How did this guy survive for all those years without food or fresh water. also why didn't he care that he was going to die was he so afraid of land or so attached to that ship that he'd rather die than leave. overall i think it was a great movie but the ending when it blows up ruined the entire film.
shareYour right. The movie was great and the ending sucked. BUT, I think that every so often you need to see an ending like this. I never thought he was going to be blown up! I figured he'd come off the boat with his fat buddy and live happily ever after somewhere. But all movies can't end happiley ever after. If they did, what would be the use of watching any movie till its end. Just watch it half way thru and envision the happiest ending possible and move onto another movie. I still remember watching some B movie from 35 years ago where the hero died right at the end and the Earth was taken over by aliens! I was like "What the heck was that!" But it still stands out in my mind when I've forgotten so many other movies because the end was just so not what I was planning for.
shareI thought the same thing about the food and fresh water. Obviously there is no way the guy could have stayed on that ship. So, you give up on the realism and try to gain the meaning. The monologue the guy gives at the end was quite poignant, it made me think about something again I have been obsessed with my whole adult life. Any film that can spark that reaction is worth something.
The path of our lives is often based on pure happenstance. Where we were born, who we meet, where we work etc. Small events that don't seem important at the time have life altering consequences later. For example meeting the person who you would eventually marry, purely by chance. The main character seemed to be terrified of this, that part where he mentioned the endless streets you could go down, and how do you choose the right one got to me.
I sometimes think I should have traveled and explored other avenues when I was a younger man, perhaps I would have found a different path. Would it have been better? Who knows? It is not like I am miserable or anything but I pretty much took the conventional route and I often wonder what would have happened had I been bolder.
I guess I am like the piano player somewhat, overwhelmed by the infinite choices one can make I stayed close to home and did what most people do. Got a job, found a girl and had some kids. The dreams I had as a young man eventually faded. I encourage my kids to chase their dreams but honestly I can imagine they may end up doing the same thing, perhaps because I am their example?
I am glad I stuck with the movie to the end, I honestly was going to throw in the towel about 1/2 way in as it was getting slow in spots.
Some physicists believe that every choice we make results in the creation of new realities. If I go left I follow my existance, my line of life. But what if I had turned right? The Many Worlds theory comes out of quantum mechanics and postulates that every eventuality we come across in our entire life, no matter how trivial is explored.
I've become so used to the idea that when I have a close miss at something, I can't help but wonder how it played out to my other selves. like a couple of days ago I was putting away our fake Christmas tree and as I was placing it in the storage bag, the piece that is pointed and connect the top to the bottom sections flew up and grazed me on the left side of me head. I remember thinking, "I wonder how many realities I just took my left eye out in?"
Millions of realities on millions of parallel plains of existance. Some where I'm dead and some alive. Some married, some single. Some rich and some poor. Some famous, maybe a sports star or leader of a nation, others ignominious.
The point is, don't worry about having missed opportunities. Somewhere out there your exploring or doing everything you ever could have done. Final analysis, your probably not living in your "best" reality, but probably not in the "worst" either, so there is no need for second guessing anything.
I actually signed up for an account just to reply to your post. YES. This movie is that important to me. the ending is what MAKES the movie. It's what wraps it up perfectly. Your trying to analyze something that's inspired from the imagination says a lot about your lack of one. 1900 wasn't any more afraid than we as humans beings are about life. For anyone who is multitalented or who has multipotentials, the choice.. that choice is something that weighs down on you. when you know that you can do anything, be anything, go anywhere.. it's nice to speak poetically about but when you actually take the time to visualize it and realize that it really is infinite, no matter which side of the globe or sex you were born in. Anyone who has multipotentials knows how hard it is to choose. But we choose regardless because we have to. From the story it's the same with the wealthy passengers who take trips or voyages to escape the pressures of their lives. They see an end. They are only visitors to the sea. The immensity of the see scares them and they have too many attachments on land to imagine a life away from such comfort. Such is sanity for them. It's the same for 1900. The ocean does not scare him. If you watched the movie you'll remember the piano scene. That's a man who knows no fear of the unpredictability of the ocean the way other passengers do. It's his life. His way. But for him, land is immense. If you are a stranger or visitor to a realm you are unfamiliar with on every level, there's an anxiety that takes hold of you. You do not know how to fit in. Once can argue that well you could make friends that could teach you but again that's trying to be project onto the movie. That's for your own musings. If anything the movie gets you thinking about your own life and about your own life's decisions and very few movies can do that.
I love this movie. I saw it for the first time when I was 9 years old and it and one other movie have landed on my favourite list till date. i have only two favourite movies, this one and Lars von Trier's 'dancer in the dark'. Nothing has moved me so much in my brief 22 years on this planet the way those two movies have. So please, respect art when you smell it. :o)
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The movie is an allegory. You don't take it literally. It's like Edward Scissorhands.
It's a story and it's up to each individual to take from it what they will. There are numerous references that everyone appreciates the "story" that the trumpet player is giving.
The story becomes a legend, told by Max. If you watch it again you might notice, nobody else see's 1900 on the ship at the end. He hasn't aged at all. And he's dressed in a tux that is spotless.
BTW, it's not really an unusual ending considering it's a European flick.