sad ending

i wrote the following post on another topic here ("great ending - masterfull film" or something like that):



"despite this being a mamet-film, and having been impressed by his movies in the past, i didn't have great expectations about redbelt.

unlike many others here, i don't really care whether the ending was realistic. in fact, what i found brilliant, was that this very cliché 'happy ending' suddenly became so moving. more than emotionally satisfying or hopefull it made a very melancholic impression on me, as if it was showing us an utopic ideal, a dream, that you know only can exist in a fictitious realm. yes, it has a positive message about integrity, but i woulcn't call it optimistic.

the whole movie up to that point shows too painfully well how difficult (impossible?) it is to stick to your principles and ideals in a rotten world. the last embrace in the ring made me so sad; these old masters are being dragged to this contest for their corrupt families to fill their pockets, and it tears them apart. they're a dying breed, and they know it. they're lonely.

at the same time, the son of the brazilian 'professor' didn't come across as a 'bad guy', just someone (like many other characters in the movie) who hasn't got the energy anymore not to take part in a corrupt system. the movie shows very well how any 'good' individual is able to help maintain a 'bad' system. it also shows convincingly how by trying to maintain a 'pure' lifestyle, you unwillingly end up hurting people around you that you love.

these and many other complex questions are being conveyed throughout the movie. it's simple, straightforward, VERY suspensefull (if you ask me), but loaded with meaning and ambiguity. economic too; saying a lot with little means. taking age-old stereotypes and structures to make a modest, entertaing movie that at the same time confronts you with many very deep questions about society and your place in it.

also, on a very basic, non-methaphorical level, this movie made me respect and understand something i had always found despicable in the past: fighting.

you might say i liked it."



anybody else found the ending more saddening than uplifting?