ending (spoilers) - Places in the Heart (1984) Discussion

[–] partyninja 16 years ago

I disagree. I see the ending, simply, as they are all dead and once we are dead (in the Christian vision that this film embraces) all of our earthly problems, struggles and divisions are over.

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[–] megmarch2003 16 years ago

I think there can be more than one interpretation. I personally think it is symbolic for what it could be like if there was no racism and inequality in the world.

"You can't tell me nothin' if you ain't had an 8-track." -Sinbad

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[–] cmjare 16 years ago

We watched this in my "The Individual In Society" class, we just finished it today.

The ending signifies that the people we meet and who touch our lives always have a place in our hearts (hence the title). It also shows/signifies what she wants for the world if there was no segregation and injustice.

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[–] Waterfairy 16 years ago

Thank you lol I wondered if anybody else was gonna catch that. Those people were not literaly in the church and Edna (Sally Field) was not asleep. She was just thinking about all the people that had touched her life in some way and all had "Places in her heart."

Someone else mentioned that Moses might have been killed when he left town and that's why he was there with her. It's possible that he was, the KKK was pretty pissed at him, but I don't think he had to be dead, he was a close friend of Edna's and he had a special place in her heat whether he was dead or alive.

It's called a llaaaannce--Hellooooo

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[–] timothyhodge 16 years ago

This also explains why Viola and Bud aren't in the church. She was gone from their lives and their hearts.

The moment where Margaret takes Wayne's hand in church makes this story for me. The look on Ed Harris' face convinces me that he knows that even though he said he was sorry, he didn't deserve the forgiveness he received. That's pure grace.

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[–] letty1 16 years ago

the final scene was a beautiful glimpse into the spirit realm...the supernatural...where each of the spirits/souls of the people involved in the story are united in christ's love, u notice they said "peace of God" as they passed the communion elements....it proved the true theme of the movie, that "with God all things are possible" towards the common good...and that all "are acceptable in the beloved"...as well as being forgiven for their sins, even the boy who killed royce, i dont see the clansman present there, probably bc they were not repentant!

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[–] pgrass13 16 years ago

I believe it is litteraly the comunion of saints or Heaven. I think it is amazing that a movie actually gives this perspective, because it is rarely seen in movies.

Same thing we do every night try to take over the world

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[–] cgostel 16 years ago

It could be much darker if you assume that Moze was killed on his way out of town.

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[–] whitespirit26 16 years ago

Of course Moze wasn't killed; good grief. And the comment "She was gone from their lives and their hearts" is totally off too; that couple was NOT gone from their hearts! Hello, there was no reason why the town wouldn't still love them dearly; it was clear they'd miss them. It's pretty simple: everything in the church was really happening, except for the dead folks. Viola and Bud were passing it on their way out of town, Margaret was forgiving Wayne, the blind tenant was sitting with Edna and her family. As for Moze, I hope he was there. The spirits of Royce and the young boy, though, were symbolic of peace, forgiveness, equality and, as someone beautifully pointed out and I hadn't considered, the people in our hearts.

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[–] cgostel 15 years ago

That's definitely one interpretation. I think it's completely wrong, but to each his own.

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[–] mistedshadow 15 years ago

yup to each his own and this is mine.

Just watched it, and glad I did, but, I hate it when a good movie takes shortcuts in the last few minutes of the film in order to wrap it up. The director should have invested a few more minutes into giving a better, more easily digestible ending.

Obviously they are not dead because Marge and her husb are still alive, and interestingly enough headed to the intersection of route "77" , seven being a Godly number. If anything the symbolism is Marge and her husband are headed to 77-heaven and everyone else is struggling in purgatory. It makes more sense to have communion in purgatory, communion in heaven makes no sense since you would be in the presence of Jesus - that is, if you really care to follow the analogy. In the movie Marge, despite her infidelity, shines because she truly repents of her actions without any outside pressure other than her conscious. Thusly earning her wings along with her guileless husband.

You know what, now that I sit here and think about it Marge and her husband may have represented Adam and Eve, where Marge by cheating partook of the forbidden fruit. Just a thought to play around with.

If it was intended to represent a dream why not portray that in the film, sheesh. To portray a dream they should have had Edna sitting on the porch watching Moze leave that night, with her ending up staying on the porch all night, and dozing off to sleep, taking the story from there into her fantasy dream. Then they could have had her wake up sitting on the porch with the sun just coming up to represent hope and the future.

I would also point out the hardship portrayed in the moving didnt come from the lack of love, but from the economic distress of the depression.

I really would have loved for the movie to make more sense; because the main story is about Edna trying to make sense of her world after her husband dies.

The side stories of the affair & tornado didn't disturb me but I wish they had been tied in more to the main story to justify their existence. I did find it a little annoying that after the tornado, that suddenly everything was back to normal as if the storm never happed...why even bother putting that into the story.

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[–] whitespirit26 13 years ago

"If anything the symbolism is Marge and her husband are headed to 77-heaven and everyone else is struggling in purgatory"

That sounds positively nonsensical. There was nothing that would put them in a spiritual place above everyone else in town.

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[–] beauedson 13 years ago

david mamet quote on places in the heart:

At the end of /i/Places in the Heart/i/, Robert Benton put a sequence that is one of the strongest things in an American movie in a long time. It's the sequence where we see everyone who was killed in the film is now alive again. He's created something that is like a dream in this. He is juxtaposing scenes that are discontinuous, and that juxtaposition gives us a third idea. The first scene being /i/everyone's dead/i/. The second scene being /i/everyone's alive/i/. The juxtaposition creates the idea of /i/a great wish/i/, and the audience says, "oh my God, why can't things be that way?" That's like a dream.

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