MovieChat Forums > Nine Lives (2005) Discussion > ****SPOILERS*** Connections Between Segm...

**SPOILERS* Connections Between Segments

posted 19 years ago by noralee
85 replies | jump to latest

This discusses spoilers so is for those who have seen "9 Lives":
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I know it's not like flashbacks in "Lost" where there's clues to connect the vignettes, but I was curious to see if I got all the connections or if you see other connections. I know I'm not remembering the correct order or their names or the actors/actresses.

-- Jail sequence
We later see how she's arrested, so I presume that vignette precedes the jail one.
We see the corrections officer later at home.

-- supermarket sequence
we later see Jason Isaacs and his wife. And the issue of his sterility will cause an exchanged glance between them as pergnancy comes up in the conversation.

-- sisters at home
The corrections officer shows up.
Lisa Gay Hamilton is later a nurse at the hospital, saying lines that have ironic different meaning than in this home situation.

-- daughter between mom and handicapped dad
we later see the mom at a motel, though we don't know if that's before or after this scene.

-- two couples in apartment
Jason Isaacs from the supermarket is the host.
Molly Parker as his wife later shows up at the funeral.

-- funeral home
Mom of the ex-wife is a doctor at the hospital
Molly Parker is a friend of the ex-wife.
Did we see the dead wife somewhere else?

-- Motel
Wife of the handicapped dad.
We see the prisoner get arrested.

-- Hospital
Doctor was at the funeral.
We had seen the nurse with her sister, could be before or after.

---Grave site
What were the connections?

[–] edittmer-1 19 years ago

Grave site:

I Don't see a connection.

But I'm sure that the Dakota Fanning character is dead, and her mother is visiting her grave.

THe Glen Close person puts the grapes on the stone, and walks away alone.

I think that makes it a 'closing' scene for the 9 lives.

WHat do you think?

[–] noralee 19 years ago

Yeah, it's closure in the sense that the film as a whole goes from pregnancy to death. And that just about every character in every vignette, whether they say it out loud or not, can't stop thinking about some other loved one.

I just wanted to be sure I hadn't missed some other connection.

[–] LoweyJackson 19 years ago

One other connection: I think the guy with Sissy Spacek at the hotel is the "cute" guidance counselor mentioned in the "samantha" segment.

[–] bbourdeau 19 years ago

One other thought I had ... Glenn Close is the mother of the woman who committed suicide (in Amy Brenneman's segment). Dakota Fanning plays the dead woman as a little girl. I don't remember the name of Amy Brenneman's ex-husband's wife. Thoughts?

[–] El_Bicho 19 years ago

Andrew's wife is named Bonnie.

El Bicho
www.maskedmoviesnobs.com

[–] El_Bicho 19 years ago

Andrew's wife is named Bonnie.

El Bicho
www.maskedmoviesnobs.com

[–] max8791 18 years ago

One other thought I had ... Glenn Close is the mother of the woman who committed suicide (in Amy Brenneman's segment). Dakota Fanning plays the dead woman as a little girl. I don't remember the name of Amy Brenneman's ex-husband's wife. Thoughts?

I thought Glenn Close looked a little too old to be Dakota Fanning's mother, it could very well be possible, although I think it is more heart wrenching if she is actually visiting her little girl. That is a very good theroy though. I think Glenn Close's character changed the name so it would seem more realistic, like having another child, to try and get over her grief.

[–] karenrothman 18 years ago

To me it seems obvious that Glenn Close lost her daughter when she was that age. The daughter asks, "Why do you only visit once a year?" It definitely is not the woman who killed herself...too far reaching. The simple answer is, Glenn Close is remembering her daughter who evidently died as a child many years ago. She alludes to how people keep going on with all of their "baggage." She's been visiting this site for maybe 20 years and can't get over her lovely daughter who adored grapes. The best of all the vignettes.

[–] jghanem 18 years ago

Excellent summation of this vignette.

[–] robschmidt 16 years ago

Glenn Close is 47 years older than Dakota Fanning, so she could be her mother.

