MovieChat Forums > Last Days (2005) Discussion > Two questions about the stranger in red.

Two questions about the stranger in red.

posted 12 years ago by BlueDevilReviews
4 replies | jump to latest

It's often been pointed out that before and after Blake's death,
there is a strange person wearing all red wandering around the greenhouse.

1. Where was it after his death? I remember before his death,
the band drives off and one of them looks at the greenhouse and sees the figure in red,
but AFTER Blake's death, even by close inspection, I wasn't able to spot out this character.
I know where it is BEFORE, but where is it AFTER?

2. Was it a planned murder, not a suicide?
The band seems to be in a hurry to drive off before Blake's death.
And one of them looks at the greenhouse with the figure in red looking back from the door of the greenhouse.
The guy looks very nervous as he does.
I can't help but think he paid someone to kill Blake
and he's just distracting the band so they won't find out till morning.

Any answers to these questions?
I feel the second question is meant to be interpretive,
but I also want to hear other people's interpretations.
It's like a murder mystery.

[–] jgmitchell 10 years ago

Nobody fffing cares buddyfunster!

[–] jgmitchell 10 years ago

It's Kurt/Blake in a red shirt doofus. Guess that's what he had on underneath his coat. You see it partly when he's lying dead too.

[–] cuckoo77 10 years ago

Actually no, it's not Blake.

You can clearly see the figure lurking in the gardenhouse before Blake even enters it.

The figure quickly disappears as soon as he opens the door.

You see the figure once more, as Lukas Haas gets in the car.

I figure it's either Van Sant nodding at the Cobain Murder theory or it's some sort of artsy way of saying "there's the Grim Reaper".

[–] Rewbacca 8 years ago

I realize I'm a bit late to answer this, but I took the red cloaked figure as heroin personified. Some heroin is literally red--I think it's a particularly lethal kind.

In the end, I think that Blake is "meeting his maker", if you will. When he's approaching the building, he looks back because he feels like someone is following him. As he enters the greenhouse, we see a flash of red in the reflection of the glass--again a sign that he's being followed. He takes off his glasses, we finally get a good look at his face, and he focuses on something. He hears church bells, and there are various noises along with the bells. I watched a few times, and I heard a slight knock on a door, a voice muttering, and a creak--as if someone/something entered the greenhouse with him.

His friends were messed up just as much as he was, and very few of their decisions made logical sense. I think as they were getting in the car, one of them was just momentarily worried about him, but not enough to actually go check on him. I think the fact that he saw the red cloaked figure just symbolized that he was aware that there was a very serious, glaring problem.

As for your second question, I believe you're correct that it's purposely left to our interpretation. Honestly, I think it could be seen as both suicide and murder. He didn't save himself, but no one else saved him either.