Is Ned dead?

I didn't get the movie at all when I saw it years ago, which was very frustrating. After having read numerous articles on the Cheever story, I believe Ned Merrell was probably an earth bound ghost, reliving his life pool to pool. It would explain his increasing confusion and desperate sobbing when he gets to his long abandoned home; he realizes he is dead. No other explanation makes sense to me.

I think this interpretation is entirely plausible. I think it could be Ned's dying thoughts.

I think it works both realistically and allegorically. It was nicknamed by Lancaster "Death of a Salesman in swim trunks", so it's in large part featuring a guy like Willy Loman who's gone through his life thinking everything's fine when it really isn't and his family suffered. I took the ending to be ambiguous but it could be read that either his family left him a long time ago or they're dead. The continual allusions to him being gone for a while as people see him in the first time in years seems more allegorical though. Strange movie.


iTunes podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wages-of-cinema/id977881387?mt=2/

The movie was years ago, so I'm sure he is by now.

It is one possible interpretation, but personally I don't think the character was dead.

I mean every film could be looked at that way. Another one that speculates the character is dead is Taxi Driver. Then of course there is Carnival of Souls where she really IS!
But I read this film are Ned having a delusion that his wife and kids are home waiting for him, even though they left him and he's out of work. It's a mid-life crisis, something that was a popular concept in the '60s. Another less worthy one was Mister Buddwing.
Anyway this was Burt's favorite film and one of mine! It was actually filmed in 1966, stopped, and then finished in '68.