[–] rubes1 18 years ago

I don't think Close was the mother of the woman who killed herself. It crossed my mind too at first, but then the little girl calls her "mom," and that would be a huge age gap between sisters, don't you think?

[–] robschmidt 16 years ago

Could be. The deceased woman (Bonnie) had a black cat in her funeral picture. Dakota Fanning sees a black cat at the cemetery that supposedly lives there. Is it the same cat?

[–] anime_bum 18 years ago

i didnt even think that the lil girl was dead, but onece u said it get it now. i rem watching it wondering who the grave was, i though it was the womens father. also i rem thinking the women should of been her grandmother not mother, so its like the girl was dead for years, like when she asks why they only visit onece a year.
il admit i did not get a lot of the movie, but from what i did get, it is pretty impressive. i though some of the little stories should of been an entire movie. i like movies that are interesting ppls lives, like american beauty.

[–] rubes1 18 years ago

Ah! Which would explain why Close looked a little too old to be her mother. Wow, thanks for that enlightenment!

[–] alysiab-1 19 years ago

In the supermarket scene Jason Issacs (Damian) tells Robin Wright Penn (Diana) he knew she was married. When she asked who told him he said, "Lorna". Lorna is Amy Brenneman's character from the funeral. This is how her character was familiar with Damian's wife, Lisa, at the funeral.

[–] noralee 19 years ago

Thanks! I only caught the visual clues and didn't even think about the verbal clues. Is there evidence that Aidan Quinn is from the school?

I hadn't really picked up on the Lisa connection.

I also hadn't picked up in the last segment that the person in the grave didn't die as a child, which is what I kept assuming.

[–] wagnoid 18 years ago

I think that in the scene with Aidan Quinn there is the suggestion that Aidan knows the daughter. I might be reading too much into it, but I think he says something like "she's a good kid" or something like that, implying familiarity.

I'm also not sure, but I believe there is an attorney walking through the prison in the first scene, and my wife and I both thought perhaps it was the husband in the hospital scene.

Finally, in the prison scene, I keep thinking about that little conversation the main character had with an older woman, and wonder if she was somehow connected to another scene.

Can't wait to watch it again on DVD.

[–] pjbrubak 18 years ago

It's possible that the Dakota Fanning character died as a child, it just may have happened twenty years ago, which would account for Glenn Close's age. Perhaps she has just been visiting the grave for twenty years and her daughter's spirit is eternally youthful.

[–] lissefrank 18 years ago

I thought I heard the name Maggie (from the grave scene) somewhere but I don't remember where.

Could Maggie in the grave scene be the angry sister to the woman who committed suicide?

[–] BreLovely21 18 years ago

Hey Everyone - I think I've figured out the connection to the grave site scene with Glenn Close and Dakota Fanning. Glenn is the mother of the deceased wife, and Dakota Fanning is the deceased wife as a child. That final scene is simply imagined by the mother. Here's why: If you look at the funeral scene, you will see that the picture of the deceased wife, features her holding a cat. The same cat that is at the grave site. Perhaps that is why Glenn's character, Maggie starts crying during their little hand game; too many memories. The cat, the grapes?

[–] marxandcola 18 years ago

Ah yes, that would explain the cat painting. Totally did not pick up on that.

Thanks for all these clues, it'll make going through it again rewarding.

One thing, the cast list has Marissa/Inmate for the older woman Sandra speaks to in the first segment - is Marisa just the name given to her for that one segment or did she show up or was mentioned in another part of the movie?

[–] prinzmetal 18 years ago

I got the feeling that Glenn Close could in fact be Dakota Fanning's grandmother and the grave they visited was the former's daughter and the latter's real mother. The girl doesn't know obviously. Clues are how old she (Close) is compared to the girl, and how tired she gets from playing with her. When the girl says she doesn't remember her grandfather it reminds Close of the lie since he was in fact the girl's great-grand father and naturally way too old for her to remember. Anyway, just my impression.

