What was the significance of the ghost in the pictures?
I was confused about that, especially at the end when they showed a close-up of it.
shareI thought that the "face" of the ghost dissappeared from the picture in the last shot of it, leaving just the smudge, that did look like a thumbprint or something. I interpreted it to mean that Abel had come to terms with his metaphorical ghosts, or something like that; and that in doing so, he no longer saw images that weren't really there.
Maybe that's not what they intended, but that's what I got from it.
Also, just want to add that I loved this movie. It was beautiful, unpredictable and moving.
*spoiler*
At first I was disappointed with the "ghost face" because I did not want to watch a stupid ghost movie since I was already enjoying a believable movie. In the end, when we figure out that it was his imagination resulting from guilt about his perceived participation in his brother's death, it made some sense (and explained why he spared Carlin that same guilt).
This does NOT explain why Betsy (the woman/teacher he was having an affair with) also saw a "ghost face" AND insisted it was the dead boy reaching out to them!!!
It's sad how little things can ruin potential fantastic movies. I still enjoyed the movie, though. If Betsy hadn't seen the fake "ghost face", I would have had no problem with recommending this movie to friends.
It was like in Back to the Future. The kid who was the leader of the pack and bully at the start (similar to Bif) got kicked out of school and became an odd jobs person. Once the cop kissed the teacher on the school dancefloor everything corrected itself and the ghost in the photo disappeared.
share[deleted]
I don't think there is anything to explain with regard to why Betsy also saw a "ghost face" etc.
I think Betsy was moved by the fact that one of her pupils was dead - a pupil which, most probably, was not the normal one even in class.
And, that Betsy and Abel both saw "something" in the photo(s) is the quid that brought them together.
Just my 2 cents.
Think of it this way; the ghost in the picture, the fish spontaneously appearing in the swimming pool, the strange noises--they're all probably supposed to be part of the What If-school of thought. Why just say that the kid committed suicide and that was the end of it, case closed? Why not throw in some supernatural hooboo jooboo to make everyone pause and think "hmmm, was that REALLY all there was to it?"
After all the unlikely events that prompted Abel to pursue the investigation at any cost it would be kind of a drag for the viewers if at the core of the matter awaited just a big fat logical explanation. You throw a ghost in a picture (which two seperate people saw so as to reduce the likelihood of a simple delusion) some strange phenomena occuring in the waters where the boy died and wham-balam, all the makings of a Maybe It Was A Ghost-story.
When it's pulled off right, this kind of directorial mind-scramble can pipe out a pretty decent plot twist. When done wrong it just comes out like they tried too hard for an intellectual thriller and had to settle for a predictable one. I liked this movie.
Imagine that conventional wisdom is a forest: I am Chainsaw, you are squirrels.
Betsy saw the "ghost" because she was struggling with her own demons herself (accepting a marriage just to keep her job, the attraction she felt for Abel).
share