MovieChat Forums > The Staircase (1998) Discussion > beginning and ending

beginning and ending

posted 19 years ago by fryky
5 replies | jump to latest

Hi everyone,
I caught this film the other day, but it had started already and then I missed the ending. Why was the nun sick? why did he have to build the staircase? Do they get together in the end???
Thanks for your help!

[–] GreatScot634 19 years ago

It's fascinating to me that people are talking about this movie so recently. It has been a long time since I saw it, so I don't remember why the nun was sick. As for why the staircase had to be built, I can tell you this, not based on the movie, but from visiting the actual Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, NM. The church was built with a choir loft, but only after the building was complete did they discover that they had not left enough room for a standard staircase. And no, they did not get together in the end. He disappeared without notice, without being paid, and no one ever knew who he really was.

[–] erinw91 18 years ago

I have this movie recorded and I dont think it ever really says why she's sick, but I'd have to watch it again to be sure. I think in the movie it says that they "forgot" to build the staircase, but that's kind of pithetic, so I would go with what was explained above. And they no they don't get together in the end because she passes away and he disappears. It sucks because in 1998 I was in New Mexico at this place, but couldn't go inside the chapel because they were filming a movie at the time...imagine that...;)
I also met a couple of the nuns but we didn't think to ask their names or take a picture of them or anything so I didn't remember what they looked like upon watching the movie.

"Come together, right now...over me..."
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[–] tie_kerl 16 years ago

It was never said exactly why she was sick, but at the start it did say she had been ill for a while and had seen a doctor (it may be a result of the rape she endured). He wanted to build the staircase simply because he wanted to see Madalyn happy. They do not get together in the end; Madalyn dies and once hearing the bells tolling her death, Joad leaves for the desert.

[–] spuffyholic 16 years ago

I believe they discuss the fact that they could never "get together" in the movie. I remember thinking "Thank god the producers actually approached this topic" instead of just totally ignoring it, since there was good chemistry between the actors.

re: staircase
As for the staircase, the contractor says everyone "forgot" about it at the start but in the end reveals that he knew there wasn't one since he had kept a tight eye on the building costs and stuff so he could get money to pay of his wife's gambling habit

GSR

[–] oprlvr33 11 years ago

As I recall (though it's been years since I've seen it), YES...during a moonlit evening together, she shares with him how her Sisters came into the chapel, and their history...en-route they'd been ambushed by Indians.

I think it was unclear if the rape she endured during resulted in her illness afterward, but she also had some type of cancer in which she had been seeking treatments, which evidently were not working or what.

At the end, I believe he overlooked his payment rendered, out of respect for her illness. He was just happy that she could die in peace knowing the staircase got finished.

Peanutlee33