Chewer's Top 50 Ambiguous Endings - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZebraMajor 

32. Limbo

 

Unlike No Country For Old Men where the Coen Brothers intentionally skip the expected ending and offer up an entirely different one (frustrating many viewers in the process) the ending to Limbo quite literally leaves the story in limbo. 

What was the expected ending to No Country?  And to the previous poster, why does No Country qualify as an ambigous ending?  It might not be a conventional ending, but how is it an unclear one?

I'll add Unfaithful.  Does Richard Gere turn himself in to the police or not?  I'd like to know if anyone has an answer.

I think the expected ending was probably something like "Moss and Chigurh have a final showdown". Instead, Moss is killed offscreen in a gunfight with the Mexicans (I believe this also happens in the book), and Chigurh gets away scot-free save a totaled car and a broken bone.

34. The Conversation (dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

Fucked.

34. Rush (Zanuck, 1991)

The dust settles quite early in the film, but just as we think Will Gaines (Gregg Allman) will prosper further as a drug kingpin...a shotgun blast emerges from his car in the back seat. Is it Kristen (Jennifer Jason Leigh)? Is it an associate? Is it revenge?

All we know is that it's the perfect way to end such a brilliant film about blurring the line between law and disorder.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Spider 

I think the expected ending was probably something like "Moss and Chigurh have a final showdown". Instead, Moss is killed offscreen in a gunfight with the Mexicans (I believe this also happens in the book), and Chigurh gets away scot-free save a totaled car and a broken bone.

Correct.  The movie sets us up for a showdown between our hero, villain and the Mexicans.  Having the hero killed offscreen (again, it's an event not important to the filmmakers) pissed a lot of people off because they didn't get what they expected.

35. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004; d. Michel Gondry)

Sure, Joel and Clementine end up back together... but are they destined to go through the same cycle together, of falling in love and falling back out of it again, indefinitely?

36: AMERICAN PSYCHO

Surprised it took this long...

37. Gone Baby Gone

Not so much ambiguous in a plot sense, but rather one of the most morally ambiguous endings I've ever seen. Did Patrick make the right choice? Does he regret his decision? That final shot says it all. It's a movie that's guaranteed to spark a discussion when it finishes.

We've got a redundant #34, chaps:

39. The Candidate (Michael Ritchie, 1972)

For 2 hours, we see Redford's senatorialial candidate endure the gauntlet of professional campaigning, compromising every grain of integrity to further his ascension to the Congress. Finally, having won the election, he's a hollow cipher of populist superficiality, completely removed from whatever ideal had originally fueled his political aspirations. In The Candidate's final scene, Redford has won the seat and, bereft & clueless, asks his campaign manager, "So...what do we do now?".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clarence Boddicker 

33. Dawn of the Dead

 

"How much fuel do we have?"

 

"Not much."

 

"All right."

That was #29.
 

Limbo is such a great choice, how was that no the first one I thought up. The only case of the Lady or the tiger ending (other than that story) that really works without feeling like a cop out.

Also, I believe in The Candidate, Redford's character is running for the Senate, not the Presidency. Not a big deal, just saying.

40. INLAND EMPIRE/MULHOLLAND DRIVE/LOST HIGHWAY/ERASERHEAD/...ah fuck it:

Every Lynch movie ever. If you've seen one, you know why there here.

50. Possession

No, not the Niel Labute one. The 1985 one with Sam Niel. If you thought Lynch's movies were fucked up fever dreams, check this movie out. Only if your'e mentally stable though, 'casue this is the type of film that could push someone already on the edge way the fuck off.

41. Local Hero. The phone rings, and rings, and rings. End credits. Is it just too early for anyone to be up and about, or have they all taken their money and abandoned the town for good?

41. Reservoir Dogs

"Larry, I'm a cop"

A Clockwork Orange. Alex is cured and we are left wondering will he go back to his old ways. The smile and look at the camera add to the mystery.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Spider 

I think the expected ending was probably something like "Moss and Chigurh have a final showdown". Instead, Moss is killed offscreen in a gunfight with the Mexicans (I believe this also happens in the book), and Chigurh gets away scot-free save a totaled car and a broken bone.

Yes, the same thing happens in the book.  Yet, Moss meets his demise well before the end of the film, so it's hard to say that it's the expected ending.  I also think No Country is a poor example of an ambiguous ending. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike's Pants 

41. Reservoir Dogs

 

"Larry, I'm a cop"

 

All the characters die in RD, right?  You even hear Steve Buscemis character get shot off-screen.  So, how is it an ambiguous ending?

