MovieChat Forums > The Lovely Bones (2010) Discussion > Falling ice question....SPOILERS

Falling ice question....SPOILERS


Is it implied that Susie 'willed' that ice to come down on Harvey at the end, or was it just karma? We see it kind of glow before it falls on him. Is this the reason she says to the other survivors that she is not quite ready to join them yet? Or was that only because she was waiting for her mother to return?



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

reply

I think it was Susie. Only because the ice did glow

reply

That's my thought also, though it's not made completely clear (haven't read the book, which may have clarified). There's several shots of icicles throughout the movie, which definitely foreshadows that moment.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

reply

in the book there is an amazing line,

"'How to Commit the Perfect Murder' was an old game in heaven. I always chose the icicle, the weapon melts away."

i SO wish that they had referenced this in the movie, it would have made then ending so much better. They could have very easily slipped it in somewhere.

Also, when he's talking to the girl at the end, he seems to have aged quite a bit... it could be years since Susie.

reply

Decades. And it was just the dying fantasy of Susie, while Mr. Harvey was taking the knife to her.

reply

Susie wasn't ready to join them yet. It is because she wanted to go back and experience her first kiss.

reply

in the book there is an amazing line,

"'How to Commit the Perfect Murder' was an old game in heaven. I always chose the icicle, the weapon melts away."

i SO wish that they had referenced this in the movie, it would have made then ending so much better. They could have very easily slipped it in somewhere.


Thanks for the info....that clears things up a lot. It would have made things more understandable if that line was somehow in the film.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

reply

but she was kissed by the old man and had sex with him before dying she already experienced that trust me

reply

Do your victims enjoy being raped by you?

reply

He's been gone for 5 years, dude.

reply

Yeah, I noticed too late...

reply

Technically he was correct of course. Besides, everything that happens are the dying thoughts of Susie. As ghosts don't exist, you know.

reply

I would like to think that she didn't have anything to do with it, but rather it just happened and it was foreshadowed to her in heaven. I think that Holly knew and that's why she said everyone dies in the end. After all, there is no time in Heaven and she could see what was to come if she wanted. I want to think it just happened that way, whether it be karma or God or just coincidence. I think part of the theme of the movie is to let go of revenge and to learn to move on. She and her family were only able to find happiness after they let go of their feelings of justice and vengance and dwelling on her death and move on. I think at the point where Harvey died, she had moved on into heaven and he just ended up dying.

reply

I'd like to think that she didn't have anything to do with it.

For starters, it's a pretty stupid/lame way to end the story--I mean who gets killed by a falling icicle anyway? And how many suspected-but-never-convicted killers get their comeuppance in such a way? Sure they all die, just like any of us, but this kind of nonsense rarely happens.

Anyway that nitpick aside, if she was the one that would have killed him with the icicle, shouldn't she then be destined to go to Hell herself after that? The whole thing with the other girl telling her this is not the way and she shouldn't want to kill him, is inline with the idea of going to Heaven--revenge in the form of killing someone (whether they killed you or not) is likely not going to send you to Heaven. Remember she's not in Heaven yet, she's essentially in limbo so she could go either way. Perhaps the choices she makes there will also determine where she must go permanently.

She also learns that in her father's motivation for violence/revenge, he nearly gets killed himself in a turn of events. Isn't that even more a "lesson" for her that revenge isn't what she should be after?

At the moment the other girl tells her that "everyone dies" that's when we also see the random icicle break/fall, meaning Harvey was always going to die like that whether it was karma or whatever you want to call it.

I dunno I think a more fitting end would have been for Harvey to end up in prison where he belonged--a much more likely scenario given he killed others and probably would kill more and eventually get convicted on one of the murders. Again, nearly nobody dies by falling icicles but serial killers are indeed often caught and jailed!

reply

I dunno I think a more fitting end would have been for Harvey to end up in prison where he belonged--a much more likely scenario given he killed others and probably would kill more and eventually get convicted on one of the murders. Again, nearly nobody dies by falling icicles but serial killers are indeed often caught and jailed!


You make some good points but I suppose there's some sort of poetic justice to Harvey's demise, in the sense of how totally random it was. I think most of us would have liked to see him sent to prison for life or even persecuted in some other way, but his death was painful and cruel- though way too quick. Also, he died right after another of his lame pick-up attempts, so in a way...that seemed linked.

