EXPLAINING THE WHOLE MOVIE *spoils everything*

I refuse to allow Clara to bully me into believing that Sean loved her more. I talked about it with my husband and he thinks Dead Sean gave her the letters so he could keep his wife (whom he loved) and his piece of tail.

I lean towards the It Was Sean camp. The film is full of ambiguities that would suggest either way, but how did he know the location where Sean died?

Even if you don't believe everything Clara says, the viewers see she is in possession of the unopened letters. At the very least, it says Sean was unfaithful to Anna and did not reciprocate her love for him. That's a given. Second, the fact the boy kept these letters a secret from Anna meant he was lying. Third, the fact he only started behaving strangely after he read the letters - this coming from his parents' reactions to how bizarre the kid was behaving. Fourth, he recalled nothing about nuclear physics even though at one time or another he must've seen mathematics which - if he was the nuclear scientist that he purported to be - would've done with ease i.e. this kid would be near-genius level, yet we see he goes to fourth grade. Fifth, after the kid is confronted with the truth, he doesn't retort or defend himself, but, instead, we see him try to snatch the letters back and run away; this is counter-intuitive to "telling the truth." These are the things we know first hand because we are shown time and time again. Whereas, there is nothing to show the kid is the reincarnation of a dead man.

People who misinterpret that aspect of the movie tend to overlook the obvious and paste a lot of their own ideas onto it. Let's say the kid is reincarnated. One, it's gotta be shown in the movie. In this instance, the boy only says he is. So he says, "I'm a dead guy." A part of the audience says, "Bullsh!t." The other part says, "Whoa! You are a dead guy." Not only is he a dead guy, but he also happens to be reincarnated in the body of a boy who, coincidentally, spends time at the apt building his ex-wife lives at because his father happens to tutor someone there. Not only is he reincarnated, but now he also doesn't remember every aspect of his former life, although there is no evident reason as to WHY he wouldn't recall his past life since - uh - he spent a whole other lifetime (40 years? 50 years?) doing these things: He doesn't remember his wife, he doesn't remember his mistress, he doesn't remember his job, he doesn't remember his family, he doesn't remember his social security ID number, etc, etc, etc, and on, and on, and on. So, really, what DOES the kid remember? He "remembers" having sex on the green couch. He "remembers" teaching about "splitting the atom" at the hospital (what kind of "hospital" is this?!). He "remembers" his brother-in-law's wife couldn't have a kid. Oh, and how he knew where Anna's husband died and who told her that Santa did not exist is a total sign he was the dead guy because - as we are all aware - knowing these two trivial things are symbols of reincarnation. Nevermind that throughout the entirety of the movie he dodged questions, he remained silent, he never offered any solid proof he was who he said he was. All he did was say, "I'm a dead guy"... and some people believe him on that alone.



Do The Mussolini! Headkick!

right on!! I am with you 100%!! I do not buy it for a second that he would HAVE to love her more (or even at all) by giving her the letters unopened! Why did he need to open them in the first place since he was married to her? And secondly when are they from in the timeline of their relationship?? Are they love-letters from their courtship? or are they affirmations of a happy marraige? I mean he was probably just using them to shine clara on in my opinion, and you would have thought that Anna would have talked to him about the content of the letters regardless of at which point they were written, so what is up with that?

lol what was that all about??:))))did you post for the wrong movie???:))) what does this have to do with ni***s??? lool

Nuwavghost, we're talking about the movies, here. I ask you if it's feasible for a young man to be bitten by a spider and suddenly assume superhuman qualities. Is it feasible that a bunch of snakes would assault and terrorize passengers on an airplane? Is it feasible that aliens would come to Earth and blow up the White House? Any story can be told through film; that's the beauty of it. It's entirely possible within the context of this narrative that Sean had been reincarnated.

I've read all your posts against the child being a reincarnate of Anna's husband, but in some of the early posts somebody made a great point. Why, how, would a 10 year old boy come up with such an elaborate scheme? She asks him while they are eating ice cream "How would you satisfy my needs?" He replied appropriately, "I know what you are talking about." How would a 10 year old boy know what she was insinuating there. Sex embarrasses children that age. They usually smile or blush or giggle when things of a sexual nature are brought up..but not this child. Ok, you will probably go back and say the letters contained content of a sexual nature and that's how he knew. He acted sophisticated, just like Anna's family, not like his family. Why then is the movie called "Birth"?...and Why does the child say, in his last letter, "Maybe we'll see each other again, in another lifetime." Why was he so compelled to follow some stranger carrying a gift out of an apartment building? How mentally advanced do you think a 10 year old boy, with average parents (they were portrayed as totally blue collar, regular people opposed to the ritzy Kidman character)really is? Someone else pointed out that 10 year old's have crushes, not intense love affairs. They don't have marriage on their minds. Also, remember what he says to his mother? "I'm not your STUPID son anymore." Obviously he was more educated than his parents ever were and NO he couldn't just go get a job "splitting atoms" he was a 10 year old boy. His stoic manner, his seriousness, the way he touched her face when he kissed her in addition to all the other things I mentioned above lead me to think he was her husband and YES to all the other posters, this movie is also about grief and how it can "bleep" with your mind. Everyone here has had excellent points on both sides, but after reading all of it and watching the film a few times I can't believe anything but that the child was somehow her dead husband. I apologize for my lack of formatting. These were just thoughts flowing out of my head and I had to write it this way.