MovieChat Forums > Death and the Maiden (1995) Discussion > What if Miranda WAS NOT the one?

What if Miranda WAS NOT the one?

posted 10 years ago by MrBlondee
2 replies | jump to latest

Maybe his last "confession" was a desperate plea and cry to stay alive and made him sound so real. Pretty much everything he said during his confession was told by Sigourney during the night. Also her husband says at some point she had break downs twice before including once in the train (or bus, can't exactly remember). Were those breakdowns also because she thought someone was "the one"? It takes A LONG time for her husband to believe her, it isn't until the very end he actually completely does, probably also because he wants it to end (his wives insanity). Miranda was a doctor, he must have heard how those tortures went, so if he really wanted to he could make up a confession that would sound real enough to the woman. It seems everyone is convinced he is the one, but people forget he went trough a night of TORTURE and I have heard a lot of cases where people confess to things they've never done while being tortured or beaten up by the cops.

[–] david-rf 8 years ago

People, you have to stop this. What the hell. HE IS THE GUY. IT IS OFFICIAL. THERE'S NO QUESTION. ENOUGH WITH THIS.

VIVA LA VINYL

[–] SolitaryCZ 8 years ago

No, it's not official, and there is questions... if you want to take it at a face value... sure, the movie very well lends itself to it and gives you fair conclusion if you are satisfied with that explanation, but I believe that there is another layer to the ending interpretation.

In the end, his final confession still does not prove anything... him standing on the cliff with almost sure death, he doesn't have anything to lose and making believable confession is his last hope, no matter how small chance. There is this movie trope that lying is hard (usually for comedic effect or just to make sure that viewers are not lost), but in reality it's not at all... and his confession could have been very well just a lie. He doesn't actually give any valuable information... nothing he says wasn't already said that night or couldn't just be a fair guess.

That's the point of the movie, there is this 1% chance he might be really innocent and it all makes a point about confessions under torture/threat. The stage play doesn't give a clear ending, so don't be so hasty to jump to the conclusion that the movie actually does. I mean, why would it? Some dose of ambiguity is clearly there, if ever so subtle, but it's on you to decide (like a judge) if you are convinced about his guilt.

I mean from a movie's technical point of view... the phone confirmation about his alibi would be pointless if it was discarded without bringing anything to the story, it is discarded as possibly constructed alibi... but that's just a guesswork, it just means that this alibi can't be really trusted and throws in another ambiguity.