What is the point of going back to Sam's apartment and showing him run around with a toy plane and then crashing it into the camera? They could have ended the movie with the previous scene. Anyone have any ideas why this was the last scene of the movie?
shareIt was just reflecting on Bicke's character and his insanity. Thats the feeling I got.
shareI'm wondering why Bickle shot and killed his only friend,, His dog..
why??
was it to prepare himself for murderous plots??
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If he didn't do it the dog would end up starving in the street, never knowing why it's master - which he loved - had abandoned him.
This way he didn't suffer.
That scene was probably the hardest for me to see in the whole movie. Broke my heart.
I found it kinda funny, after i saw this film i sorta saw it as my/this generations Taxi Driver. ( I dont think it as on par to Taxi Driver, but just as a new film with similar theme's) Anyways, this is the first post i read on here, and in one of early posts, someone refered to or misspelled the character Sam Bicke's name as Bickle. Coincidence?????
shareHow would the dog have ended up starving in the street? It still had Sam's ex and kids to take care of it.
"The psychologists call him a psychopath. They don't know what else to call him."
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He's not insane. Everything he believes is true. It is morally wrong to lie to people to make a profit off them, employment is slavery. They do try and keep us divided so we just accept the status quo.
Everyone in the world would tell you that it's corrupt and unfair and yet nobody does anything about it. Surely it's time for a change?
He's not insane. Everything he believes is true. It is morally wrong to lie to people to make a profit off them, employment is slavery. They do try and keep us divided so we just accept the status quo.
I wouldn´t say he is or became insane, he was just to fed up with a corrupt system that never got him and his honesty squat. I´d say he has a somewhat autistic personallity, I myself have Asperger Syndrome and really identify with this character in the way that I think it´s really wrong to lie, and I can´t stress that enough. I had a job as a internet tech support once, and my bosses told us to lie all the time to the customers in case if a mailserver went down or some other malfunction on the companies behalf. And to me it was really hard, to sit there and lie to people, in my opinion there is no good lies.
A person with asperger have generally a difficulty to follow social rules, like being blunt/honest instead of saying socially "correct" things like white lies.
Well, I think what this movie illestrates is a man that did everything right and everyone takes him for granted, he is a doormat. No one really cares about him. Only his youngest child seemed interested to be in the picture he took. It´s a sad story and it´s a masterpiece imo. I hope alot of people get to se it, and I hope it has the same impact as it had on me.
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Sam was just as corrupt as the system he continually criticized. He lied to his boss about being married, stole from his brother, and blamed everyone else for any problem he encountered.
As for Sam and the dog, I got the impression that had his family been home, he would have shot them as well.
You're too hard on Sam. He had tough problems and deserved to get some compassion. What strikes me about this film is what a curse it can be to have a wife and children if you are not ready. One of the great curses of this world is how easy it is to have a baby. I wish we could sterilize everybody so people could experience personal growth before having children.
"Extremism in the pursuit of moderation is no vice."
Employment is slavery? Since when did real slaves get paid, or have the choice of leaving their jobs to take different ones? Most people have to work, but have the luxury of choosing careers, etc. Slavery still exists in the world, but this character was far from a slave.
Well ...well ... you are the firts talking about the core of the story.
Yes .. Sam are not compeltelly "normal" , but the rest of the people , are normal.. ?? , or are adapted to a bad situation..??
The movie is really sad, but the Sean Pen performer is fantastic..!!! really really great...!!!
In this moment Pen is one of the big actors.
Oscar from Rosario-Argentina
I thought the last scene was a great way to end it because it got you thinking. He crashed the toy plane into the camera and into the viewer. This showed that his plot to kill the president wasn't only to kill the president, but it was bigger. It would be an act that would affect the world and each person in it. And just think, this was based on a true story. If his plan would have been successful, our world would be so different. Atleast that was my interpretation. Oh yea, I saw this movie last week for the first time and I loved it. One of my all time favorites now.
shareExcellent analysis and I think you're right on, Stewie 21. Yeah, great film.
shareI also loved the film. Last year, I saw a revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical "Assassins", in which Samuel Bicke has a major role. In it, he delivers a monologue to Leonard Bernstein into a tape recorder. It's a great theater moment. He also joins the other presidential assassins (both successful and would-be)in an ensemble number. In the musical, he wears a Santa Claus suit while making the tape. I seem to recall hearing or reading that he wore that suit to the airport too. Anyone know whether or not that was so?
shareWhat I think is really insane is that he shoots the pilots before they can take off, and thus ruining his own plans. Why?
(by the way: did both pilots die?)
You can find the archived newspaper articles online about the real events if you are interested.
