What about that ending?


Major spoilers so hold on to your hat: when the Jack Palance character asks Jasmine to marry him, she answers, "I'll have to ask Brenda." Or something to that effect. It turned out to be the last lines uttered in the film. Any ideas on what she meant? I have wondered, on and off, since I first rented this movie years ago. Were she and Brenda lovers and I just wasn't paying attention? Or had she and Brenda become so close that she needed to consult with Brenda before making such a big decision? Curious what others think!

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I figured that it was a testimony to their deep friendship.



"The first thing you lose on a diet is brain mass"

-Margaret Cho

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Think about the relationship - the non-sexual friendship - between the women. After returning to Bagdad with a legal visa, Jasmine probably became Brenda's partner in the cafe'. They worked closely together developing a show centered around Jasmine's magic act. Considering the amount of business Brenda did without Jasmine, it is logical to assume they had become partners. It is also logical to ask a partner/friend for advice/opinion on a proposed marriage to a man Brenda had known much longer than Jasmine, and how that marriage may or may not affect the business.

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This is my number one movie, almost have it memorized. You have given an incorrect ending. You say that she says, at the end, "I'll have to ask Brenda." That is not what she says and the difference between that and what she really says is CRUCIAL. What she says, at the end is: "I'll have to TALK IT OVER with Brenda." She is not going to ask Brenda's permission, but is going to go into a sharing experience with a person with whom she shares a deep personal relationship and whose opinion she values. No, they are not lovers, as I see it, just really close. By the way, I thought of the ending as really beautiful, it is a yes to Jack Palance, but just lets him know that she does want the opinion of the person she values so greatly. The character portrayed by Palance understands this, I believe.

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Thank you for your answer. It hits the spot for me. I love this movie and saw it for the first time last night. I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of it of knew of it beforehand. I was perplexing about the ending all night and day and now can sleep at night and get on with living during the day! Thanks again.

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Thank you for your answer. It hits the spot for me. I love this movie and saw it for the first time last night. I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of it of knew of it beforehand. I was perplexing about the ending all night and day and now can sleep at night and get on with living during the day! Thanks again.

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This is not a sexual reference to Brenda. The movie goes out of its way to show Brenda embracing her estranged husband just before that, showing how they're probably going to work it out. It's more a show of respect from the German woman who has, in the past, overstepped her boundries at the café. I love this movie.

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I had one of my best film experiences last week when watching Bagdad Café for the first time. The suggestive atmosphere is wonderful, this film could be used in some kind of (stress-?)therapy.

But the discussion above was about the friendship between Brenda and Jasmine and the ending of the film. In this film they show the possibilities such a friendship creates, how these women changed, became happier. The change is most prominent in Brenda. We don't know that much about Jasmine's life, the film starts with her leaving her husband (which is enough for understanding she's had enough and is in need of change).

I did somehow feel that the ending with Brenda's husband returning and the Hollywood-man proposing to Jasmine was unnecessary or maybe artificial is a better word. There was no room for such marriagal bondages in most of the film which concentrated on friendship between women. I think Brenda and Jasmine "filled" the film completely themselves so there was no need for making sure the story ends with "normal" women who have husbands.
...the screenwriters did probably not have such ulterior motives that I mentioned. Maybe they thought "what shall happen to Brendas husband?" and "how can we get Jasmine allowed to stay in the USA?"
...whatever...
However, it was Brenda's and Jasmine's friendship that is important in this story. So I think it's completely natural for Jasmine to talk the proposal of marriage over with Brenda.





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I think it meant "I'll have to ask Brenda."

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Not so much "ask", but "consult", meaning that they had become trusted friends. I'm sure Brenda consulted with Jasmin also when she wanted.

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The tuxedos in the magic show act suggest Marlina Deitrich's sexual ambiguity and that's why everyone thinks the relationship with Brenda was lesbian.

But more importantly, the husband was parked far away for most of the movie. And the prostitute left out of pure neglect. The larger message was the development of deeper relationships that only come with true friendship. And I think that was the message of the film.

But sometimes a cantaloupe is just a cantaloupe. Who knows.

John

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Jasmin's answer was a tribute to her friendship with Brenda, nothing more. Isn't that enough?

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IMO I think the ending is a very ambiguous reference to Brenda and Jasmin being lesbian lovers.

I mean, for one this movie was made in 1987. Openly gay characters or gay subject matter in movies and television were not the norm at that time. It was still considered taboo. I know, I was a gay teenager at the time and was starved to see myself represented.

Had this movie openly expressed a lesbian love affair between the two it probably would not have been made.

Given that, each woman had a parallel storyline. Both where left by their husbands and both found strength and love and a connection with one another. Having them dressed in tuxedos while singing the closing number could symbolically mean they're both the male and female in their relationship. And having Jasmin say that she'll have to talk it over with Brenda could imply that she would need to discuss the ramifications of marrying him to stay in the country considering she and Brenda are lovers.

But that's just my take on it. This is what makes this movie, and many other movies, great films - when everyone can come away with a different interpretation of what happened.

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Jasmine and Brenda were soul mates, divided by Atlantic ocean. Each one of them have something that other woman need. Together they make better person then they are divided. That is why she said: I have to talk over with Brenda.

That is my opinion, on bad english :)

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I mean, for one this movie was made in 1987. Openly gay characters or gay subject matter in movies and television were not the norm at that time. It was still considered taboo. I know, I was a gay teenager at the time and was starved to see myself represented.

Had this movie openly expressed a lesbian love affair between the two it probably would not have been made.


Oh good lord, LOL. The movie Personal Best and Desert Hearts (I think was the name of it, but I didn't see it) came out before this and they were movies about lesbians.

Also in 1981 or 82, I saw 'Making Love' about two men who fall in love.

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You've got to be kidding! Lesbian lovers? You missed the whole point of the movie. It's about friendship and how it changed the entire town.

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Major spoilers so hold on to your hat: when the Jack Palance character asks Jasmine to marry him, she answers, "I'll have to ask Brenda." Or something to that effect. It turned out to be the last lines uttered in the film. Any ideas on what she meant? I have wondered, on and off, since I first rented this movie years ago. Were she and Brenda lovers


I saw this movie a long time ago and I don't remember the ending that well, but it would be strange if they were lovers and she was asking permission to dump her and marry a man. That's why I'm fairly confident that isn't what she meant.

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"I'll have to consult with Brenda" Yes, they became close friends.

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