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It Only SEEMED The World Was Ending (-SPOILER-)

posted 16 years ago by AdamMitchell
26 replies | jump to latest

SPOILER...

The world was not ending...it only seemed that way to Patrick after his girlfriend died. He said to Sandra, When she died, "they said the world would end." His world had ended, or he was considering ending it. He was a closed, insular person again, until he met Sandra. His world began anew when he met Sandra. For the first time since his girlfriend's death, he felt life. When Patrick and Sandra kissed, the blinding light was the end of his Doomsday world...his new life was beginning with a new love.

This is not a highly factual analysis (if you want that, I cite to Mystery Science Theater 3000, "you should really just relax.") This is an allegorical interpretation; ONE level where it worked for me.

One edit: I just re-saw the film. There is a countdown at the end. But when the countdown reaches "0", the world does not end. The world continues for at least another 15 seconds while Patrick and Sandra give up their mutual suicide pact and instead have a lingering kiss. To me this is a clue that the world did not end. It seemed like it was ending to Patrick. But when he found love again in his heart, the world did not end after all. It's just a sign - to me - and I realize that a lot of people will not share this interpretation.

[–] vacuumjesus 16 years ago

I think the beauty of a film like this is that the ambiguity of the actual ending leaves us to ponder the metaphorical meaning of it.

However Patrick said "and then they said the world would end" as if to say that was the second bit of bad news he got soon after his girlfriend died. I can see how it could be interpreted as if the two related, but I think in that dialogue it wasn't meant in the way you saw it. Although I agree that there's a connection to his tragedy and the end of the world...

In his eyes, the world had indeed already ended when his girlfriend died. He was the only character who planned his final hours as a simple and routine night any other night would have been. Everyone else was either trying to find meaning with faith or personal endeavors, or to act out and free their inhibitions in some grandiose manner. Patrick's character didn't feel the need to. The impact of the end of the world wasn't the same to him.

To me, I couldn't help but see the references (the lyrics of the song at the beginning, for instance) to "last night" meaning the previous night, not the final night. I think this film was more about Patrick living last night over and over again, in that he couldn't get over the past.

[–] lamont-hard 13 years ago

That would be kinda weird considering she had just lost her husband and knowing she was about to die without him being at her side, that she would find love in the manner in witch you describe. And he all of a sudden falls for a women out of the blue, great theory i just don,t see it that way they just wanted to do something lovable to each other in there final moments.

[–] harkness78 16 years ago

Your wrong, the world ended, they just didnt want to cut the kiss off since it was the penultimate scene. Having the kiss be a lingering shot is no indication that the apocalypse was averted.

During the whole movie its sunny out, something is definitely happening with either the sun exploding or a giant object hurtling towards earth that was reflecting the sun. Theres a bright flash for every other character during their last moment, and Sandra and Patrick's moment is just extended for emphasis.

If the world did not end, thats pretty stupid, as everyone throughout the movie had accepted it was going to happen and there was nothing that would stop it. If everyone lived in the end it would pretty much make the entire structure of the movie pointless.

If thats how you interpreted it though because you dont like sad endings, thats ok too. Nice MST3K quote ;p

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] evilblueyoshi 16 years ago

Umm...no..So everyone was acting like it was their last day on earth because of one guy?

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[–] emmeaki 13 years ago

Why can't people just accept a movie for what it is and stop making s*t up.

What a waste. Oh, the humanity!

[–] rob169 16 years ago

I thought people might try to come up with some excuse for why the world didn't really end in this film. Let me just spell it out for you: A GIANT SOLAR FLARE HIT THE FRICKEN EARTH!!! I mean jeez, you can see it engulfing everyone, the reason it was edited like that in the final minute is just to show how each person spent their final seconds as the flare engulfed them.

It is probably the saddest ending of any film and to accept it is very hard, I understand. Once you do, however, you can truly appreciate the beauty of not only the film but even transcend that and appreciate the greatness of humanity. In our darkest hour our true traits come out: Hate, murder, mayhem... But also kindness, passion, and of course LOVE.

This film is not nearly as great without that ending. It turned it from mediocre to bold and amazing.

[–] scottie-bobson 16 years ago

Here's a proposition:

The bright object in the sky is not the sun but an explosion resulting from a supernova/hypernova originating from another nearby star. An observer standing on the Earth would see the following:

First, the massive explosion would create an incomprehensible fireball that would radiate out in all directions. As the light from this fireball reaches Earth, the 'star' will appear to increase in brightness and size. It will soon grow so large and bright that it will illuminate the night. Scientists would be able to calculate the time in which the fireball would engulf Earth with a high level of accuracy at this time.

Then, as the fireball draws closer, it will appear to grow in size at a faster rate. In the last moments, it will nearly fill the sky.

