Need Help With Final Scene...Thanks!

thats funny, this is exactly the question i just came here to post.

i just saw the movie in this moment (few minutes ago) on tv.

i liked it that those two came together, and then she found these
pictures and realized that her executed husband has drawn hank and
his son, obviously he knew him, probably she understood hank (and son)
were his guards, maybe even executioners.

and she looked like really going crazy about this.
crying etc. ...

first when she came down i thought she is going to shoot him.
and then was this scene with the three graves.
what was that all about ?
there was his son, and probably his mother and his wife buried.
but what did this mean to her ?

(btw., do all americans bury their dead family in the backyard?
this would not even be allowed here in europe).


did hankl meet her really accidently ?
or did he see her at jail (when visitining her husband) and then wanted to meet her? was his driving by after the accident with her son really coincidence ?
or was even HE the driver that hit her son?

HE seemed to know who she is, since he didnt seem to be amazed when she showed him the paintings of her husband. he wasnt amazed, and HE SAID NOTHING.
ok, you could say he found out by her name when he drove her home from hospital first time.
but still he didnt mention the fact that he knew her husband. that is suspicious (at least i would think that if i were her).



in my oppinion in this moment on the stairs she decided to leave, thats what it seemed like to me. at least (if not even harm him).
but then she sat down with hank eating ice and saying not a word about this.
saying nothing at all ...

but staring at him in a strange way.
it looked weird to me, not as if everything was still ok.
not friendly. not at all.


my question :

what do you believe where her thoughts ?
did she want to leave ?
would she leave shortly after ?

what wanted the movie to tell us with this ?
what was she thinking (about her finding out her husband knew hank and
he didnt tell) ?

what was this end all about ?
what did the director/the writer want to tell us ?

it looked to me as if she was desillusioned the moment she found those pictures,
but maybe this end wanted to say something else ?

one could think maybe she thought it is a good thing as hank would try to make something good (after the bad life he lived as an executioner).

but, to be honest, i had not the impression that she liked it.
and the way she looked at him at the end on these steps didn't look friendly to me. i'd say : desillusioned at best, stunned, but hating it.


i dont think i really understood the end of this movie.

was she about to leave or not ?

what where her thoughts about hank knowing (executing member of) her dead husband ?


what do you all think ?

i would like to hear many oppinions.


thanks,

martin

The drawings were made by her husband of Hank and his son while her husband was on death row. She was upset that Hank was a corrections officer who played a part in his execution.

I think the last scene with them eating ice cream showed she was ready to move on from her previous life and start a new one with Hank. She no longer "blamed" him for what he did.

To me, when she sees the pictures she's upset and pissed at him for possibly knowing who she is and taking advantage of her.
But she sees the graves outside, and realizes he's had people die too, and that he's as hurt, screwed up, and needy as she is.
She thinks about what they have and how nice he's been and realizes his relationship with her husband's death doesn't have to be the end of their relationship. And accepts it.

Here's how I viewed it (& I never really thought Halle was a OMG! BEST ACTRESS EVER!):

The last shot of her face, the way her expression flitted through the emotions, was what pulled me in. Her face told me the main decisions that she needs to make:

1) Should I confront him but then lead a life where I have no place to live, be alone prob. for the rest of my life, and live the way I was living with a high % of a bleak (no?) promising future? Should I go back to the PAST?

2) Should I keep it to myself? Give myself a shot of for a new life, which may or may not be with this man who basically killed my former hubby/lover/boyfriend dead & father of my dead child, have a chance of... contentment, maybe, see a different future, maybe give me a lil' hope for my life? Should I take this chance for my FUTURE?

Obviously, it's not as cut and dry as I presented it because I think she would have to eventually confront him as their relationship progresses. But IMO, she did the right thing by not doing it AT THAT MOMENT (end of the movie). It's ambiguous, but I LOVED it. There was a sense of "hope," if you will. Halle's expression just WOWed me there. It's very subtle but I literally can FEEL what was going through her head, the decision she was presented with.

This movie wasn't all that "interesting" t/o but the ending alone made this an instant fave for me. + yeah. I liked the sex scene ;) There was something so... genuine? RAW? Desperately passionate? about it. IDK, it was a "hit me in the gut" type of sex scene for me.

Dang, I must've totally misread the last scene then...In my mind the three graves were his son, her son and her son's father...

I took it as Hank had done so much for her and maybe now she understood this was part of the reason, guilt perhaps but decided to move on

Do guys like "the thing"?
They like it better than no thing.