Final scene (SPOILER) - No Man's Land (2001) Discussion

To weakened? Maybe he wasn't aware of the surroundings anymore...

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maybe he accepted his fate? he was pretty screwed

[WTF?]

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[–] ukrobbo 18 years ago

Yeah I'd go with that. In fairness, there ain't a hell of a lot you can do with the situation. What was he going to scream anyway?

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[–] capua41 18 years ago

Cera's my favorite character. He acts as though he's got a pair. I agree with the last poster. He accepted his fate, like a man.

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[–] sander-46 17 years ago

I think indeed he already accepted his fate long before the were gone or even there. Second, he would have been weakened. Third, you could argue that he was tired of the war, his friend just got shot and nobody else cared, making him tired of life itself and therefore would accept death as a liberation/peace.

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[–] zaakistan 17 years ago

The whole point of leaving Cera on the mine in the end was to show the state of that area: already dead/doomed. The Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats have been killing eachother for literally 1000 years. There's no solution (just like there was no way to defuse the mine) and to continue attacking and killing each other (as the other two did) doesn't solve the problem or change the past.

Cera is the most lucid of all the characters, except maybe that one UN soldier, because he is incapacitated and doesn't have opportunity for avenging the crimes against his people.

I look at Cera laying on the mine as looking a lot like Yugoslavia during Tito's years. They were just sitting on a bomb and Tito made it impossible for them to set it off, so they had peace for 40 years or so.

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[–] InGearX 18 years ago

Well remember guys this is a fictional movie not a documentary footage.

Like in all fictional movies you need to fill in the gaps... if the director was to concentrate on every part like that he would likely provide a good answer...

One unpleasant answer would be shooting Cera with a silencer and then covering his body and surroundings with blankets and blocking anyone from still passing within a perimeter - where as only few key people would need to know the truth...

You can imagine the later...

Key is to help the director out with your own imagination... else watch a documentary...

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[–] fredbel6 18 years ago

Wasn't he wounded? I think I remember him being simply too weak/absent to still be able to raise hell, which any normal person would do...

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[–] spliffmeister42 18 years ago

what if you were lying sown on a landmine in an abandoned trench, and the sun was about to set, and you were going to live only as long as you kept lying down, and you had just been abandoned by your army and the UN and your best friend had just been shot. Would you be too numb to scream or would you be screaming...interesting question

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[–] meadhouse 18 years ago

I think I would just make my peace, then sit up.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Guy_H 18 years ago

in his situation i would just go to sleep i reckon. then as i was half awake and half asleep in the morning i would roll over having accepted that there was no way outta the situation...

still a bummer though. quality film! 9 stars!

______________________________________
about as weedy as a rhino in riot gear

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] davemcg-1 18 years ago

yeah, LOL, really funny alright - what a comedy this movie is. are you 12 or something?

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] davemcg-1 18 years ago

in that case, all the more reason for you to show some respect. you should watch this movie before making any comment on it. your immature LOL comments even more so. i watched it last night, and i certainly didn't laugh - this is a brilliant satire on the futility of war.

btw, where in my post did i say that you don't have remorse & how are we supposed to know where you're from?

and don't call me a stupid *beep* or i'll have you reported for abuse.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] missred 18 years ago

@ King Guy the Great

You must have read my mind. I would just sleep too and then once roll over when I'm sleeping or something. And I gave the same rating.

But I thought there must have been a way out of that situation. By digging to the mine from the sides but yet I'm not sure about this.

I don't know the truth about Sep 11th. What I know is that the official version isn't the truth.

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[–] lifesurfer2002 18 years ago

I was wondering why didn't anybody think of cutting his clothes off, I mean everything, that way we don't need a bomb expert to solve the problem. But again this is only a film, freeing him would defeat the purpose of telling people something.

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[–] BadCookie 18 years ago

[quote lilsurfer] I was wondering why didn't anybody think of cutting his clothes off, I mean everything, that way we don't need a bomb expert to solve the problem. But again this is only a film, freeing him would defeat the purpose of telling people something.

Ummm what would cutting his clothes off acheive? There's not enough weight on his clothes to keep the mine calm. I've been trying to think of ways they could have saved hin after I saw the film not willing to accept the poor guy's fate.

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[–] fredbel6 17 years ago

I know next to nothing about mines but can't you destroy a mine like that by flooding it? It shouldn't be that hard to make sure the man can still breathe...

Plz visit my profile to take a look at unsolved threads.Plz use relevant title,SOLVED if so.

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[–] LEMONPIE_30 18 years ago

My impression when I saw it was that Cera didn't realize they had abandoned him...

He didn't speak english, so he couldn't understand what everyone was saying... I thought he expected them to come back for him... (which makes his fate much more tragic)

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] SmeLLyCat08 18 years ago

why do immature people like "hshahrani" even go online...go away...no body is interested in your unintelligent comments.

Anyway...on one of the replies i noticed someone mentioning this being fiction...thats true, but keep in mind that situations like this happened all over the country in the course of 4 years. However its true that this is not a documentary and that the director must take any measures to make it mind challenging and interesting.

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[–] anarchy99ceo 18 years ago

i hope youre not Indian hshahrani, because I am ... and its guys like you that make us all look bad

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[–] timmy_501 15 years ago

The film never establishes whether he can speak English. I think he can.