I also thought that final bit didn't add much to the film, a bit jarring I thought, what with 9/11 and all. Heck, you could have ended the film at the part where he checks his moustache in the rearview mirror in the parking lot, grabs his case and then enters the rooftop access of the airport. The scenes in the airport/plane were very good and intense, but the main story was about the descent of an average joe into madness, so the actual violent acts became somewhat of a denouement.
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He killed his dog to get the courage to kill another human being. That was the purpose on him killing his boss, too, but he chickened out. By killing his dog, a "lesser being", he would feel more comfortable to killing another man. And -because the dog is his only friend- he would "take the dog with him."
shareHis dog was his only friend. He said he didn't want to leave him alone, and seeing as he knew he was going to die, he took the dog with him.
shareExcellent post - I couldn't agree more. Such an ending is absolutely necessary as it makes it abundantly clear why Sam was wrong - a point that needed making.
To me the most potent part of the film was where we see Cheadle and Watts going about their jobs, oblivious to the reports of Sam's actions on the television screens. They are too busy working to support themselves and their families to even learn of the outcome of Sam's fanciful plotting; they are the ones making the real sacrifices and are the true heroes of the piece.
i dont agree with murder, but who's to say whats "wrong" and "right"? everything is just beliefs. this is how wars start, saying someones idea of "right" is "wrong". "taking someones life is wrong"- that would be according to the bible i guess? yet another religions god tells them it is "right" to kill. are they "wrong"? not necessarily, why is your opinion more valid that theirs? i dont agree with murder at all, its horrible and unnessecary in my eyes, but i dont ever think that someone who thinks differently is wrong. its difficult and cruel, but no one knows why we're on earth, so you just got to do what you believe in, and it's just the way of the world that some peoples beliefs will hurt others.
brilliant film.
www.xanga.com/aural_sex
Er... I doubt any war has ever started over the idea that killing is fundamentally wrong...
Anyway, I think you're kinda missing the point of what I was trying to say about the character of Sam Bicke. Sam was constantly blaming the injustices of the dominant system for the mess that was his own life, refusing to accept any responsibility for himself. I sympathise with him - because yes, the system is unjust - but its the way the world is and we have to accept that and do our best in the given circumstances. Sam failed to understand or accept this and simply got lost in his own ideals of what was 'right'; therefore I can say that I thought he was wrong in the exact same way in which you just judged me to have made an erroneous statement.
Particular attention paid to the rules in section #2 and the punishments in section #3.
i said: 'this is how wars start, saying someones idea of "right" is "wrong".'
<edit> and sorry i wasnt replying to you per se, just clicked reply to yours coz it was closest so i could type something. </edit>
I also agree with your points, especially the scenes with Cheadle & Watts going about their business ignoring the TV headlines of Sam's fatal actions. The ultimately irony being is that even in death people are just not interested in Sam; they're too busy trying to reach the American Dream, something that Sam couldn't face
Im also interested by the pure coincidence of the Sam Bicke and Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver - a similar themed "man-against-the-system" movie. Im also reminded how very much absorbed I was with Penn's Bicke and Penn's uncanny resemblance to De Niro both in terms of character-acting and physique.
I think Sam was always a bit on the edge of reality. He wasn't coping well with his family problems (His wife made a comment about him quitting yet another job). He stole from his own family. He kept insulting his best friend I think his insults were merely misunderstandings but after while that gets on your nerves too). He also reached for his friend's gun while he was visiting him at his car repair store. His boss/work only wanted to succeed in sales...that is work.
I knew he would kill his dog because that was the only living thing that just loved him for just being. They had to show us that he finally lost it...no holds barred at that point.
The man was insane...no doubt in my mind.
I think Sean Penn did a nice job with the film.
I didn't understand the way the movie ended either...at first I thought they did that to illustrate that everything that happened at the airport might have been a dream, but I don't think so. I think showing Sam back in the apartment really diluted the power of the ending.
shareFor me, the ending was more like Sam really lost his mind and had nothing left to live for. His running around holding a toy airplane left me feeling a bit creeped out.
I agree with you though. They really didn't need to end it with him running around in the apt.
Another idea that occurred to me regarding the ending is that the whole scene on the airplane was a dream/fantasy and as Sam's mind completely unraveled, what we saw in the final scene was what was left of Sam;s mind after that horrifying dream of him being shot while trying to hijack an airliner.
shareI think it's just to show how sad and insane he was. To give you that last lingering thought of him.
Kinda like showing the incocene in a child..
:) Don't Forget To SMILE Today :)
Agreed, he was just a very distured individual, and that last scene was there to remind us of that before wrapping up the film.
It's more like an afterthought, or a twisted epitaph if you like.
Who are they? And what do they want?