MovieChat Forums > Journey from the Fall (2006) Discussion > *SPOILER* question about the ending

*SPOILER* question about the ending


about the ending, are we to assume that the guy that escaped prison with long (forgot his name) gave the book back to the family?
i assumed that was the book that they were burning it at the end.
but no scene indicated him actually giving the book back, so i was confused. or did i just get everything mucked up?

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Yes, I think it is implied, since the family is then seen burning it at the end. In their religious culture, it is their way of "giving" the book back to Long, since by burning it, you "offer" it back up to the dead. Or something like that. :)

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actually, the book was smuggled to the old guy that got out (remember his wife came to the camp with the food and concealed message?) well, the guy that escaped somehow gave the book to the old guy's family, and then to the old guy's hands. THEN the old guy meet Long's family at the mall, that's where they got the book to burn it to Long. It's a bit confusing, but it's implied (that's the only logical and common connection between all the characters involved.)

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Umm... when that old guy escaped, the book didn't come to Long yet.

I'm confused about the ending as well. That is my only criticism of the film. A scene showing them receiving the book would have helped.

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well, the point that I got was that the old guy got out, then Long received communication regarding his family that came from the old guy's relative. Then Long tried to escape with the Roach guy (sorry, can't remember the name, just the scene in the box). Long didn't make it, but the Roach guy did, with the book which he recovered from the waterfall. Then, they show us the scene where the old guy meet up with the family at an American mall WITH his family. Therefore, from all those points, I can connect an implied idea that the old guy was the link between the waterfall and Long's family through the Roach guy (ie. the Roach guy contacted the relative, who then contacted the old guy.)

However, my grandma, who just finished watching the DVD, she believes that the little boy drew 2 sets of the pictures (that might or might not be at the same time). The first set was sent to Long and then fell into the Roach guy's hands, the second set is subsequently burnt as offering to his dad.

ummm, I hope that one day the director and/or screenwriter would elaborate more on this subject, and tell us their intended ideas. Until then, I'll be thinking of more ways to connect the dots.

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first Ham Tran, is the director AND writer of Journey From the Fall.

Binh (the old guy everyone keeps referring to) gets out of the re-education camp. Trai (the other guy he promised to take with him) is the father of Phuong, the girl that Long's family (Mai, Grandmother and Lai) escaped with. Trai gave Binh a photo of Phuong and told him to give it to her. Later in California, we see Binh encouter Mai and Phuong at the carousel, who tells her that her father is still alive. Phuong then writes her mother and also asks to see if Long is still alive. At the point Trai is dead. So we are to assume that Phuong's mother gives Long the book.

I think at the end we are supposed to assume that Roach gives the book back to Long's family and the burning of the drawings is supposed to symbolize him being free.

I met him today, but I sbould have asked him to clarify it, but he was surrounded by other students and re-education camp survivors, so I did not want to bother him. However, I do know how to get in contact with him so I might drop him an e-mail to clarify.

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You are exactly right. Some clarification when Trai (with the glasses) died. There really was no point of reference when he died except it was between the time he gave his daughters picture to Binh at the camp. And before Trai's wife (the mother of Phuong) came to the camp with the meal and the book. the book must have been given to a guard who then smuggled it in the toilet.

Also, the night that Binh received the picture from Trai, that's when the two guards came and took him away and yelled "He's escaping" outside and then fired shots implying they killed him. And a prisoner commented that they killed him like a pig. That was just an act staged by the guards. They actually gave him his freedom. He then traveled to the United States where he gave the picture to Phuong.

There was also a year passed between the time they sent the book to Phuong's mother and when they were burning the book and flying the kite at the end. More than enough time for Phuong's Mother (Trai's wife) to receive the book and get the book to Long, Long and Roach to escape and Long get killed, and Roach to get to America and the book back to the family. The book most probably had their address in it.

Great movie!!!

A very good friend of mine very strongly recommended the movie. She was 3 when her mother, she and her two sisters escaped by boat. They lost contact with her father in the confusion of fleeing the country and she has no idea what became of him. They first settled in California, then New Orleans, then Denver before they came to Lincoln, NE. There might have been other places, but that's all she mentioned to me. This movie gives such a great insight to what so many went thru. Again ... Great Movie!!!

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