ending - spoiler !

do you think that he made it out after that explosion or not? I personally think that really was Marianne but I am unsure if they survived the whole ordeal. Also, I know that it says that Fossie is Marianne's girlfriend and stuff...but part of me wonders if this woman belonged to Rat?


Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage and make a Northwest Passage to the Sea

I just watched the movie and watched the ending again. I watched it several times. I watched the critical scenes frame by frame. Let me try to describe them.

At first it was obvious---she was there. She turned up, apparently to save him and lead him out. She was quite clearly visible, very much looking like the real human, so we can only conclude that the story author and the director wanted to let us know that she was really there.

She passed by, stopping, looking at him, apparently from a close distance. Then she moved on, apparently with the intention to lead him out of trouble.

He followed her and, after another few seconds, caught up with her, walking just behind her. We see them walk away, reaching something like a gentle ridge, perhaps 20 m away.

Then there was a first explosion behind them, i.e. between them and the camera. After the bright light and the white smoke cleared, I saw something that was impossible to recognize without looking at the movie frame by frame. It looked to me as if she collapsed into his arms, he picked her up and carried her away. But the scene was so fuzzy that I think nobody could really recognize this in a normal viewing. And even frame-wise I cannot be entirely sure.

The next scenes looked almost like a repetition of what had just happened before. Now in a close-up scene she stood in front of him at a close distance, looking back at him for about two seconds, the camera looking from behind into her face.

She turned forward, away from the camera, and walked away. He followed. While they walked away, I noticed that his silhouette was sharp, while hers was slightly fuzzy, possibly as if the camera focused on him, leaving her somewhat out of focus.

When they were somewhat farther away, there was a second, possibly stronger explosion. When the light and smoke cleared, I could see one person, possibly him, walk away to the right, probably carrying something or somebody, perhaps her. But almost immediately the image dissolved into fog-like brightness, and that was the end of the movie.

I can only hope I did not see any version where the end was cut of. This was a television recording.

The ending is frustrating, because the story author or the director refused to tell the story clearly. I personally strongly dislike this. In my view it diminishes the value of the entire movie. I have to downgrade this otherwise excellent movie. I have not read the book, so I cannot know what was actually meant.

The movie ending leaves several questions open.

1. Were the last two scenes around the two explosions actually the same piece of the story, showed two times from slightly different angles? To me it looks as if they filmed the same scene sequence multiple times and ended up showing us two different versions of the same story. But it could also be a sequence with two actual explosions. For me the fact that during these critical events the story was no longer clearly discernible diminishes the value of the movie.

2. Was one of the two carrying the other after the explosion? This would mean that one of them, apparently she, was wounded or even killed by the explosion. Again, we cannot know for sure.

3. Was the explosion and the aftermath meant as a depiction of death or heaven, as has been proposed? I did not get that idea. The explosions were pretty real, probably grenade hits. Nothing heavenly there. Plus, at least one of the two clearly walked away afterwards, carrying something, possibly the other.

I also deem it possible that the ending was meant to be a cliff hanger, opening the possibility of a sequel, which, unfortunately, has not materialized.

So my conclusion can only be that the most likely ending is that one of the two got injured by the explosion and was carried away by the other. Visually it seemed more like him carrying her, but physically she was walking in front, so she was farther from the explosion and possibly shielded by him, meaning that it may well have been her carrying him.

The greater story may have been that she was still around, acting as a soldier and following the attacking enemy with the intention to interfere with the attack.

It is also possible that she was observing the troops for quite some time and noticed the attackers before the troops did. In that case she may have seen and recognized Rat Kiley (played by Kiefer Sutherland) and decided to protect or help him. It is even conceivable that she also loved him and never before showed it because of her erstwhile boyfriend, as love is often reciprocal. After all he had now admitted that he loved her. However, she never clearly showed anything like it throughout the movie.

But now we are deeply into the land of wild speculation, so I will stop at this point. I can only repeat that I hate incomplete stories and perceived this movie 's ending as very frustrating and leaving the bad taste of an unfulfilled promise.

If you have read the book, please enlighten the rest of us about the ending, assuming that a book cannot be as fuzzy as a movie.

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