MovieChat Forums > The Assignment (1997) Discussion > SPOILERS: Fingerprints, anyone???

SPOILERS: Fingerprints, anyone???

posted 16 years ago by dboero
5 replies | jump to latest

First off, this is one of the best movies I have seen in a while and I should also mention I watch a lot of movies.

Anyway, I read on a post which said that no person smokes the same way as another, that is true. But then again since I was a smoker for a while I know if I see a spider while smoking a cigarette, like the one Carlos saw in the beginning of the movie and like the one Carlos/Annibal saw in the end of the movie, I would try to kill it, quite possibly with my cigarette. The end is for everyone to interpret in their own way, some may believe it was Carlos, some believe it was Annibal. That doesn't really matter to me, what I love about the ending it's that it's up to you to decide what you make of it, coincidence or not? Who knows....

But anyway, FINGERPRINTS ANYONE? C'mon so let's say in the end it is infact Carlos with Annibal's family, but wouldn't have Annibal(theoretically in jail) been processed and have his fingerprints taken? I know if I was Carlos, wrongly accused, I would ask them to take my fingerprints to prove I am indeed Carlos, as far as I'm concerned you can't copy someone else's fingerprints. Hence, if using some common sense and logic, I would hardly doubt that Carlos is the guy in the end with Annibal's family. I think the director just wanted to emphasize how much of Carlos, Annibal had become. But then again, that is just my opnion.

What do you think?

[–] MovieAlien 16 years ago

The man at the end was NOT Carlos, and there shouldn't be any uncertainty if you consider:

1.) When Carlos and Annibal were fighting and Jack Shaw shoots one of them, the guy he shot said, to the effect, "I don't want this to be all for nothing." No scenes suggested Carlos knew of Shaw's operation. It would have been a deus ex machina for Carlos to turn around and impersonate the man who was impersonating him.

2.) Jack and Amos were well-researched on all of Carlos' behaviors, antics, philosophies, etc. based on intelligence and his former lovers. The beginning scene probably wasn't the first time he burned a spider with a cigarette...just like the beating at the Little League game, Annibal never recovered from the intensive "Carlos" conditioning.

That was the basis for the final scene.

[–] ironmnt 16 years ago

I believe the guy in the last shot is Annibal and that the writer is
telling you that, when he lets the spider live. Carlos killed for no reason - Annibal did not. That was the difference and that is why in the end, the spider lives. Annibal simply blew smoke at the spider and as we learned in the beginning Carlos would have burnt it alive.

Lots of great insights in this film and Aidan once again shows his chops alongside the greatness of Kingsley and Sutherland ***

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] def_tones_mike 14 years ago

Also if you remember in the fight between Carlos and Annibal, Carlos gets cut across the face with a license plate. If it was Carlos in the end, he would have had a scar across his face. Cause by the amount of blood on his face, the cut would have been rather deep.

[–] benbo-3 11 years ago

We're overlooking the most obvious thing. When Jack Shaw saw there were 2 guys in the water, and he couldn't tell who was the real Annibal, he gave the password challenge, and Annibal, the guy that Shaw shot, answered the counter-code 'not as sticky as it was last summer'. The other guy (Carlos) then realized Shaw would realize he had shot Annibal, and dived into the river & disappeared. There would be no doubt in the river as to which Annibal was the right one, and no doubt later due to the bullet wounds. And yes, fingerprints; when joining the Navy, Annibal would've had to give his fingerprints. Doubtless after the whole episode, if there was any doubt, they could've checked Annibal's fingerprints. Carlos wouldn't have changed his fingerprints to match Annibal. Case closed, the guy a the end who didn't burn the spider was the same guy Jack Shaw shot on the riverbank.