all of lynch’s films
the blair witch project (to some extent)
I have to disagree with some of the films mentioned in this post:
Blow Up
Lost Highway
Cache
Do these films really qualify as open ended?
For me they have narrative formulas that are unique and do not follow the ordinary rules of storytelling.
If they are considered with an open end; they also have an open beginning and an open middle.
blade runner.
Performance
uh, for my 2 cents worth, could any film be more ‘open-ended’ than 2001, A Space Odyssey? (aside from speculating as to whether or not Kubrick used Bud Cort’s eyes for the ‘star-child’). And, just to be perverse, could any film be more ‘closed-ended’ than The Vanishing ? (the original).
Elephant, although it seems more like a dead end.
I agree, 2001: A Space Odyssey is probably the best open-ending ever. Can’t hurt to throw in There Will Be Blood. There’s like 10 billion possible interpretations.
Taste of Cherry anyone?
Primer, hands-down. What is he building there? How big is that?
I don’t think Lost Highway is particularly open. It winds back on itself fairly conclusively.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Because they could totally have lived. I swear. Maybe there was like, a hidden tunnel, and they escape.
How about La Notte? I found the ending very depressing.
I won’t repeat what others have already said, so I’ll go with John Carpenter’s The Thing, which has a lovely little “what now?” ending. I guess technically the ending of Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers isn’t really “open,” in that the protagonist is doomed, but it’s still one of the most memorable endings of all time to me, and you don’t actually see what happens. The excellent New Zealand film The Quiet Earth has a great debate-inducing finale.
Tarkovsky’s Solaris is worth a mention, but I suppose some would argue the ending provided enough closure to not be considered “open.”
MR E 2 ME great picks dude. Quiet Earth especially.
No one has mentioned L’avventura… I agree with Discreet Charm.
“Burnt By The Sun”
“They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”
“Before The Rain”
…nevermind the story itself as concluded, they seem to raise wonder of the things to follow or keep on going in loops as the last one…
What about “Gone With the Wind”? A real shock for the 1939 standards!
What about “Gone With the Wind”? A real shock for the 1939 standards!
FIVE EASY PIECES
JOSHUA W: I don’t know about Butch Cassidy man, I think it was quite implied that they were going to die. They juxtaposed their brutal and fatal wounds with their wise-cracking, cocky personas right before they made their final run for it. I love the fact that they froze the frame because no one wants to see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid die. It almost immortalizes them for the audience, and I just realized that for you, it did.
MR E 2 ME: I would say Tarkovsky’s Solaris is somewhat open-ended, but it’s not intended to be. I find the ending extremely stark, isolated and almost sad. The fact that the cynical Kris Kelvin is at his father’s feet, completely vulnerable, lost and almost scared of the world is truly a remarkable ending.
PETER IBBETSON: I definitely agree with you on Gone With the Wind. I finally got around to seeing that film recently (I’d seen parts but not the entire thing) and I just thought the ending worked so well, but it’s not what people want to see. They want to see Rhett Butler turn around and forgive Scarlet for everything, but frankly, he doesn’t give a damn.
CHRISTOPHER SEPESY: I just saw this film and it’s a superb ending. I won’t give it away for others, but I think the fact that it is open-ended completely personifies Robert’s behavior and what he would actually do.
Does Beau Travail count as an open ending? If so, then that.
I think VOYAGE TO ITALY may be one of the first films to suggest an “open ending” in cinema. It had a major influence on the aesthetics of the French New Wave and later non-narrative strategies.
Did anybody here ever hear Lynch talk about LOST HIGHWAY as his telling (rationalization) of the OJ Simpson Trial? Interesting discussion………..
I do have to admit that Taxi Driver still pops up in my head—I often wonder what Travis did with the rest of his life…
If you can find it, check out the ending of Joseph Losey’s “The Romantic Englishwoman,” released in 1975. The film really doesn’t end, it just kind of stops, in Losey’s typical ambivalent style. Our estranged lead characters, played by Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson, seem to reconcile, but, boy, they sure don’t look too content. And then they arrive at their suburban home and find that the dinner party they had been planning is already in progress. They seem to have forgotten all about it. Check out the look on their faces.
Another Losey ending seemingly rooted in despair is his 1982 film, “La Truite,” a film built on Isabelle Huppert’s colossal indifference.
Maybe is because I´ve seen this movie many years ago, during my teens, but I always loved the ending of Alan Parker´s “Birdy”. It´s like a big laugh made in silence!
“Nashville”….absolutely! If you haven’t seen it, give it a shot. A downer on the surface, but I found the climax thrilling. It’s 2.5 hours of slowly rising (and spreading) action, and at the first real plot point…..BOOM! it’s over. After the first viewing with a group of friends, we discussed it for days.
(Would love to get your opinions on it…perhaps I’ll open up a new topic….)
Michael Curtiz’s brilliant “Angels With Dirty Faces”
Besides the excellent examples already mentioned, I would add:
Roeg’s Don’t Look Now – what DOES that ending mean??? Spooky!
Weir’s Last Wave – equally open-ened, like the wonderful, previously mentioned Picnic at Hanging Rock
Scorcese’s After Hours – a dark comic version of open-ended
M. Powell’s A Matter of Life & Death
B. Tarr’s Werkmeister Harmonies – as puzzling surely as Last Year at Marienbad
The Pointsman – very obscure throughout as to what is happening
Lynch’s Mulholland Drive
The FIRST half of Hitchcock’s Vertigo – why does he have to tidy it up to resolve the ‘metaphysical’ mystery of Carlotta’s return?
Tom has mentioned Nashvillle, but also Altman’s Images – I really need to see this movie again to figure out what is happening.
Coppola’s The Conversation – don’t even remind me of the flushing toilet scene.
Carnival of Souls
Losey’s Accident
Don’t you just love ‘open ended’ movies? They get us thinking, talking, reflecting. Maybe it’s because our own live’s are so ‘open-ended’, too – as we don’t know until the end how it all will turn out. Then we realize it was all just a dream after all! Pseudo-profound thought of the day.
Ramsay Stirling II
haha Ilya, but if you remember, Masters of the Universe does have a pretty open ending because after the credits roll skeletor pops out of some water or something…whatever was at the bottom of where he fell. IT RULES…see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE70Kpax_RI
HE SAID ILL BE BACK. OH DAMN.