I taped this off TV the other night but didn't have as much tape as I thought I did. Can someone help? Last I saw was that Joe went to pick up Stella as planned after her visit to Philip in the hospital and she didn't show.
shareI rented the VCD during the holidays so I can summarize to you the ending. Basically, Stella failed to show up, and the movie fast forwards to the time after the war. Stella visits the place to attend the Christening of Prue's son. There, Stella reunites with Ag, who eventually got married to Desmond, the Canadian serviceman she met at the dance, and with Prue, who is now happily settled with a much older husband. Stella confides with Ag that her own marriage to Philip is a failure leading soon to a divorce with Philip running off with another woman. Then enters on the scene, Mrs. Lawrence with her grandchildren in tow with Janet, Joe's long time fiance greeting the girls as she enters. Stella goes to the garden and meets Joe. They make small talk until Joe relates how he went to the train station for a whole week waiting for Stella, and remarks, "and I am still waiting" (which probably would mean Joe still had feelings for her) But those feelings could not be rekindled anymore in Stella's part. So they hold hands for the last time briefly, and the two other girls, Ag and Prue arrives, and Stella joins them in a warm reunion and Stella's voice reflects at the end something like ...I thought I would never be happy again after that day but what keeps me going on is hope.
And that was how it ended, I hope this would help. :D
Wow, very somber.
Anyway, thanks so much for the help!
it's funny i didnt see as stella not having feelings for joe any more, but more that they both knew that now he was married with children it was out of the question for them to get together.
shareJust finished watching it, I totally agree. They are both clearly thinking about the time they were perfectly in love and they have a conversation something like:
Stella: "It just came at the wrong time"
Joe: "It's never happened to me again. You?"
and Stella shakes her head. They both know what they had and with hindsight know they're very unlikely to ever have the chance again. You just know, however, that they both accept it as one of those things and typical English stoicism (aka stiff upper lip) will see them through.
A great ending, if only as an antidote to the relentlessly upbeat "tacked-on" endings that are served up too often.
Rich
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Amazon have it - but only 2nd hand and quite pricey at that. But I'd rather buy from them than e-bay.
shareI think it's obvious in the end that they both are still deeply in love with each other, and the acting, with the music and scenery, is beautiful yet heartbreaking! I really cared about the characters and wanted to see them ending up happily ever after, but it didn't happen which is soooo sad - i suppose it echoes the tradegies of war and how life often does not work out the way you want, that love doesn't always conquer all and life goes on - but ohh, if they'd but had a happy ending, somehow!!
shareIt was fairly predictable. I knew she would not come back... The mood of the movie should have been a hint.
shareNo, no, Philip didn't run off with another woman--he is running for a seat in Parliment which Ag jokingly refers to as another woman. Therefore, Philip, sans legs, didn't need Ag as she thought he might--which was her reason for staying with him & not going back to Joe. That makes it much more tragic, to me. You got everything else clear & right except that sometimes "small talk" is exquisitely more poignant than baring all.
shareActually, it was Stella who married Philip, and she told Prue and Ag that he had run off with another woman. She was putting a brave face on for Joe and his wife when she told them he was fine, but she did say that she had started her own business, a travel business.
sharepetdix-1 wrote: <<No, no, Philip didn't run off with another woman--he is running for a seat in Parliment which Ag jokingly refers to as another woman.>>
You are mistaken. Stella tells Ag that Phillip and she "Are getting divorced. He ran off with another woman. Well, hardly ran." It's REAL Phillip DOES leave her for another woman. She only tells Ag. Remember -- she is British, it's a christening, she's not going to spoil the party with sad news -- it's just something she tells her best friend.
To everyone else she tells part of the truth, "He's fine, he's running for Parliament" and all that is true -- but he has LEFT HER.
<<Therefore, Philip, sans legs, didn't need Ag as she thought he might>>
Exactly. And she didn't love him, even before he lost his legs. No wonder he left her -- he wanted to be loved, I assume, and found a woman who loved him. Her sacrifice was for nothing.
<<--which was her reason for staying with him & not going back to Joe. That makes it much more tragic, to me. You got everything else clear & right except that sometimes "small talk" is exquisitely more poignant than baring all. >>
She didn't listen to Prue sobbing in the bathtub. Remember Prue saying that if you found something you had to hold tight and never let it go. Stella should have listened. Staying with Phillip when she didn't love him worked for no one.
I rented this movie through my public library and thought all the acting and the story were excellent. I felt bad for Catherine McCormack's character because I agree with what someone else wrote, that her sacrifice to stay with her fiance was all for naught in the end since the guy leaves her anyways, but it would have looked bad if she broke the engagement off at that point.
share