MovieChat Forums > I.D. (1995) Discussion > Interpreting the End

Interpreting the End

posted 21 years ago by darren_alexander-1
26 replies | jump to latest

Just having a conversation with a good mate of mine over the ending of this film.

I have always thought that the end scene of the movie sees John (reece dinsdale) as having walked away from the police because he prefered the buzz of being a thug but still believing himself to be deep undercover.

My friend however has always believed that John infact WAS still a memmber of the police and that he WAS undercover and that when he see's Trevor at the end of the film it was just a case of Trevor not knowing that he was still undercover.

So, my question is, which intpretation to you agree with?

[–] homer-jay-simpson 21 years ago

I'd agree with you on this one. He'd descended into this thug lifestyle but was either dillusional or embarrassed to admit it. Pretty good ending though as putting a happy ending where they all go on to be happy cops would have ruined it totally.

[–] fuhgeddaboutit01 20 years ago

yes you're right. He'd have been chucked out from the police for having a nervous breakdown and becoming a drug addict (even if the stabbing at Tyneside was covered up)

[–] shockabsorber 20 years ago

Why did the police escort not break up the march when that guy threw the molotov cocktail?

[–] andylevett 20 years ago

Yeah. Don't think the fuzz would stand Idly by while petrol bombs are being chucked all over the shop. Ridiculous.

[–] james-wynne 20 years ago

I dont think he was embarrassed (dillusional mayabe). If I remember the exact words he uses to trev are "I'm on the job". I think at this stage he thinks his job is just to be a thug. If you look at the scene were the general says to him that he has a great career ahead of him, this is what john thinks his new career or job is to be a thug.

Just a idea.

[–] aliens_57 19 years ago

the ending is meant to be that he has lost his real identity of being a policeman undercover and becomes a thug!! hence the tag line.

[–] graham-turner 9 years ago

Plus I.D is about the male human id. In other words the primeval instinct that lives within all human males. It lies dormant or at best subdued within most men, but in the film the undercover police become seduced by their normally suppressed feelings released by the buzz of the football hooligan life. Nazism is also an undiluted form of the male human id, as is all extremism.

[–] gillfaery 20 years ago

I always took it as he was still working for the police and he was still doing violent undercover work because they didn't know what else to do with him.

It would cost more for councelling and compensation and he was excellent at the undercover work. He is 'spoiled goods' but they might as well make the most of that.

In retrospect maybe that is a bit far fetched and I have mis-interpretted it, but that is what is good about these forums - they can give you further ideas.

The theory that he has walked away from the Police is more simple and it does work. Cheers

[–] yobnrok 20 years ago

My interpretation was that John had had a taste of the thug-life and enjoyed it so much that he was drawn further into the violent world of mob culture. A bit like a druggy who starts off on the soft stuff and ends up sniffing cocaine.

John starts of as a football hooligan then becomes a nazi just for the violence.

[–] CA_Styles 20 years ago

At first i thought he was going under cover, however i now agree with the people that see he became a nazi because of the violence. He becomes so attached going undercover as a hooligan that it screws up up his own preception of who he really is. The tag line of the film even says just Remember who you are.

[–] kevin-218 20 years ago

Good point.

I never even considered that he may have fallen into the thug culture and just pretended to Trevor that he was undercover. I just assumed that he was still a police officer.

After reading these comments it would seem like the ending was left so that it was up to the movie go'er to decide the ending for his/herself.

I'd still favour the ending that he was still part of the police force, but I think both endings are plausible.

Regarding the police not reacting to the firebomb... Sometimes the police won't react to one incident for fear of starting a riot. The ending to this film only shows one incident, therefore it's unlikely the police would act straight away.

Regards

Kev

[–] Snare-aka-Neurologik 20 years ago

i reckon he just got so addicted to the violence that he would start a fight any way dat he could

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] aliens_57 19 years ago

the ending is not even meant to be left up to the audience the writer wanted him to turn from the police and become a thug not continue as an undercover cop. Although it is slightly confusing.

[–] steve-clarke180 19 years ago

I think he was just off on one, and the police cynically kept him on as he was very useful at getting into such groups due to him being totally hatstand.

[–] kingcantona 19 years ago

i think he had a union jack tatoo on his head, this probably shows that he isnt undercover any more

[–] Paulmn2002 19 years ago

Yes and leaving the rest of the march behind to kneel in the road and chant 'seig heil' for about 2 minutes would maybe be taking the undercover stuff a bit too far eh?. :-)

[–] zapcom99 19 years ago

The ending is definately not left up for the viewer to decide.

The ending is blatantly obvious.

