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Movies with ambiguous endings?

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Movies with ambiguous endings?

Old 05-19-12, 11:00 AM
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Movies with ambiguous endings?

so recently i saw two movies back to back with these "open to interpretation" endings: Rampart and Shame.
Both ok movies with that ambiguous ending that leaves it open to more than one finality.

i think more and more movies, well, indie, art house movies, with some mainstream dabbled in there are ending this way and i think it is fascinating.

so what are some other movies with these types of endings that you like or dislike and why?
Old 05-19-12, 03:30 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Take Shelter was an amazing movie with an ambiguous ending. Was he crazy? Did he really foretell disaster? What is the storm... is it the end of the world? Lot of questions left unanswered, but not in an annoying way.

Also Inception. Did the spinning top fall over or not?
Old 05-19-12, 04:00 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

American Psycho

Mulholland Drive

Patriot Games-okay it's answered in the sequel, and not much of a cliffhanger, but you don't find out if it's a boy or a girl until then
Old 05-19-12, 04:09 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

The Thing
Old 05-19-12, 04:54 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Mystic River
No Country For Old Men
Inception
Total Recall
Old 05-19-12, 04:58 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

The Wrestler
Old 05-19-12, 05:12 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/w2hnfTqQKO0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The Quiet Earth
Old 05-19-12, 05:30 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Martha Marcy May Marlene -- Won't spoil it for you but I just didn't really care for the ending. Superb movie though.

Also, I didn't think there was anything ambiguous about Inception's ending. Take Shelter is up for small debate but I think the director leans heavily towards a specific direction.

The best use of an ambiguous ending goes to Another Earth. It's the perfect ending, and definitely leaves room for discussion.
Old 05-19-12, 05:53 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by Dr. DVD
American Psycho
I read an interview with the director where she laments that the ending comes across as ambiguous. She was trying to be playfull with the narrative and ultimately muddled the fact that
Spoiler:
he did kill all those people.
Old 05-19-12, 07:30 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by Dr. DVD
Mulholland Drive
Wrong! But that's for another thread.
Old 05-19-12, 07:45 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Broken Flowers
Old 05-19-12, 09:28 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

I just watched The Grey and that ending was very ambiguous.
Old 05-19-12, 09:34 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Highlander

Spoiler:
The ending of the movie left me with the impression that Connor was the last and won the Prize. But then all these sequels turned up...
Old 05-19-12, 10:16 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Mulholland Dr had the LEAST ambiguous ending imaginable, given its story. Everything was pretty much wrapped up succinctly.

My vote is for Cache... that particular ending frustrated me to no end.
Old 05-19-12, 10:44 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Sound of My Voice
Old 05-19-12, 10:56 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by Hokeyboy
My vote is for Cache... that particular ending frustrated me to no end.

Great choice Hokeyboy. I was definitely taken aback once the credits rolled. A fantastic film though and thoroughly riveting.

This is an interesting interpretation of the final sequences...

http://vanessa-appassamy.suite101.co...n-2005-a210383
Old 05-19-12, 11:15 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Dogtooth
Old 05-20-12, 10:44 AM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Limbo
Old 05-20-12, 10:47 AM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by wishbone
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/w2hnfTqQKO0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The Quiet Earth
Love that movie. Not many people saw it. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants an end of world movie, told on a personal scale.

I really liked how the ending felt. But it made absolutely no narrative sense to me.
Old 05-20-12, 11:00 AM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

I've never seen Quiet Earth....I'll look into it.
Old 05-20-12, 11:44 AM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Cruising
Stalker
Lost Highway
Old 05-20-12, 12:27 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

A surprising number of the anime movies that got popular here:
  • End of Evangelion
  • Ghost in the Shell
  • Ghost in the Shell 2
  • Akira (it's not, but it comes across this way in the Streamline dub)
  • Perfect Blue (IIRC)
Old 05-20-12, 12:58 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Cast Away
Old 05-20-12, 04:01 PM
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Love the ambiguous ending but can't say I really understand it.
Old 05-20-12, 04:16 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Too many unanswered questions left behind at the end of The Lost Room. They should've made a follow-up movie. -kd5-

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