FWIW, Mr. Pink meets the cops offscreen, but he doesn't get shot. It's up in the air what happens to him, but Tarantino's even lent weight to the idea that the one guy in that group who's only looking out for himself survives that whole ordeal. There's even a theory floating out there that the miserable Buddy Holly in Pulp Fiction is him under a new identity.

Otherwise, yep, Reservoir Dogs is pretty cut and dried. Veto.

But to move on....

42. A History Of Violence

That look could mean one of a hundred things about the future of that man's marriage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleeplesslumber 

That was #29.
 

 

Yeah, I just noticed that. I can't read good

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Clark 

FWIW, Mr. Pink meets the cops offscreen, but he doesn't get shot. It's up in the air what happens to him, but Tarantino's even lent weight to the idea that the one guy in that group who's only looking out for himself survives that whole ordeal. There's even a theory floating out there that the miserable Buddy Holly in Pulp Fiction is him under a new identity.

 

Otherwise, yep, Reservoir Dogs is pretty cut and dried. Veto.

Is it that cut and dry? Granted I haven't seen it in a spell but I thought the final image was a close-up on Keital, lots of shouting and the sound of a gun shot.

I remember QT clearing it up somewhat in the years since but I always that (at least at the time) it was intentionally ambiguous.

If this is not the case I will cheerfully withdraw it.

Yeah, they certainly all die except Mr. Pink. But who shot Nice Guy Eddie?

43. Really, no 12 Monkeys yet? 

"I'M IN INSURANCE"

I think the numbering is out of sync, going back quite a ways. Here's what I've got so far:

1. The Thing
2. The Graduate
3. Total Recall
4. Blade Runner
5. Cop
6. Inception
7. The Italian Job (1969)
8. Prince of Darkness
9. The Empire Strikes Back
10. Cast Away

11. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) -- (although I feel that the 1956 version is much more ambiguous)
12. The Godfather Part II (was there a decision here?)
13. Antichrist
14. Zodiac
15. There Will Be Blood
16. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
17. 2001: A Space Odyssey
18. The Shining
19. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
20. Flash Gordon

21. Barton Fink
22. The King of Comedy
23. Rollerball
24. Oldboy
25. The 400 Blows
26. Silent Hill
27. Enter the Void
28. A Serious Man
29. Memories of Murder (assuming that Big Trouble in Little China was retracted)
30. Dawn of the Dead

31. Mother
32. Before Sunset (although if you ask me there's no goddamn question what happens next and if there is Ethan Hawke should be ashamed of himself)
33. The Wrestler
34. Limbo
35. The Conversation
36. Rush
37. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
38. American Psycho
39. Gone Baby Gone
40. The Candidate

41. Not sure how to qualify Vasquez's entry (post 62) so I'm just going with Inland Empire.
42. Local Hero
43. A Clockwork Orange
44. A History of Violence

45. 12 Monkeys

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammerhead 

32. Before Sunset (although if you ask me there's no goddamn question what happens next and if there is Ethan Hawke should be ashamed of himself)

Well, if the plots of Before Sunrise & Before Sunset revolved around whether or not Hawke was gonna make a plane in 2004, then you'd have a point. The "I know" line may provide a hint of immediate resolution but everything beyond that is a complete unknown. Sure, he stays the night but he's got a young kid back in America, so we're left wondering whether Jesse is gonna upend his life to live in France with Celine or if once again, shit happens & they don't see each other for another 10 years. In the end, we don't know a damn thing.

The central question of Sunset is "Did they or didn't they?", and the film ends with a resounding "They sure will now".

Gonna have to agree to disagree on this one, I'm afraid.

More Delpy for everyone!

46. The Quiet Earth.

Now, THAT's an ambiguous ending! Maddeningly so!

I'm with Art on this one.  Considering everything they talked about, you could argue the point that they are both perfect for each other but only in decade-long gaps.  It's not just about the plane or spending another night together as they did in Before Sunrise.  I LOVE the film for what I feel is its honesty and if that honesty holds, I have to acknowledge the fact that these characters have a reality to deal with.  In a conventional movie, I'd say... "Of course he'll leave his lovely wife-friend and live happily-ever-after with Delpy after sleeping with her for the 2nd time!"  But that's not this movie.  I'd love for that to happen, but I can easily imagine the morning after where Ethan Hawke just goes back to his regular life.