MovieChat Forums > L'emploi du temps (2001) Discussion > Vincent's next job - a dark morality tal...

Vincent's next job - a dark morality tale


* Spoiler *
Imaginative, I admit. A large stretch of the imagination you might even say, but I like the explanation of the ending that my friend Dan and I came up with: Vincent, now in night's darkness, walks away from his car's last light, and thus the final estrangement from his father and wife, to end his life. It's his seemingly final escape from the reality of life...only to find himself in a job interview... with the devil. His new job, for which he has been choosen, is another hell-like assignment on earth. Only this time there's no pretense of doing good while actually doing evil; evil is his assignment. Yes, his Father has helped him with this job...just like when, Biblically speaking, He helped Satan find a new job when Satan's love for God prevented him from serving mankind. Now, instead, Satan serves mankind's darker side and, like Vincent, he cannot see or love his Father. Vincent says that he isn't even afraid anymore, but his face shows his awareness of the chilling decision he is making here. He wants new challenges. Perhaps corrupting more of life, with eight others under his command will do. Something bigger and better, something worthy of his level of deception, worthy of a man who is unafraid to lie to his friends, family, who even lies to himself and lives so successfully in self-denial. Vincent is adept at the deception of others and himself in a grand way, as many of us may do ourselves in our own lives in small ways, if we are not self-aware. As Jean-Michelle points out earlier, when offering Vincent a job running contraband, he hasn't much choice in the matter now. The screen turns to its final black and we hear Lucifer - aka the Human Resources Manager - say, "Now all we need to do is go over the details."

Pretty dark ending, if we are on to something with this scenario. But this ending should satisfy the contributers of those threads I just finished reading that thought the ending was too easy, too clean, too neat and tidy, no?

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In my opinion Dan and you are reading too much into the ending, which 'as is' does leave some unanswered questions. Walking off into the darkness, traffic noise in the background, does not constitute suicide, and I see no indication that the Human Resources guy is Satan. I think those unanswered questions are there intentionally.

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That's an entertaining construction, but really doesn't fit the film, which strives throughout to make its point with realism and would stray from its own protocol if it lapsed suddenly into religious metaphor.

The camera shows us Vincent's delusions or deceptions from the outside only, leaving us to deduce what is going on in his head. Even a dream sequence would be out of place here, let alone a post mortem interview with the devil, particularly since Vincent's religious beliefs are never raised at all.

But, since we want to make a religious metaphor, isn't Jean-Michel a better devil here? And Stan one of his demons? We all know that the Novotel can be Hell....

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