MovieChat Forums > Les Revenants (2004) Discussion > Thank God it's not just me...

Thank God it's not just me...

posted 15 years ago by Nan00k
3 replies | jump to latest

I just finished this film, and I really thought I missed something crucial that left me in the dark as the credits rolled. I consider myself fairly well-versed in cinema; I have an appreciation for deliberately paced films, as well. I don't even need movies spoon-fed to me. In fact, I was quite enjoying it until the film just up an ran away from me.

So I love imdb right now because I see I am not alone. Usually for particularly dense or avant-garde films, the boards abound with theories and explanations, but I don't see a single one here. So that leads me to tend to believe that it isn't us. I'm not going to come right out and say that the writer and director ran out of ideas, so they tried to come up with an ending that would be open ended and cause a buzz, but it's crossing my mind.

Right now I cannot give this movie more than a 5/10, but if I have an epiphany and "get" the ending, I may adjust my vote.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] denise1234 12 years ago

If you come back to this message board now, you will find comments from folks who like and appreciate this movie, and who also offer explanations of the story and metaphorical comparisons that you might find helpful.

I, myself, gave this movie a vote of 8/10.

Cheers, denise1234 :)

"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than..a rude remark or a vulgar action" Blanche DuBois

[–] jessiemail04 12 years ago

It is a very abstract film, but I think the basic premise is that all of the main "living" characters were in different stages of grief and had not yet accepted the loss of their loved ones. The mom and dad were anger and denial (respectively). The older man was bargaining. The lead character was depression. The dead were brought back to them and it was made obvious that they no longer possessed whatever it was before that made them human. Eventually this confrontation led many of the characters to fully accept the loss of their loved ones. The mother wanted her son to rejoin the dead. The older man himself died after accepting his fate and realizing that his soul would leave his body (as his wife's did). The female lead staring into her own reflection at the end made me think she had fully accepted the death of her husband (her glare is not one of emotion, but one of acceptance). In other words, they were still grieving and their loved one's returning without their souls allowed for them to come full circle and to accept their losses.