MovieChat Forums > On the Beach (2000) Discussion > The End **SPOILERS**

The End SPOILERS

posted 19 years ago by Mister_Anderson
19 replies | jump to latest

Do you think Moira was dreaming at the very end when she sees Cpt. Towers come back to her or did it really happen? At first I didn't know, but the more I think of it, I believe it was a dream. Mainly for the fact that he appears to be coming in a direction away from where the sub launched (not to mention he's climbing up a steep hill), and it seemed odd that he would change his mind at the last second (again) after already promising his crew he'd return with them to the ocean.

I know in the original, this sequence doesn't happen. I doubt the director of the remake would want to completely reverse the ending, but I think he has left it ambiguous.

What do you all think?

[–] lwlmaw 19 years ago

I did enjoy watching this remake all except the ending The thought that Moira was dreaming never entered my mind but I quess she could have been. I also was not happy with Armand Assante as Dwight I think Peter Strauss could have done a better job

[–] LookinGood 19 years ago

I was also not sure, when I saw the film the first time. But I just saw it again today. There are two scenes that seem to support the "no dream" ending: During their first stay at Moiras cottage above the beach, Towers tells her that he is going to request that she accompany him to the north and then goes on saying: "Unless you're on board, I won't be either." Near the end, when addressing his crew for the last time, he says "And I thank you for granting me the freedom to go as I wish to go...".

As to reversing the ending: I wouldn't say it was reversed. Just because Moira and Dwight get to pop their pills together? They're are all doomed, anyway...

And after watching this film for the 5th time or so (meanwhile, I got myself the DVD :-) ), I think this ending is fully in line with the character development of Towers in this version. Of course it differs from the book. I am currently reading it, and the Towers in the book is much more tied to his dead family, even after more than a year. The Towers in the film goes through all stages of grief: Denial (on the jetty), anger and despair (family house in Anchorage), assimilation (way back to AUS) and finally acceptance (second stay at Moiras cottage).

I think I am going to lock this DVD up somewhere in the cellar. I shouldn't watch it again before next spring... too depressing.

[–] tom_amity 17 years ago

Yeah, but he does go north without her on board. It's a moment of weakness on his part.

As for the freedom he thanks his crew for, I think he's saying thanks for allowing me to do it the Navy way, which he does.

[–] Lobo305 17 years ago

Lady or the Tiger - famous short story.

I think we are allowed to pick one or two endings:

1) he leaves, she goes delusional and imagines he abandons his responsibilites and returns to her.

2) he comes back, she gave up hope, popped a pill and with her dying gaze sees that he's come back - but it's too late.

Just my two cents ...

"El riesgo vive siempre!"

[–] tuity_fruity123 16 years ago

it was a really bad ending. he should have stayed with his crew !!

i hate moira (spelt right?)

badbadbadbad ending !!

[–] LatigoMeans 16 years ago

In both the book and the original film he stays with his crew.

Step on it! And don't spare the atoms!

[–] rhobrock 15 years ago

It's definitely pandering to modern romantic sensibilities. It doesn't speak well of any captain to abandon his men at their greatest hour of need for a woman he'd spent less than a week with (and whose primary reason for the relationship is not wanting to die alone). It's dishonorable, especially when Tower's made a point of berating two sailors for doing the exact same thing earlier.

[–] cingramaol 15 years ago

Honestly, I was expecting a final scene (after Moira and Dwight clinch) where you see Moira's arm fall back, and in her hand is the box of pills (empty), and then pull back to reveal that she's laying on her blanket, dead.

Now THAT would have been an appropriate ending, but I imagine they didn't have the nerve to do it.

C.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] johncdavison 13 years ago

Perhaps, just maybe, his statement was thanking the crew for allowing him to skipper the sub one last time. It's pretty ambiguous but I felt it was a dream/hallucination of Moira's and that was his meaning.
Some other posters seem to agree with this, similar to the family 'reunion' at the end of Gladiator.
And the film barely holds a dim flickering candle to the original Peck/Gardner effort.

[–] RussellDunn 15 years ago

Well, I think maybe when Moira had her reunion with Captain Towers they were both dead(I'm talking ghosts here). They showed the box of suicide pills in her basket before Moira drinks the champaign and after that she closes her eyes. Then when she opens them back up, she sees Towers climbing up the hill towards her looking healthy for a man suffering from radiation poisoning.

[–] jaystarstar 15 years ago

Actually, after re-watching the final scene on YouTube, I am starting to lean toward the "Moira was dreaming" interpretation.

Kind of an attempt by the director to "have it both ways."

Which would have made my idea of closing with a single verse from "Waltzing Matilda" (see separate thread) even better.

[–] SteveResin 11 years ago

Well, I think maybe when Moira had her reunion with Captain Towers they were both dead(I'm talking ghosts here).

That was my interpretation too. Moira had already taken the pill, I assumed she'd passed away and this was her 'heaven', reunited with the Captain. Or maybe I'm just an old sentimentalist.

--------------------
Duty Now For The Future

[–] optionalhero 13 years ago

I think it was for real as they ate strawberries and drink champaigne

watch everything you like, dont like everything you watch.

[–] MrBelette 13 years ago

"I think it was for real as they ate strawberries and drink champagne"

Well, you're supposed to be allowed to do these kind of things in dreams too

[–] mram16 13 years ago

From the wikipedia article of the novel:
"Moira watches the departure of the submarine from an adjacent hilltop as she takes her suicide pill, imagining herself together with Dwight as they die." This would seem to point to her dreaming/imagining in the movie.

Sit, Ubu, sit.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=20984254

[–] greg-233 11 years ago

I don't think Moira was dreaming at the end. I believe Dwight actually was with her. In the end of the novel Moira takes her suicide pill as she watches the submarine leave, but with this film, and all the depressing things we see towards the end, the writer probably wanted to give the viewers a bit more of an upbeat conclusion by having Dwight stay with Moira, even though we know they're not going to live for very long.

[–] bastasch8647 9 years ago

Of course it's not a dream. If it's a dream, it would only be shot from Moira's POV on the cliff-top. But before this, Dwight explicitly thanks the crew for permitting him shore leave (permanent) while they (stupidly) sail off to San Francisco. Staying behind is Dwight's own idea and not part of anyone's dream - Dwight declares his wishes quite independently of Moira, with his crew as public witness. When he finally meets up with Moira (who could easily have committed suicide by now, seeing that Dwight hasn't told her he's staying behind), it's the real Dwight meeting the real Moira on the real cliff-top.

[–] Mister_Anderson 7 years ago

I'm the one who started this thread 12 years ago (yikes).

Regarding your relatively more recent comment, my recollection is that Towers does not thank the crew for permitting him to shore leave. I recall him thanking them for letting him go the way he wants (which is more ambiguous).

My point, which appears to have been shared by some here over the years, is that the ending was meant to be ambiguous for the reasons many on this thread have mentioned. Indeed, the fact that there has been discussion about it seems to affirm this.

Either way, I probably watched this movie 3 or 4 times over the years. Probably due for another watch soon. It had its weaknesses, sure, but it has stayed with me.

(I like the original as well, but this version just seemed more haunting, notwithstanding the "happy" ending.)

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