Finally, the fireball would arrive and engulf the entire Earth almost instantaneously. The extreme temperatures would instantly evaporate everything as we know it, effectively turning the Earth into a big cinder. Also, since the fireball is travelling at an incredible speed (though not as fast as the speed of light), no searing heat would radiate ahead of it; life would exist right up until it's arrival.

After reading through these threads, I realized others have already arrived at the same idea as me.

[–] Mister_Anderson 15 years ago

And this would all happen exactly at midnight.

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[–] zippy_zip_2000 16 years ago

Also another thing to point out that makes the whole 'exploding supernova' thory more correct is patricks mate craig says 'In a matter of hours we'll all desolve into nothing anyway' .. or something along those lines. Its the scene when patrick goes to his house to get a car for sandra.
Check it out, i realise that that isnt exactly what he says but its something about desolving into nothing.. ie the supernove buring them into nothing?
Whats everyone elses thoughts on this?

[–] AdamMitchell 15 years ago

Of course people "said" the earth was ending, and there were plenty of physical cues that the earth was truly ending. My proposition is that it was an allegory, not a documentary. If one wanted to, one could completely dismantle "the earth was really, truly ending" analysis. But I don't want to.

To the suggestion that in order to "appreciate" the film, one must "accept" that the earth "really" ended ("because you can see it!") ...I believe that there are, fortunately, alternate ways to appreciate most any art. In movies I "saw" alien spaceships, walking dead people, the earth destroyed several times, talking dogs, etc., but we all interpret them as we see fit. It's not a matter of "accepting" one viewpoint over all others. I am thankful for the diversity.

Surely if we all agreed, and if there were only one single correct interpretation of this or any other artistic work, the world would be stiflingly boring.

[–] vacuumjesus 15 years ago

Agreed. Some people take films too literally. The point wasn't that "the world was ending", the story was about everything the characters did and said leading up to it. It wasn't about some giant ball of fire hitting the earth. My theory isn't a "theory" per se but more so just how it made me feel.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] lion10199 15 years ago

to be fair to all theories, this was suppose to take palce in toronto right(or atleast I thougth I saw a toronto sign somewhere and heard soemone say they were in toronto). well dependign on the time of year, they may have sunlight late at night. I know when i was in Alaska last summer we ahd 24 hour sunlight,so if the movie was taking place during the summer, it may have just been normal sunlight for toronto

[–] vacuumjesus 15 years ago

this was suppose to take palce in toronto right(or atleast I thougth I saw a toronto sign somewhere and heard soemone say they were in toronto). well dependign on the time of year, they may have sunlight late at night. I know when i was in Alaska last summer we ahd 24 hour sunlight

Dude, grab an atlas for crying out loud. Toronto's latitude is farther south than Portland, Oregon... hundreds of miles south of Alaska. The latest you'll see any lingering light during summer in Toronto is slightly after 10pm, and it certainly isn't considered bright any time after 8pm.

[–] Swearengen 15 years ago

I have to agree with scottie-bobson on this one. The is no midday sun in that part of the world at anytime of year.

[–] ambchaser 15 years ago

...and Patrick said (while they were sitting on the roof) something along the line of how he hated it being daylight all of the time, so it was something abnormal that had been occuring for some time.

[–] doctorfurby 15 years ago

I thought that it was because Canada was getting rid of it's welfare state that everyone thought it was the end of the world.

[–] karge_of_heavens2004 15 years ago

Don McKeller was one of the famous Canadian film directors that came to my school today and showed us the film. He told us that the final kiss at the end was a last minute thing to add. He initially felt too shy about suggesting to kiss Sandra Oh so he scripted for the two characters to just stare at each other before the whole whiteout thing. And yes, from the way he was talking, it seemed as though he meant that the world was literally ending.

Very funny guy btw.

[–] u2theedge 15 years ago

One word "SKYNET!"

[–] knowgodisnowhere 13 years ago

Why highlight all the other people's lives then? The one that stands out is the gas company guy who got his brains blown out? How is he relevant to the story if it is all just a metaphor for Patrick findng love again?

As for what caused the end of the world, I think it was some star exploding in a near-by galaxy or a planet exploding. At first I thought a super nova of our sun or a massive solar flare, but the fact that they had 2 MONTHS notice means that the initial even must have taken place much further away than the sun for solar flares don't take that long to hit the EARTH.

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[–] willsgb 12 years ago

i like this idea, it's not what i got from the film but it definitely works and it's a lovely way to interpret the film that adds another dimension to its intimate study of people facing 'the end'. thanks!

[–] VerbalKint-2 12 years ago

It only "works" if you ignore every other character in the film besides those two.

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