This is not a signature.

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[–] nonon99_99 17 years ago

I think the ending tells us Cera believes people will come to help him so he keeps there still.

This is the most chilling ending I have ever seen in cinema, I don't think anyone in the audiences can keep peace in their minds after seeing this.

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[–] ericajane503 17 years ago

I agree withe the last poster about this being chilling.

Why couldn't they shoot him? Its Humane. They didn't even tell him they couldn't save him.

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[–] tihanat 17 years ago

but thats the point, that amplifies the consequences of war
and that is what really hapens in war
besides, hope die last :)

rene bitorajac je zakon !!
--------------------------------------------
volim matematiku - da, luda sam

Zagreb, Hrvatska

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[–] Thomas_S 15 years ago

Of course they could shoot him, but that would have breached the UN mandate, as it wouldn't have been self-defence. The hierarchy simply didn't give a damn about that guy. All they cared about was to stick to the mandate, cover their a**es, and make sure they managed the press. Management strategy; that's all. One man doesn't count for them. It was only to manage the press that they got a mine expert out in the first place. This is unfortunately how our societies work much too often.

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[–] enciclopedia 17 years ago

No, Cera understood there was no way he's getting out when the German just came there and looked ashamed into the ground.

Cera made his peace and awaits his death.

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[–] funny_girl101 17 years ago

What's there to scream for? There's no one there. Screaming would just be a waste of energy in that situation.

That was one of the most saddest endings ever. I felt so bad for him.

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[–] jadrijasurf 17 years ago

The ending could have 2 meanings:

1. He makes peace with his fate

2. He thinks UN/Army will come back for him (the more tragic variant).
Lots of Bosnians and Croatians in Bosnia were killed because of UN (indirectly ofcourse) - Srebrenica for example.
Refugees/civilians put their hopes in UN to protect them, but they didn't.

Maybe director wanted to show that in NML.

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[–] Springtime_Of_Youth 16 years ago

i welcome being corrected as i haven't seen this picture in a while, but are we absolutely sure that he wasn't already dead ? The UN could have killed him then and there to prevent the risk of him blowing up the bomb before the press had chance to leave, as with saying they'd evacuated the soldier from the area and the bomb was defused would alert them. so if they did kill him, that would be to show atleast SOME compasion in their tight situation AND to save their own skins seen as though the mine was undefusable. As i said, if there is a sign that he is still alive then tell me so, but i can't remember seeing anything at all.

cheers

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[–] JohnGaltJunior 15 years ago

I just watched the movie again- for perhaps the third time. Still troubling and heart-wrenching- especially viewing all of that hatred.

I did come up with a solution to the problem, though. They should have injected a kind of adhesive epoxy or plaster under his clothes, into the area of the mine- thereby binding or freezing the mechanism of the mine from operating. Then they just cut him free of the inoperative solidified mass behind him- with the arming mechanism unable to move and thereby- fire. Of course then there wouldn't be a movie...

As portrayed, the final scenes are incredibly chilling, and one is hard pressed to imagine what you would do in the same situation.

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[–] visio159 15 years ago

UN is a numb body.

I was so upset with the ending. He clearly seems to be accepted the fate.

_______________
But you're a doctor! It's your job to heal people!. How can you just let her die!

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[–] starline 15 years ago

i welcome being corrected as i haven't seen this picture in a while, but are we absolutely sure that he wasn't already dead ?

Yes...everyone's gone...and he's still alive...just laying there with his eyes open...actually looking kinda peaceful. And then it gets dark...nighttime...and that's the end.

I've been trying to think of ways they could have saved hin after I saw the film not willing to accept the poor guy's fate.

This is the most chilling ending I have ever seen in cinema, I don't think anyone in the audiences can keep peace in their minds after seeing this.

I know! What a heart wrenching ending! Maybe even worse than The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

I thought there must have been a way out of that situation. By digging to the mine from the sides but yet I'm not sure about this.

I was thinkin' that too...or maybe slipping a board slowly under him that would be heavy enough to keep it weighted down. But for one thing those stones were in the way...so not sure WhaT they could do.

Why couldn't they shoot him? Its Humane. They didn't even tell him they couldn't save him.

That's true too.

I don't know if I could...but I think I would wanna just stand up...and get it over with. Laying there all alone...staying SO still...with nothing to do but ThinK... while starving to death ...would be a Most horrible way to go! :(

Sami Raimi...whose latest film is Drag Me to Hell... and other films such as Evil Dead and Spiderman... on his profile page...under 'In Development"...it says No Man's Land. I wonder if he's remaking this film. And I wonder if he will end it the same way...or have the man stand up...and blow up...I wonder if he'll try to make it more 'sensational'. But then again...I'm not even sure it's the 'same' No Man's Land.

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[–] koga_ninja_Jubei 15 years ago

He wouldn't starve though, or roll over in his sleep, or even have too long to mull over his fate.

Nobody has mentioned that the English UN character through misinformation orchestrates an offensive for that night between the Bosnians and Serbs, so that both sides will first bomb the hell out of and then try to retake the trench that night, destroying all physical trace of the whole episode.

"Man's mind is so formed that it is far more susceptible to falsehood than to truth"

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[–] 15 years ago

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