Unresolved endings kind of piss me off. You?

Tags: Books, Movies, Unresolved Endings
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The new volleyball was a symbol for a new life. Including going back to the island.

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DrewDad wrote:

Joe Nation wrote:
Yeah. I've watched the ending of Castaway six or seven times and I know the writer(s) wanted us to feel like -okay, now his life can go on. - but, there is something missing somehow. There he is. The island he is on is now the whole world intersected by two Texas Farm Roads. AND? He is still a castaway.

But... that's the point. She was his world. The island was just a metaphor, the package was just a metaphor for his work.

When I watched this film, I saw the island as more of an island and less of a metaphor. Viewing the island as a metaphor probably makes the film more enjoyable.

With that in mind, is there some way viewers can be warned to put on their literal goggles or their metaphorical goggles before a film starts so that they enjoy the film?

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@LostBlackBook,

You're right -- films often fail by not adequately cluing in the audience that there's a metaphorical or metaphysical underpinning to the story. A lot of unresolved endings occur because of this failure. You can still have the mystery without the being unnecessarily arcane, making it a director and writer's private little joke but nearly everyone never gets the punch line.

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@LostBlackBook,

LostBlackBook wrote:

is there some way viewers can be warned to put on their literal goggles or their metaphorical goggles before a film starts so that they enjoy the film?

this is why i refuse to see films with islands or volleyballs in them

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@djjd62,

if however somebody was to make a movie called "island of the naked beach volleyball vixens", i might make a concession

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@djjd62,

Maybe Roger Ebert could write that script!

Just from a posting on another thread about "Deja Vu" being a movie with a "Huh?" ending, I also thought of "Vanilla Sky" and "Bonfire of the Vanities."

Unresolved endings kind of piss me off. You?

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