MovieChat Forums > Last Night (1998) Discussion > The Marathon Runner's point is?

The Marathon Runner's point is?

posted 19 years ago by Coolyoshi64
10 replies | jump to latest

What is the deal with the lady running around proclaiming what time it is?

[–] gut-6 19 years ago

The bag lady? My take on this is that she is another one of those people in the film who are misfits in the normal world, but suddenly come into their own at world's end. On the other hand, perhaps McKellar is pointing out the futility of rushing to reach a pointless or non-existent destination when the world is ending in a few hours anyway.

[–] battery_h 19 years ago

Or, perhaps, just a subtle jab at the "rat race" so many of us find ourselves in. We run through our lives knowing that the end (for ourselves, at least) is comming. Yet, we ignore that fact - just as the runner is roundly ignored by everyone in the movie. Despite how hard she ran, did the runner have any bearing on anyone else?

Battery H

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Iechium 19 years ago

The idea of a ticking clock makes tons of sense, yeah. But maybe, going in the theme of simplicity, maybe she was just a woman who was actually excited about the world ending. Maybe she was a woman who loved to run, and wanted to run until she couldn't anymore.

But I think I like your idea better.

"Is this a joke? Because if it is, it's both funny and well-executed."

[–] ctheorist 16 years ago

I think these ideas are right. Formally speaking, she serves a function similar to the chorus of plays, a kind of reflection of the audiences themselves commenting on the action of the diegesis (or world of the story). She's not unlike the intertitles telling us what time it is. Her repetition helps punctuate the film and make it cohere.

[–] Gdub33 16 years ago

Perhaps she represents time ticking down? As throughout the film she describes how much time is left until the final scene when she say's it's over.

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[–] DavidInAustin 16 years ago

The runner is the Greek Chorus of the movie.

[–] binro-1 16 years ago

Symbolic of the countdown or not, I didn't care for her character at all. It ruined an otherwise incredible flick.

[–] MoviemanCin 9 years ago

There is no deal. She's just loony tunes!

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, or doesn't.