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EXPLAINING THE WHOLE MOVIE spoils everything

posted 17 years ago by andro21
162 replies | jump to latest

first, the kid was not sean, ever, not even for a moment, obviously, since sean was cheating on anna and would have gone straight to clara instead of anna, which makes it completely obvious right there, BUT, more proof... the kid saw clara bury the love letters sean gave to her (they actually show him walking behind clara after she buries a box which contains those letters around the ending of the movie, only the timeframe of that scene was actually right before the kid began believing he was sean [the beginning of the movie], not the night before). (these were the love letters that were written to sean by anna. sean never opened these letters and gave them to clara to prove he loved her more, as clara explains at the end of the movie. and yes, he did love her more, why the hell else would be hand over alllll the love letters written to him by anna completely unopened? not a very loving thing to do, is it?)

the kid then unearths them and reads and memorizes details written in those letters (this is why he couldnt just go in and recall certain conversations or talk about the lectures he used to give). no, he didnt read and memorized details because he wanted to find a way to trick anna, but he read them and fell in love with anna and her writing (much like anyone would have etched in their memory a favorite story and author when they were kids). and so he became sean through the love letters and fell inlove with anna. and then the movie unfolds as it did.

to explain better the part when clara gets to anna's place and the kid opens the door to her: the kid opens the door. clara is there. the kid is shocked. she shows him her hands are dirty. the kid realizes clara went to see if the love letters were still buried and is kinda paralized. thats why when clara asks him to show her where the bathroom is and then asks him to dry her hands, he does so without thought. he's afraid clara will tell anna about him digging up the letters. clara gives him her new address and the kid actually asks her to not tell anna (no, this was not about the cheating on anna with her. keep in mind, he didnt even know who clara was, which he admits around the end). they both know clara expects him to show up the following day with those letters, which is why he had them in his bag. another thing, how could he possibly be sean and not know the person (clara) he loved more?

but by the end of the movie, its pretty obvious that he's not sean, but a kid who took on a second persona. anna is just completely devistated that she's getting married and its not to the real sean (u can see how happy she was, right up until she saw joseph during the photos)... the end shows her having a breakdown of sorts at the beach (the first place sean and she ever met), tying it all together.

i just wish they showed the love letters and the parts he memorized and used, but this movie seems to be more of an open-ended piece, deliberately trying to cause conversation. i just think it would have been better if explained in the movie. she lost sean 10 yrs ago and the child is 10 yrs old... kinda makes u think it might be possible the kid really does have the reincarnation of sean's soul in him... but if it wasnt that way, the movie wouldnt be half as good.

[–] LEMONPIE_30 12 years ago

OK, now that I've managed to read the whole thread I have to say that the OP and the others with him got it right. It's obvious the boy is roleplaying. If he was really Sean reincarnated then the whole thing with the letters and Clara's character would be completely pointless - why put it in there? And then, if a director wants to make a movie about true and everlasting death-defying love, why the heck would he even imply that the husband was a cheater? Are we supposed to sympathise that he cheated on his wife and returned to say how much he loved her? Please... And why would Anna's mother say she didn't ever liked him? It's obviously because she had figured him out while Anna was blinded by her love. If the kid was a reincarnation why would he say to Clara "I'm not Sean, because I love Anna"? One would rather expect him to say: "I AM Sean and you should know that I never loved you, I've always loved Anna!". And I could go on and on... I think people who choose to see things that are not there and support the reincarnation idea are hopelessly romantics.

Now I'll patiently wait for the attack by the obsessed person who will come yelling to send me "OUT TO LUNCH" (I hope she's buying) :-P

[–] estella2 11 years ago

RE: LEMONPIE_30
I totally agree. That's what I was trying to say in my previous post-- and like you said, why else would he say, "I'm not Sean, because I love Anna", ???

[–] mixedmed 11 years ago

If he was really Sean reincarnated then the whole thing with the letters and Clara's character would be completely pointless - why put it in there?

Probably to cast doubt and provoke conversation. Directors do that type of stuff all the time if they want to leave a story open-ended.

And then, if a director wants to make a movie about true and everlasting death-defying love, why the heck would he even imply that the husband was a cheater? Are we supposed to sympathise that he cheated on his wife and returned to say how much he loved her?

I personally didn't get that it was a story about true and everlasting love. But even if the husband was a cheater, I'm sure that death put things like how much you love your wife in perspective. If you buy the reincarnation theory, then it is a bit sympathetic when young Sean finds that his older incarnation was a bit of a jerk.

And why would Anna's mother say she didn't ever liked him?

She didn't appear to like much of anything.

If the kid was a reincarnation why would he say to Clara "I'm not Sean, because I love Anna"? One would rather expect him to say: "I AM Sean and you should know that I never loved you, I've always loved Anna!".

Maybe because she was so insignificant to him in his past life he didn't remember her? And at the end of the day, he's still a kid. What Clara was claiming probably didn't jibe with the fragmented memories he may have had or with the letters he read and being a kid he just couldn't imagine how he could have an affair with Clara if he really loved Anna.

