MovieChat Forums > Vanishing Point (1971) Discussion > Kowolski did not want to....at the end o...

Kowolski did not want to....at the end of the film.

posted 13 years ago by mcintyro
11 replies | jump to latest

His life was a bit of a disappointment, true, but, as the film unveils itself, we realize that Kowolski was a pretty upstanding and moral guy. He didn't even smoke weed (girlfriend episode).

Towards the end of the film, he is having a conversation with a girl, and he has come down a bit from his high. The girl acknowledges the heroic deed he did as a cop for the teenager. Before that meeting, Kowolski had viewed that cop episode in his life as a failed attempt to bring an attempt justice to a corrupt society. That cop episode touched lives.

I think he wants to live now, because one of his efforts helped another person, but it is too late. He cannot stop in time for the bulldozers. He gives a smile of irony, because now that he had finally found purpose, it is too late.

[–] tricksoftrade01 13 years ago

You are saying that he did not see the bulldozers? You forgot the scene where he saw them and did a U turn, where he saw two cop cars heading toward him, and Kowolski then turnd around again and hit the dozers full speed. Suicide is clear.

[–] hemichallenger 13 years ago

He meant to suicide, that is clear.

It confuses me though that Barry Newman himself has said he is smiling because he thinks he can get through - I don't think that is accurate.
This is how I interpret the ending and is just my personal opinion;
Kowalski is severely depressed. his life was one failure after another, he was a good character a sort of existential anti hero and he was smiling because he would soon not have to feel so depressed and everything would be over.
I firmly identify with him and think this movie beautifly puts across themes of existential angst, nihilism, meaninglessness, frustration and hipocracy of society in all its forms.
I hate the remake because they have Kowalski as a Christian, not the original depressed, drugged out anti hero with no purpose and a head full of demons and despair.

[–] chucknorrisfacts 13 years ago

I know what you're saying about how he turned around and avoided the bulldozers so it would seem like when he went back he knew they'd be there and he could just run into them to commit suicide, but I feel since Barry Newman was the star of the movie, he'd be better informed than all of us on what the movie was supposed to mean. If he says Kowalski thought he could get through the "gap in the fence" then I think that's what it was intended as.

Perhaps he thought (in his high state) that the bulldozers had moved further apart since he last saw them and that he could through the second time but not the first?

[–] mstanley-1 11 years ago

This has been discussed a lot. Besides the obvious suicide, the film also moves on an existential level. I think what Newman meant was that after hitting the blades his soul would move on through, leaving the material world behind. One can also see an outlaw legend being born at that moment, as with the death of Billy the Kid, or rock singers who died and became larger than life, etc. Also, check the times at the start where he runs from the roadblock and at the end when he hits them. ;-)

[–] Cranham-and-Blakely 11 years ago

How does taking speed but not smoking weed mean he has good morals? He wanted speed because it would keep him going, weed would have done the opposite.

[–] sillyspaghetti 11 years ago

The ending of this made me feel really sad. I thought he'd killed himself on purpose (only saw this for the first time today) but if the actor says otherwise I am not gonna argue.

"Hey! Ladies! That was fun!"

[–] TheMiamiTiger 9 years ago

Yeah, what an upstanding and moral guy. xD Didn't smoke weed, but got hopped up on meth occasionally.

[–] Errington_92 9 years ago

Kowolski's death symbolised the struggle and ultimate demise of America's counterculture. As the OP stated, Kowolski realised that his moral stance had been noticed. Yet this was lost upon the majority of society and Kowolski knew it, hence his decision to commit suicide.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.

[–] ailuruu 8 years ago

So many different interpretations! A hallmark of a great film, imo.

As I said in another thread, it makes the movie infinitely tragic if you think Kowalski believed that he can get through and smiles for that reason. Since there is no definite clue to point to a bullet-proof interpretation, I choose this one for the time being, since I like infinitely tragic things (when they're fiction, ofc).

The ironic smile one is almost as good, though. Perhaps a little implausbile, since he does turn around. Mine requires that he's delusional / hallucinating from drugs and exhaustion, though, so it's not the likeliest either. Plain suicide would seem kinda hum-drum for such an iconic movie, but it is the most plausible explanation. A kind of escape (for his soul?) to smile about, even if it's a bitter smile (I should watch the movie again and try and look closely at how he smiles!).

[–] Kimball-Kinnison 8 years ago

I'm thinking he literally "saw the light" between the dozers and figuratively "saw the light" of moving on into the next realm. The girl he met at night dressed in black with a hood seemed like an "Angel of death" or grim reaper. Didn't she say she was "waiting for him for a long time". He wasn't high anymore because it's effects wore off by the morning, and she was mysteriously gone. He was smiling because he realized how he could be with his lost girlfriend. Just my take....

There's something wonderful about a storm.

[–] geode 8 years ago

I'm thinking he literally "saw the light" between the dozers and figuratively "saw the light" of moving on into the next realm. The girl he met at night dressed in black with a hood seemed like an "Angel of death" or grim reaper. Didn't she say she was "waiting for him for a long time". He wasn't high anymore because it's effects wore off by the morning, and she was mysteriously gone. He was smiling because he realized how he could be with his lost girlfriend. Just my take....

That scene with the girl, played by Charlotte Rampling, was in the UK version so not even seen in the most commonly watched cut if the film. This scene also did not seem to fit in all that well with the flow of the film, so I'm not sure we can place much emphasis upon it in terms or explaining the meaning of the film.

Oh Lord, you gave them eyes but they cannot see...