I just watched this movie and was confused by the ending. They finally reach the edge of the Valley and she says something like "there it is" and then the movie is over. We never find out what is in the Valley or what happens to the 5 people. Did it imply that they were going to die?
I haven't seen it for a couple years now, but i remember thinking that they were all going to die. it turned out to be some twist with their search for paradise. they ended up finding paradise through death.
shareInteresting. I thought thats what happened. I always heard it was kind of a stinker, but I kind of enjoyed it. And not just because I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan.
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It is said that noone who travels to the Valley ever returns. Maybe this is, as it was suggested, because nobody would ever leave Paradise. But as it was revealed, paradise is a place with many exits, and no entrance. Perhaps, on the contrary, the reason that noone ever returns from the Valley is because nobody who sets out to find the Valley manages to finish the journey alive. Does paradise really exist in that Valley? As for our group of spiritual voyagers, it's a little ambiguous what actually happens at the end, but I believe that they never did reach The Valley. They did go so far, however, as to render it impossible to turn back. So their only choice was to continue forward, even after they ran out of food. It's likely that they didn't survive, but rather took an unplanned detour, not to the Valley they were searching for, but to the ultimate paradise in the afterlife. I think what Olivier said was enlightening. They wanted to find a new kind of freedom in the jungle, but life in the jungle was not the freedom they were looking for. Living among the natives was not the answer. I think this is evidence enough that The Valley was just a myth, and not reality. It's uncharted because there's nothing there, and it's in the middle of the jungle, and it's even shapeless in the fact that it's obscured by clouds. They were innocent themselves, our spiritual voyagers, heading for paradise, but then they, or Olivier at least, realized their naivete, and the paradise was lost. But perhaps the others were smart enough to realize that paradise wasn't to be found in The Valley, but rather in the search for it. And so, even at the unexpected end of their journey, they were happy, because they realized that all this time, they were already in the Valley, to them no longer obscured by clouds.
shareGreat answer Zharth. I think you are right on about that.
The most interesting point of this whole movie is that they realize that they can never achieve their objective of spiritual nirvana and happiness that they see in the inhabitants of this untouched valley that has been ignored by westerners because it is "obscured by clouds" on every map.
The bliss the islanders have is their ignorance of the larger, outside world with its complications and frantic speed. Once you know of this world you can never "erase" your mind, hence their inability to reach the pure state of mind uncluttered by that knowledge that they seek. It’s a common quest by many people, the notion of returning to a simpler way of living. Quite impossible to do, as you know about hot showers, cell phones etc
"Ignorance is bliss"
"They were innocent themselves, our spiritual voyagers, heading for paradise, but then they, or Olivier at least, realized their naivete, and the paradise was lost. But perhaps the others were smart enough to realize that paradise wasn't to be found in The Valley, but rather in the search for it. And so, even at the unexpected end of their journey, they were happy, because they realized that all this time, they were already in the Valley, to them no longer obscured by clouds."
I don't see it that way, but I think it's definitely open to interpretation. I think, despite common thinking today, this wasn't about "the journey." I think this is a very literal movie and the only real question is if they died at the end, thereby getting to paradise in death. And I think the foreshadowing of running out of food and then covering up with blankets and nearly passing out from the altitude, at least to me, said that they died. Thereby making paradise whatever each one wanted it to be.
The other part of the story - the getting there and becoming worthy of paradise is a little more interesting. When Olivier gives his speech during their time with the aborigines, he reveals they're just "playing native." He exposes that what the westerners see as perfection with the natives is really just another set of rules, maybe even worse ones than they escaped from in the first place. The idea of the "nobel savage" is a western guilt complex or a "grass is always greener" idea, and ultimately something that only exists in our minds, like the idea of paradise. But this is Olivier's revelation. The others might not have seen it that way.
And in the end they simply died. But I like randypine's idea of not being able to escape your past, the other angle Olivier was going for in his speech at the end. Even if they found paradise they wouldn't be able to maintain it. They know too much to the contrary.
I’ve just finished watching this and loved it. I think that Olivier already knew that they were not going to find Paradise when they were with the tribe. He seemed a much more grounded character than the rest of them. He appeared to be looking for freedom from the modern world, rather than the spiritual nirvana that the others sought, but realised that none of them were going to find what they wanted. In the end, I think I agree that they all died and that was the paradise that they found.
Incidentally, I was so glad I found the sub-titles on this film as my French isn’t that good!
Tread carefully, because you tread on my dreams.
They found Paradise has it's price too.
sharethey all jumped off the cliffWhen there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...
They reached the Valley, so what was there? Possible answers:
A fog machine.
A WWII bomber with a skeleton that pops out when they open the door.
A bunch of stoners who go, "man, Floyd was barely in it!".
A Quiznos. Unfortunately, they couldn't buy anything since dumb-ass Viviane gave all her money to those horse traders.
Nothing. It's just a lot of weeds, so they turn around and go home.
A paradise of astonishing beauty, but they ran out of film so you don't get to see it.