The End? (Open-ended movie endings)
By: Dan Jones
This list* has been compiled to help viewers understand what qualifies as an open-ended movie ending. Amusing, what some people perceive as an open-ended story. (“Thelma & Louise”?!)
But it’s time to set some of you straight.
Firstly, “Thelma & Louise” does not qualify.
Secondly, know that a real artist will tell you they’d die before explaining themselves. Certain films may have metaphors; others are left for interpretation or creative predictions. It’s the viewer’s job to dig a little. One doesn’t get anything out of asking someone else for the answer. Ask yourself why you need to know so badly.
Throughout my extensive research, I became excited over endings in general. Inspiring endings, surprising endings, perfect endings, Hollywood endings, forgotten endings. Movies like “Arlington Road,” “The Sting,” “Angel Face,” or “The King of Comedy.” I’ve gone and forgotten** many; and therefore, they’re not on this list. But it’s a start.
Ever since the final episode of “Sopranos” of 2007, independent filmmakers (or should I say the studios picking up their films for distribution) have learned to appreciate open endings. Especially this year: “Another Earth,” “Drive,” “Like Crazy,” “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” “Shame,” and “Take Shelter.”
We may not see the aftermath in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” or “Black Swan” but should have a pretty good notion of where these two showboats are headed. (I love these two films, but I couldn’t ignore how these main characters catered to their needs for destruction.)
Interesting fact: Producers of the film “American Psycho” came out and said they had author Bret Easton Ellis’ open ending wrong. They were more direct in swaying the viewer. (Although, still an open ending.)
If you’re confused by an obscure ending, don’t be ashamed. There’s nothing wrong with your brain capacity. I’m sure you’re more of a literal thinker, or a realist. More than not, you could live your life without ever knowing why they sing the Mickey Mouse song at the end of “Full Metal Jacket.” (Stanley Kubrick HAS endings. Listed below.)
Indie “Primer” has an ending as clear as “Prestige” and “Memento” (all DO have endings). “Inception” does NOT.
Some are harder to pinpoint. Giant “Gone with the Wind” is the beginning for Scarlett. “Casablanca” represents choices. “Five Easy Pieces,” however, is about as open as “Good Will Hunting” (which isn’t).
Foreign films are usually open ended (the day-in/day-out circle of living is apparently more accepted than our American hustle-bustle culture).
I do not consider an opening for a sequel “left to the imagination” or a film that “got me thinking.” “The Blair Witch Project” and “Paranormal Activity” or the billion other “Quarantine”/“REC” movie endings (another is “The Last Exorcism”) leave nothing to ponder. Nothing has been opened for you. If anything, these horror films try to shock intrigue out of your system.
Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers” and “U Turn” were open until their stories continue over closing credits and, consequently, close the open end. “The French Connection” could have been as open as the building the police storm through, but a title card neatly sums up off-screen gunfire.
“Before Sunrise” has a ten-year-gap sequel (“Before Sunset”). ”Back to the Future” had one of the best endings but followed it up with a sequel (although Michael J. Fox originally didn’t want to do it). “Burnt by the Sun” has a sequel which ruins … everything about the original.
The newest “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is somewhat open but is part of a series. Both “Funny Games” versions are NOT open ended, nor do they welcome one. “Planet of the Apes” (2001) remake is not exactly open ended but … just never mind. (A very accurate list of the asinine can be found at: http://www.cracked.com/article_15621_the-10-most-asinine-movie-twist-endings.html)
Oh, and I refuse to include David Lynch’s movies. (Artistic perceptions are aloud, and one should dissect the artwork and not the artist. In Lynch’s case, both are inconsiderable when compared to grounded films with beginnings, middles, and ends – open or not.)
To qualify as an open-ended film, the story (the ending) must be open for interpretation. There should be a desire to go back and see how much you love it, hate it, or love to hate it. (Or my personal favorites – the ones you hate to love.)
The endings are kept sacred; but if you’d rather not know how a film wraps; then by all means, skip the lists below.
Lastly, there doesn’t have to be an ending to any list. Here is a fraction of the Ambiguous to discuss over appetizer samplers …
Open Endings
Sopranos (season finale)
Another Earth
Drive
Like Crazy
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Shame
American Psycho
The Shining
Inception
Also …
Antichrist
Apartment Zero
Barton Fink
Before Sunset (NOT Before Sunrise)
Birth
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Broken Flowers
The Conversation
eXistenZ
Frailty
The Graduate
Griffey’s Theory
Human Achievement
I, Robot
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, 1978)
The Island
Knife in the Water (subtitled early Roman Polanski film)
Laurel Canyon
Limbo
Pi
A Serious Man
Short Cuts
Synecdoche, New York
The Thing (1982)
Total Recall
Unfaithful
Vanilla Sky
MISPERCEIVED Open Endings
Thelma & Louise
The Wrestler
Black Swan
Full Metal Jacket
Primer
Prestige
Memento
Five Easy Pieces
Good Will Hunting
Funny Games (1997, 2007)
Also …
2001: A Space Odyssey
About Schmidt
Adaptation.
…And Justice for All
Angels with Dirty Faces
A Clockwork Orange
Cube
Dan Jones’ Career is Over
Dark City
District 9
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Eyes Wide Shut
The Fountain
Lolita
Paths of Glory
Planet of the Apes (1968, 2001)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946, 1981)
OPEN to be Open-Ended
Back to the Future
Before Sunrise
Blade Runner (alternate “original” endings)
Burnt by the Sun
Casablanca
The French Connection
The Game (1997)
Gone with the Wind
Lost in Translation (Bill Murray’s whisper)
Natural Born Killers
U Turn
AND ALL THOSE HORROR MOVIES
“Under which category would you place “The Grey” starring Liam Neeson?”
* This list has no connection to OTHER Dan Jones of IMDb.com (best car chases).
** But I haven’t forgotten to add my films to the list.
