Was the airport scene a practical joke?
Was the scene where he went traipsing all the way to the airport a prectical joke?
shareHe didn't believe Odd would really sell the boat so he didn't bother to be responsible.
shareMy thought was that it was a metaphor (like riding in the car as a passive passenger, while the driver was blindfolded). Horten drove trains all his life, but went nowhere. His boat was a dream of someday traveling freely (without rails dictating the route) but he could never pull the trigger. Now, he shows up at an airport (also his dream to fly back home after his last train trip for work). And he can't get himself situated, winding up on the middle of the runway unable to figure out what to do next.
A sad, but very real, moment when Horten had to sit in his boat for just one last time before completing the sale. Nice.
Hi JayCeezy,
That's a very thoughtful commentary. I looked at the film overall instead of breakdown scene by scene. Sometimes I thought he was just passive & didn't care. Other times I thought he just gave up. It is a very beautiful film that should shake up the world. Be yourself first or you can't be anything.
My thought was that it was a metaphor (like riding in the car as a passive passenger, while the driver was blindfolded). Horten drove trains all his life, but went nowhere.
I can see the relevance of your comment. Personally I saw it as Horten feeling confused by modern society as he seems to spend most of his time thinking of the past and is, until the end, out of place with his current environment.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".
In some ways, there's an ominous feeling to O'Horten's retirement that resembles the (much more overtly) ominous retirement in The Pledge. The scene with the blindfolded driver is just *so* weird. You can't take your eyes from the film a single moment, just as you can't take your eyes from Jack Nicholson's frightened, newly retired man. Both characters are in liminal, very vulnerable stages of life.
share