the first miracle is the bleeding of a statue of the Virgin Mary, the second miracle was historical, and the third miracle is never explicitly stated, it relies on the audience's intelligence to see it for themselves. Where is the third miracle?
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In Mad Dog and Glory
>!a milquetoast police photographer (Robert Deniro, against type) saves the life a gangster (Bill Murray, again against type). Murray states he is the "expediter of your dreams;" Deniro dreams of being courageous and handsome. Uma Thurman, Glory (way out of Deniro's league), turns up to tend Deniro's wounds. At the end of the movie, Deniro realizes his dream ("no guts, no Glory"). The movie is great, but some see it as failure, because the deal with the devil is never explained, never made obvious, Murray has expedited Deniro's dream, desire. It too relies on the audience's intelligence. Sabotaged by subtlety, it can be argued.
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At the ending of Breaking the Waves everything is made explicit, this I think insults the intelligence of the viewer, is patronizing - and would have otherwise been a wonderful ambiguity where you get to decide. On the other hand, the two other flicks, it could be argued, are too smart for their own good, but do count on you paying attention, and get you, the audience, invested in thinking about the movies.
What is a good ending? What is a bad ending? Does it matter?
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