His death probably wasn't satisfying but it implied SOME sort of higher power (notice how the icicle glows right before it falls, a clear indicator of something other-worldly). Whether that was Susie or not? Who knows? Maybe just Karma, with a big capital K.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

reply

That's what I mentioned in a thread I started here in 2013 entitled, "The icicle". I believe it to be karma too.

Unfortunately, IMDb removed everyone else's posts that replied to my thread. I hate when IMDb does that but I guess they need to make room for new threads.

"Ain't life grand!"

reply

Unfortunately, IMDb removed everyone else's posts that replied to my thread. I hate when IMDb does that but I guess they need to make room for new threads.


That's odd. I've been on IMDb for more than 10 years and I've never had that happen to a thread I was a part of. Oh well...



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

reply

Yeah, I read that it's quite common for IMDb to delete old threads and/or duplicate topics in order to make room for new one's. Something about their bandwidth that they can't exceed a certain amount. It actually makes sense to me. I don't think ANY website can just go on forever...at least, I've never known one to.

I guess we learn something new every day. 

Although...I don't know why IMDb removed only the response posts to my thread and not the whole thread. It's a shame cause there were quite a few interesting outlooks on the subject of the icicle.

"Ain't life grand!"

reply

I just Googled this, I think it'll better explain as to why IMDb deletes or moves posts...and it's a rather lame explanation if you ask me.

http://www.imdb.com/help/show_leaf?boardswhydeleted

So many people put so much time and thought into their posts only to have them trashed later because they have "expired"??? Why should that even be possible? The movie in question does not expire, so why should people's outlooks?? I think it is VERY disrespectful for IMDb to treat people's posts in such a manner...as if they don't matter. I, for one, like to read other people's opinions whether they're 1 day old or 10 years old, I find them all interesting and often, downright helpful.

I think, from now on, I'm going to keep a record of all my posts and responses to any threads I create, and if IMDb chooses to delete them only because they "expired"...I'll re-post everything back on.


"Ain't life grand!"

reply

I dunno I think a more fitting end would have been for Harvey to end up in prison where he belonged
And get owned.

ShadowsouL, Self-Appointed Honorary Moof Milker

LET'S BE IN YOGA!

reply

Yeeeaaaahhhh!! 👍👍 

"Ain't life grand!"

reply

It's crazy and unbelievable about the icicle and yet-it happens! I was shocked to learn more people will die from an icicle than from sharks.

reply

Anyway that nitpick aside, if she was the one that would have killed him with the icicle, shouldn't she then be destined to go to Hell herself after that? The whole thing with the other girl telling her this is not the way and she shouldn't want to kill him, is inline with the idea of going to Heaven--revenge in the form of killing someone (whether they killed you or not) is likely not going to send you to Heaven. Remember she's not in Heaven yet, she's essentially in limbo so she could go either way. Perhaps the choices she makes there will also determine where she must go permanently.
I understand this poster's way of thinking but maybe it was God who caused it to happen. In the book of Acts God uses his powers to kill King Herod. So it's not that off the basis of the bible. Actually I'm gonna copy and paste the passage I'm talking about for clarification.
Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 20 He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.

21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

reply

I will say I actually liked the ending and I started reading the book and then lost my place (I hate when that happens) but I have been told the book ends the same way. Heaven is also very different in the book. She sees a counselor who is also a murder victim (though she was a young adult and not a kid) there often and talks to her about her feelings of Mr. Harvey and him getting away with it. I can see why it didn't make it to film. I think the way they did it in the film with just other kids her age was a bit better. Plus it would've been more expensive than having a child actor.

Green Goblin is great! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1L4ZuaVvaw

reply

No, the ice falling was foreshadowed early on in the film a couple times while Suzie didn't even notice it, one of the times They showed it was at the same time Holly says "Everybody dies". It was just a foreshadowed even to drive that point home.

reply

I thought it was destiny or fate. The icicles are in an earlier scene, when Holly says something about "You don't get it. Everyone dies." Unless I'm misremembering that.

So I guess the point Holly was making was that it doesn't matter what Suzie thinks she needs to do. Everything is destiny already. If the killer was going to be caught or not, Suzie couldn't change that.

reply

All I know is that George Harvey had a GREAT optometrist! After that tumble down the cliff his glasses were still on!

reply