(SPOILERS AHEAD!!)
The final scenes, so quickly closing the story, the way in which Brando 'finds' death is brutal, shocking, it literally left me breathless, speechless, sitting consternate in the sofa ... I know this is very often the case with Tennessee Williams' plays, but boy ... what a shocking ending! Only for that feeling the ending created, this film deserves an eight (at least).
Anybody else shocked by the ending? I'd like to hear your comments.
I enjoyed this film. I saw it when it first came out. The part when she is talking about putting Christmas decorations on that small fig tree is her best acting in the movie. Anna was fantastic in it.
" All that there really is to life is what happens next " from The Misfits 1961
His death comes differently in the play. I'll just say it was a worse way to go, though it still involved burning.
shareAnything that involves someone dying by fire makes me automatically freeze in unbelief. With this story it hurt because he had the best intentions to turn his life around. He chose to stay and he chose to have an affair with Lady. Is Tennessee saying that we really never change who we are? Does this mean that Valentine got what he deserved or should we sympathize with his character?
sharehow does he die in the play?
shareIn the movie, Jabe is the one who sets the confectionery on fire, and the sheriff and his men take Val down with the fire hose [which of course you already know]. In the play, Val dies exactly the way Lady's father died years ago. At first the men crowd around him talking about getting rope. But then someone screams, "BLOWTORCH!" And they set him on fire in the confectionery with the blowtorch. I think the play gave better parallels with the way Val died and the way Lady's father died. I should read the ending again though.
Oh, and Lady dies by gunshot but it's from protecting Val. She sees Jabe coming downstairs with a gun and puts her body in front of Val's and gets shot.
And this might sound completely stupid, but I don't think I cried so much in my life.
Two people who finally find each other. Who finally live. Without being the buyers and without being bought. And they die. And maybe they weren't meant to be in this world. Maybe they were those birds that only land on this earth when they die. Wings spread in triumph. It's so completely tragic, I can't help but find it beautiful.
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I truly agree with all of this...
I didnt like too much the ending either,, in fact i was hoping, somehow, Val to survive at last, but didnt happen.
I dont know the teaching of all of this... but maybe its the beauty in it... these 2 persons are really inusual,,, a happy ending would have killed evertything good in the movie.. i dont know...
What i do know is i really like this movie.. i am really surprised how underestimate this was...
Yes, I think you put your finger on the point of the ending. Brando and Magnani's characters are the free spirits (spiritually) who don't belong on this corrupted earth (represented by the evil Mississipi county).
sharevery sweet, dressedupindreams...
sharea tragedy generally involves people dying at the end. drifters rarely find happiness. unfaithful spouses usually receive their comeuppance. bitter, mean-spirited people find ways to inflict pain on those closest to them.
in short, i was not as shocked as you were. but i'm glad you liked it.
I definitely have to agree. Just the fact that Jabe helped to kill Lady's father and then killed Val in a similar way was harsh enough, but then to add the fact that he shot Lady in the belly right after she rejoiced about finally becoming pregnant again... it was just such a terribly tragic way for the film to end. I was so disgusted after watching it, and I'd have to say that it was one of the most disturbing endings I've ever seen.
That's why you and I don't see eye-to-eye sometimes, Jack; because you're a man of science.
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