I.D the film is called, Identity - by the end of it John has lost his identity.
Drug abuse and the breakdown of everything he cared about causes him to throw himself far further into the criminal world than he was going with the football hooligans. The scene where he puts speed on his cornflakes is a dead give-away that he's far gone.
He certainly isn't undercover at the end, any police officer sent undercover in an area that becomes well known certainly wouldn't then be allowed to go back undercover in the same area but with a different gang. That's just crazy.

Aside from people's problems interperating the end of the film (which really is ridiculous considering the title and subject matter), I think that in the past people saw it as glamourising violence.
I never can understand why people say that, the only films that glamourise violence are the old action movies that involve Steven Segal, Sylvester Stallone or maybe Arnie and they're certainly not blatantly pushing the moral issue - that is, if there's a moral issue to be taken from their films.

Personally I.D scared me, the ending especially.
Far fetched, but at the same time it holds many a comparison to Donnie Brasco.

I mean damn, we've got footy hooligans everywhere anyway. Might as well learn from 'em.

[–] ledget9 19 years ago

I haven't seen the film in ages but I do believe that when John goes to the pub after doing something for the firm he meets up with the top man. I can't remember his name but he's the black guy who you hear of and see footage of at the begginning of the film. I think he's the top man of the firm but you don't actually see him out fighting with the others.
Anyway, if I'm correct he tells John that if the police took away football hooliganism, then all the hooligans would either go home and become fathers or become nazi's and that's what exactly happens.
I'm not 100% sure of the exact words or what have ya due to not seeing it in ages so can anyone help

[–] ben-496 19 years ago

I'm with Zapcom - I can't believe anybody would still think he could be with the Police Force!!! The point about putting the Speed on his cornflakes is the key - his drug addiction causes a slip into psychosis as he was already living something of a double life. He gets to the point of losing touch with the boundaries of his life. Top, top film - Fu@£in' love you, Gumbo!!!!!!!

[–] s1rst 19 years ago

Just watched this again today after a long while, cant believe how ol dit looks now, what with the fashion and the cars.

I agree that the ending is quite obvious, John started out undercover but gradually got deeper and deeper into the hooligan lifestyle (the amount of lager he drinks gets more in every scene lol) and at the end the Rock pub has been closed down, with Johns real identity being known by the barmaid he cant possibly go back to shadwell town, but he is hooked on the violence now so finds another outlet which is a racist group where he can get his drug/violence fix. Thats how i read it anyway.

[–] fuhgeddaboutit01 19 years ago

I agree with most of what 'Zapcom99' said'

However I don't see the similarities with Donnie Brasco.
In DB the film he becomes fond of Lefty and appears to adopt some of the mannerism of the mob guys, however he doesn't forget he is a police officer at all and goes on to give evidence to imprison a record number of top mafia guys in dozens of federal cases.
If he'd gone off the rails into drugs and violence like John (from I.D) he'd have completely undermined his credibility

p.s. if you actually read the book Donnie Brasco (by J Pistone himself) he says that he NEVER forgot who he was, and so anything contary in the film is not staying true to what happenned. Also it was Sonny Black who Donnie grew close to (not Pacino's Lefty character) and it was Sony Black who got whacked in real life for vouching for Donnie.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] samuelhagger1 15 years ago

Anyone notice that Trev is now a plain clothes police officer at the end of the film? Before the Sahdwell job he look very much like a normal Uniform desk sargent. It looks like he is working in CID, as when he goes out to confront John he shows the uniformed police officer his warrant card, meaning the uniform guy didnt not know who he was. I assume he got a promotion so it would seem quite a bit of time has passed. Also the 4 policemen went out as a group with their wives Trevs wife left him, John went mental and the group broke up after the operation went bust. I think that this scene is maybe six months or more later, surely Trev would have stayed in contact with John given the fact they all lied to cover up the stabbing in Tyneburn market and would likely know what he was up to. The point is not if he is still 'on the job' but more about what he has become - he lost everything he was. From the cocky police man with a house and wife and good future, to a racist neo nazi with a tattoo on his head. Remeber the speach given to John when he becomes a top boy? Vincent says something like 'The boot boys will go back to the sidelines and the others will get fat and take there kids to the games'. John went to the sidelines - in this case the National Front. He is now just a thug and nothing more. The transformation is complete.

[–] drake06 15 years ago

I think the director wants the audience to be left in the dark whether John is still a cop or just a thug, because that is exactly where John is, in the dark.

He doesn't know or doesn't care if he is an undercover cop or a thug, so the ending is very intelligent imo, it is exactly the ending that sums up the whole movie in a short scene.

[–] sillyspaghetti 12 years ago

I think he'd become that involved with thuggery and drugs that he ditched the force and became a scummy nazi. Great film, but very very sad.

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