[–] sandra-168 18 years ago

I'm sure BreLovely21 (from Mon Nov 28 2005 posting) has it right connecting the deceased wife and the little girl at the grave site. A comment about her grandfather left no doubt that Dakota's character was the daughter of Glenn's character, obviously from earlier years. This was confusing since I recall her name in the funeral segment was Bonnie, and at the grave site it was Maria.

[–] prinzmetal 18 years ago

Well I guess it makes sense that it was really mother and daughter in the graveyard scene. And the girl is only part of Maggie's (Close) imagination, because it's her grave she is visiting. I think the girl died as a child, and that's why Maggie imagines her as one. The girl remains the same age in her mother's mind, and that's why the big age difference seemed odd at first. Also, if you noticed, the grave stone is much smaller than the others. So if the girl died as a child, and her name is Maria (not Bonnie), I can't see how it can be the same person that was buried in the funeral scene. The cat does make a connection, but it doesn't have to imply it was the same person. Plus the cat in the funeral is black while the graveyard cat is grey.

[–] karenrothman 18 years ago

You are reaching!!!Not every vignette has a character connection. That is not the point. It is about people who loved /love and are haunted by it. It is clearly implied that Close has been visiting for many years. Dakota asks ," Why do you come only once a year?" The mom has been carrying around the baggage for 20 years or so, about the age when a daughter of 10 would have a mother of say 40- considering that Close is about 60 in this scene. She clearly did not just lose the daughter. She's been gone for so long and yet it feels like yesterday to close....she only has her daughter as a childhood memory,

[–] elstompy 18 years ago

filling in the blanks:
One of the mourners in the funeral scene was the hotel attendant cleaning out the room that Ruth was talking to after the arrest. (although that one's easy because it's in the credits)

The man that Ruth is at the hotel with is most definitely her daughter's guidance counsellor (as Ruth said in Sam's sequence - the handsome one) which is why he know's she's a good kid.

The little girl (Maria) is not the dead woman (Bonnie). I don't believe this sequence has any tie-ins to the others.

[–] elstompy 18 years ago

Also, from what I've heard about from reading articles with the director - the tie-ins aren't so much the people, but the themes.
Mother
Daughter
Intertia (prisoner, Samantha)
Secrets (a few of them have secrets)
Love
Family
Absence (the scenes involving death)
Regret (grocery scene, funeral scene, prisoner scene, to an extent)
Therefor, the final sequence fits perfectly - mother, absence, love
You'll also notice that one of the concerns of the hospital patient is her daughter - more than once it mentions the love between them

Hope this helps.

[–] MikeHammer 18 years ago

Yeah, Aidan Quinn is certainly the guidance counselor as samantha calls him, "Mr. Stevens" and Ruth refers to him as such as they are walking into the hotel room.

Still working on the gravyard one, though. And I can't settle with the thought that this is the one story that doesn't have a direct interconnection in a film whose central theme is connection.

[–] m0oo0m 18 years ago

The latin lady in the 1st story who is serving her sentence, killed the little girl at the end and was on the run for it.

that's how the last story is connected.

[–] nonameone 18 years ago

just curious, what is your reasoning for that? it seemed like sandra had a lot of hope of being released early from jail, which is why she was taking up two jobs and prompting the guard to say "you try too hard". i doubt somebody who killed a little girl would have there sentence cut so short by good behavior.

[–] MikeHammer 18 years ago

I'm also a little curious as to whether or not Sandra could expect to have her sentence shortened after a murder conviction. Then again, she did seem a little delusional. Any evidence to back up the thought that she killed Maria, though? Seems a bit too intuitive and most of the connections are very straight forward.

[–] skb77 18 years ago

Remember the scene right before Sandra goes in to talk with her daughter, she talks to the older female prisoner. Sandra tells her that her first conviction was a mistake. So I assumed that she was wrongly accused for something and while out on bail she took off. So when she did finally end up in jail it was for skipping bail which would not be a mistake. Does that make sense?

[–] lanafurg 18 years ago

I got from the comment about the first time being a mistake, was that sandra had made a mistake and gone to jail for it. The second time crime was intentional, pre-meditated, and he probably had it coming. It was not a mistake. I got the impression that whatever she had done it was done to protect her daughter. That would explain a minimum sentance and her desperation to see her daughter.

