MovieChat Forums > My Brilliant Career (1979) Discussion > Confused about the ending

Confused about the ending

posted 17 years ago by cgunter-2
12 replies | jump to latest

I'm confused about the ending, and I'm wondering if there's something I missed at the beginning of the film that would've helped me understand what happened. (I started watching this film right when she leaves for her grandmother's house.) It is unclear to me whether the child at the end is hers, whether she ended up marrying Harry and that is their child...or something else. I'm thinking maybe the photos gave some hint/clue as to the outcome for the heroine, but I couldn't tell.

I'm satisfied with the ending because it appears that Sybylla is satisfied by the choices she's made, and this seems believable based on how her character behaved throughout the film (the parts I saw anyway). I'm just curious about whether I missed something. If this supposed to be an ambiguous ending, I'm ok with that. Again, I'm just curious if the writer or director had a particular take on the script's ending or whether it was a direct translation of the novel by Miles Franklin (which I haven't read).

[–] Rackon 17 years ago

Child?? Did youi fall asleep? There's not even a hint Sybylla has a child. That's her little sister or brother as case may be (it's been too long since I've seen it for me to remember). Who on earth would she have had a child with anyway? She's only been even kissed once, and that by Harry.

When Harry comes to propose to her, she turns him down. He's passionate for her, and she's greatly, genuinely fond of him, but her passion is reserved for the career she wants to have as a writer, as her own woman. She cares for him too much to want to see him hurt, she cannot return his intensity or share his goals and values in life.

So she remains fiercely independent and becomes her won person, the writer she wanted to be. The script at the end of the film states the publication date of her first book.

[–] artistathome 16 years ago

i think the ending is confusing as well. What is the point of having the child asleep there if not to confuse us? I don't recall her having a sister that young by the way.

Sybylla made a big deal out of being ALONE to write the great novel. And yet, we see her a year or so later in a little house with all sorts of pics on the wall and a child in the bed napping.

What happened to the "I Want To Be Alone?" She obviously was NOT alone.

I just didn't get it.
I also thought the movie was boring unless Sam Neill was onscreen.

Women like this who shun love/marraige to be independent try to make it seem as if marriage is a hindrance to their GREAT TALENT...

These women don't want the hassle of real life, a husband and children. They just don't want to work that hard.

That's fine, but don't use the excuse of a career. Just say you're lazy and be done with it.

[–] mnewlands 15 years ago

maybe life was different then for married women dont forget there was no contraception and she rejected the life her mother had churning out child after child, she wanted to dedicate her life to writing so shunned marriage, social conventions of the day may have meant that she would have had to behave in a particular way e.g. a respectable wife running a house and raising children she would have had no time for writing. What is wrong with a women choosing marriage over a career? of course it did occur to me she could have insisted herself and Sam Neill travel the world etc and practise coitus interruptus and write books. However, her choice is what makes this film different and remarkable for that.

[–] imrama2002 14 years ago

He, if he knew her at all, would have realised before proposing that it was not going to be a coventional marriage to this spirited and fiercely independent woman. She should have at least given him the choice to reject the conditions she attached. I think the problem was she just didn't really love him.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] ScreenwriterVA 12 years ago

Possibly. But she says she "almost" loves him, and that's not enough for her.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] hodie 11 years ago

Condoms existed then. And there was more lambskin around than you could shake a stick at!

Get me a bromide! And put some gin in it!

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] lishol7-1 10 years ago

There was a reference to Sybilla's sister - She received a letter stating that her sister is getting so big, she wouldn't be recognized.

[–] lishol7-1 10 years ago

cgunter-2 stated three times that (s)he was confused about the end and had questions. Rackon, your answer was quite rude. There's no need to be so hostile. It's only a movie. We come to IMDb for many positive reasons, being chastised for not understanding or having a question is not one of them. Lighten up and have more consideration for your fellow movie goer.

[–] louiseculmer 10 years ago

The ending dispointed me very much because I wanted her to marry sam Neil, thought he was gorgeous. she could easily have gone on writing if she was married, some succesful women authors of her day and before were married - Mrs Gaskell, Elizabeth barret Browning, Frances hodgson Burnett, for instance. and Sam Neill's character was well off - they would have servants to do the housework, lok after the children etc, leaving her plenty of time to write.