Plus, there's always the strong possibility that Clara wasn't being entirely truthful. This is a woman that wrapped up Anna's unopened letters to her husband as an engagement gift. This is a woman so bitter (at Anna and not married lover) that she considered doing this petty act of revenge on Anna ten years after original Sean died....at her engagement party. She got to the point of wrapping up the letters and showing up in the lobby of the building before her sense of decency (or fear of consequences) kicked in. That's not something that a stable person does.

Clara had every reason to want to prove that young Sean really wasn't Sean. Because that would mean that even reincarnated Sean passed her over for Anna. Yet again.

Now, I don't completely buy the reincarnation story. But there are some things that were in the movie that didn't have a ready, logical, explanation that did point to that possibility.

[–] wak1 9 years ago

I lean towards the reincarnation explanation so this is slanted that way.
Clara is probably jealous of Anna and wanted Sean all for herself.
Maybe she had just 1 'fling' with Sean and wanted more - but it didn't happen, Sean forgot pretty much all about it and the reincarnated boy wouldn't remember either but still subconsciously remember her a little bit or something - at least enough to follow her and dig up what she buried. Or just a little boy's curiosity at strange behavior.
Why the letters were originally unopened is open to question.
Perhaps Sean really didn't read them for some reason, and they ended up at Clifford's and then Clara eventually stole them as a complete collection from there.
Or perhaps Clara had access to Sean's mail as it arrived - in some other way - and stole them one by one, as they arrived, in hope it would throw cold water on the relationship by making it seem to Sean that Anna wasn't so committed as the relationship was getting under way. But they got married anyway. Clara had her one taste and she had wanted so much more.
It seems unlikely Sean gave them to Clara as a proof of his love for Clara.
But it's possible, and if he did, that certainly argues for the boy faking everything.
In any case, Clara wouldn't want to read the contents of those letters, that's not going to make her feel any better, so they would remain unopened.
Wrapping them up as an "engagement present" could be an attempt to ruin Anna's upcoming marriage since Clara might know that Anna is subconsciously never going to be free of Sean's memory and possibly reignite those memories or just depress Anna about the possibility of another woman (a women who was more than just a 'fling'). Or just one last desperate stab at some sort of revenge
The later appearance of the boy claiming to be Sean is another threat to Clara if she believes he is a reincarnation, bringing up yet another potential repeat of her disappointment over not getting the original Sean permanently in the first place. Now she has another chance to get revenge on Anna and maybe get Sean this time around.
She wouldn't want to ruin the current upcoming marriage as much as she would want to make sure she doesn't fail yet a second time to get Sean but even more importantly not let Anna get Sean.
Her desperate grab of the letters back from Sean is an indication that how she got hold of them to begin with is probably under shady circumstances - not a gift from Sean but stolen.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] DiamondLove 12 years ago

Thanks! I just saw the movie today and was confused.

You don't make friends with salad.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] zandor1204 10 years ago

This thread basically helps confirm the boy (Cameron Bright) or younger Sean is indeed a fake and lying. There are so many previous details he could not have known and or have forgotten that would have made his attempt at passing himself off as a reincarnated Sean believeable.

[–] gtu2004 9 years ago

I don't know where you got that from. But I'm pretty sure most people would agree with the complete opposite theory, or "It was Sean". All questions from those supporting the "It wasn't Sean" theory can be answered logically. Otherwise they'd just be big plotholes. I personally don't believe in reincarnation, but there's no other plausible answer this movie. I'm even surprised this debate exists at all. You gotta dig a little bit to understand the many different potentials in this movie. It wasn't even the director's intention to make it confusing. The answer is pretty clear. It was Sean.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] yajji 9 years ago

You're wrong about Kidman. I think most people agree she hit this one right out of the park. I couldn't imagine anyone other than her as Anna. She has all the perfect nuances.

[–] sandifay62 9 years ago

I think Kidman was alright in spite of her waxy face. But the direction was so pretentious and cloying that it got in the way of the storytelling. By the end didn't care about the boy or Anna. There's was just something so lifeless, careful, and impersonal about it.

The whole bathtub scene and kiss seemed more like it was something the director was personally into.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] mercycroft 9 years ago

Nope.

The kid was Sean, and his past life memory was jogged when he read the letters. If he were a con artist, the director would have needed to show examples of this prior to him finding the letters. Many articles have been written about children remembering past lives when they are young, then forgetting them as they age. The director is using this as one of the supporting premises.

We did not see what was in the letter box and have no idea what Anna wrote or if there were pictures -- again, you have to go on what we're given, not make up what was "probably" in there. That said, I can't imagine a woman writing letters to her husband and including a photo of the woman who told her about Santa. But again, we'd have to have seen that to know for sure.

Sean knew many things that seemed unlikely to be in love letters -- like when he immediately hugs his brother.

Regardless, as the director has stated, this movie is about Anna and her need to believe and the challenge that is placed before her. It asks us, what would you do? Not, is Sean real or not. That's a debatable point, but not the point of the film.

EXPLAINING THE WHOLE MOVIE *spoils everything*

EXPLAINING THE WHOLE MOVIE spoils everything