SPOILERS
Ending A: While they're driving away and the vampire is at her most emotionally vulnerable state, Arash kills her.
Ending B: Same as above, except the vampire stops the attempted killing and is forced to kill Arash instead.
Adds a tragic undertone, and doesn't condone the vampire's killing of innocent, defenseless people (homeless man) like the film now does.
I'm glad it didn't end with either of them two options. It didn't need to be wrapped up Hollywood-style.
shareDid it, however, need to be left in the classic indie style of barely having an ending? The romance angle was boring in the first place, but to have it end on that was a dud. I did appreciate the subtleties of him realizing what she's done and debating over it before getting back in the car, but it was rather uninteresting to me. Of course sometimes a subtle, open ended closing works for a film, but indie films tend to go either one of two routes for the ending: Insanity followed by an abrupt ending, or a slow burn leading to a "message ending," typically with little to no dialogue. Each is indicative of an inability to write something interesting. It's tired.
shareWell it worked for me, I felt satisfied
shareWhy do you need an "ending" that wraps up the characters story that bad?
For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco
This would be a terrible idea for a few reasons:
1) It doesn't make sense. What reasons would Arash have to do that? I can't think of any that wouldn't feel contrived.
2) It would probably feel like a twist for the sake of having a twist, which is the mark of an incompetent filmmaker. Some twists work (see: Alfred Hitchcock), but often they feel lazy (see: M Night Shaymalan).
3) The idea that filmmakers should or must always imbue their films with contived fictionalized morals, or that they should punish characters for their bad deeds is:
A) Condescending, the filmmaker should be focused on telling a good story, not acting like we, as the audience, can't tell fiction from real life.
B) Contrived, because it doesn't make sense in the context of the story
C) Pandering to prudes and people who are used to watching schlockbusters where the good guys always win (see: marvel)
D) Lazy, and perhaps also naive.
Beyond that, it's a position that lacks an appreciation of art/cinema/whatever and belongs in the drakonian hayes office age.
"1) It doesn't make sense. What reasons would Arash have to do that? I can't think of any that wouldn't feel contrived. "
...He just realized she killed his father. While he had certainly gotten sick of his father's presence by that time, revenge for the murder of one's father is not an uncommon instinct. Not to mention that he has fully grasped that he is sitting next to/has become intimate with a serial killer. It might be easier to conceive/less "contrived" if the genders were reversed and a female Arash was more visibly fearing for her life.
"2) It would probably feel like a twist for the sake of having a twist, which is the mark of an incompetent filmmaker."
It would not have been a twist, because it is what the film was hinting at immediately after Arash saw the cat at the vampire's place. He started acting distant, aloof, and deeply conflicted. The twist is what actually occurred in the film afterward: Arash reacts in a nonviolent/non-retaliatory manner, and while that ending has its own nuanced charm, it doesn't pack much of a punch, emotionally, viscerally, or in any indelible manner.
1) I thought that either your A or B was going to be how it would end, and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't. That said, while watching the film I was thinking that it had better end definitively on that front; but when I saw how it did end I realised I was wrong.
2) Why do you think the movie condones killing innocent people? And why would A or B change that?
3) Why would a female Arash be more visibly fearing for her life? And why would that contribute to his/her dilemma anyway?
Replying to point 2: The OP explained that he/she was referring to the scene where the girl kills the homeless man.
I must say, I was a bit taken aback by this scene as well. Maybe there were some deleted scenes with him, like maybe he used to be a bad person / predator type guy as well, or maybe he is terminally sick or something....
But I have to agree that scene on its own was throwing me off a bit.
All that aside, I really liked the ending. I was afraid that Arash would try to avenge his father, but the way it turned out I found it quite a beautiful ending. A girl, a boy and a cat drive through the night together. :)
Yeah I really liked the ending as well.
And I agree that the scene with the homeless man was problematic. It would have been better if given some context of the sort you have suggested, or left out altogether.
However, even with the scene as is, it doesn't follow that the film itself condones the killing of innocent people, as the OP said.
She is a vampire. She needs to eat and cannot necessarily always find a "bad guy" to off, so she feeds on a homeless man who at that stage in his life might as well be dead. She's kind of doing him a favor as well as not harming anyone with a family to go home to.
shareWhy do we have to moralize art? Why can't she just tell a good story? The Girl is a vampire ffs, if you take exception to innocent people being eaten alive, perhaps you shouldn't watch a vampire movie.
shareActually her reluctantly killing him would have been quite an interesting ending. Despite his issues with his father, upon realizing what she had done he freaks out and she must end him or risk jeopardizing her anonymity and purpose. This not only makes sense in the context of the film, but speaks a bit about how even those with good intentions sometimes have a hard time committing to the righteous path (i.e. the often unintentional or misunderstood sexism, ageism, homophobia, etc. people commit without realizing they are perpetuating these things).
shareThe ending is great the way it is. He said it doesn't matter what they did or what kind of people they are. "If there was a huge storm coming over those mountains, would it matter?" No it wouldn't.
He stopped the car and thought about calling her out, but he didn't. Instead he put on music and stuck to his gut that he will take on whatever comes his way with her by his side.
The place they lived in was called Bad City. Everyone who lived there was bad, including the homeless person. We don't need to know what he did.
It'd make a different ending. I wouldn't say "better."
Can't stop the signal.
How do you know one of them didn't die??? You just see the car drive away, eh eh?? :p
shareThe ending is ambiguous as Arash is struggling to come to terms with what the woman is given her earlier words about being bad. But there can be no better ending than that shot of the two of them with cat in the back looking at the camera! It was so funny.
I'm scared of the middle place between light and nowhereshare
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