[–] KatiePeach 18 years ago

Considering she was caught in a motel room, I assume she was arrested for prostitution. She was probably a single mother (there was no father there with the little girl during visitor's hours) and she needed money to support her daughter.

There's no evidence that the little girl in the final scene was even murdered, so there can't be any speculation into *who* killed her.

Finally, I don't think so much is meant to be read into the 'backstory.' The scenes are short, and all in one shot, for a reason. It's a moment in someone's life, and we're there to see their reactions to certain things or people, without knowing the whole story. With no background information, we can't judge, we can only watch as these people deal with the things they are faced with in the moment.

[–] karenrothman 18 years ago

That's ridiculous....The connections are not so literal everybody.

[–] marxandcola 18 years ago

Still working on the gravyard one, though. And I can't settle with the thought that this is the one story that doesn't have a direct interconnection in a film whose central theme is connection.

Isn't that she is likely the dead woman at the funeral [hinted at by the cat imagery] enough of a connection? That being said, we never saw Glenn Close at the funeral...

[–] MikeHammer 18 years ago

But what about the different names, that seems to be a pretty clear problem with that theory...

[–] zedsgrl 18 years ago

The only other connection I found that I haven't seen mentioned is Ruth's characte was supposed to be meeting Diana when she was at the hotel. When she is talking on her cell phone Sammy asks "Did Diana come?" - easier to see because I had subtitles on.

In the story of the girl who has come to see her father - are they alluding to the fact that her father had molested her? Thats what I got from that.

Plus do you think Ruth and Henry were already involved or was that their first encounter and she decides not to go through with it?

I thought it would have been great in the last scene in the cemetery, when they did a 360 degree sweep of it, if they had shown a hearst and the cars of Bonnie's funeral - possibly one of the other characters we have seen looking out the window at Glenn Close's character when she places the grapes on the tombstone.....it would have been a nice touch tying them all in together.

In the DVD they have a special feature with a Q&A - the director acknowledges that the last scene does not really have a connection with the others but he thought it was relevant because it kind of summarized some of the themes running throughout. All of the women have experienced pain and loss but the last character has experienced the most pain and has managed to deal with it the best.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] beyondpalefires 18 years ago

I believe that yes, Holly was molested. This is suggested when Holly talks to her sister about the next door neighbor, who use to have a window that looked into her bedroom, where she could see everything that happened at night. Plus, it would explain her emotional fragilty, and her obvious deep and penetrating pain, anger, sadness, and regret/remorse.

-Melissa

[–] dlisfroggy03 18 years ago

yes Holly's father (the prison guard) had molested her as a child. it was pretty obvious even though it was implied. also if you watch the special features on the dvd the actress mentions that she felt it was pretty obvious in the script and thats how she played it.

Ruth and Henry were NOT already involved, at least not sexually. this was going to be their first night together which is why its so awkward. the thing about the alchohol made that pretty obvious. also the fact that she couldn't go through with it, and the fact that he cept on talking about making this night perfect.

[–] ChastityLowell 13 years ago

i disagree...they had hooked up on more then one occasion...remember the SCOTch comment, turns out neither like it and they had gone along with it for the other person...they had stuff going on

[–] sonomanightowls 13 years ago

I appreciate this long thread about the connections between the vignettes. I think one idea to consider when looking at this film is the idea that the entire film is a confection -- prepared for our viewing pleasure. A Quinn's character has a very moving commentary on the way animal documentaries are consructed, but it folds back on his own sense that even the illusion is real and important -- something to that effect. I wondered at what his sense of loss was -- why the word regret mattered to him so much. Just watched this movie and loved it.

TJ

[–] mandydenaux 18 years ago

Another connection...

As the ex-wife is walking into the funeral home, a woman who is exiting tells her she shouldn't be there. That same woman is the hotel employee who is cleaning out the hotel room of Sandra after she's arrested. She speaks to Sissy Spacek's character.

****SPOILERS*** Connections Between Segments

**SPOILERS* Connections Between Segments