MovieChat Forums > Broken English (2008) Discussion > closure is boring

closure is boring

posted 17 years ago by kyle-morrison-1
8 replies | jump to latest

did anybody else want her to look at julianne on the train in the end, smile, and walk right off without saying a damn thing? i felt that while nora and julianne had chemistry, the film was not about their love, it was about nora's journey to overcome her desperation and loneliness and find peace with herself which i felt she did in the end, by adding the final piece in the end it almost countered what i felt the initial point of the film was, i enjoyed broken english because i love parker posey and especially parker posey in a lead role, but i felt the ending gave me a sense of closure that was unnecessary and almost meaningless.

[–] sled13 17 years ago

I just returned from seeing the movie. My date enjoyed it somewhat at times, but we both independently thought that she should have walked away. An ending like that would have at least made more of a statement than "You'll miss your plane." "I know. Something closer to the resonance of films like LOST IN TRANSLATION or ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND.

It wasn't especially good, but I'd be willing to see what Zoe Cassavetes does in the future.

[–] zootie 17 years ago

I thought of it too. I'd justify the ending in that by her journey, she could now open herself to him and let go of her reservations. Before (in NY) she wasn't ready, and she let him go back to france alone (after he opened himself to her); after her experience, having lost him w/o any hope, she was able to love and recognize and surrender to magic when it happens (ie, finding him again).

IMO it is a bit of what makes this move so good: she hesitates and struggles, keeps trying to be cool about it when her feelings are tearing her apart, trying not to move too fast and to far too early - as anyone who's had his/her heart broken would. For most of the movie, you can taste the doubt we live with everyday. It just happens to have a movie ending...

(edit to make it clearer, and add some more opinion)

[–] thatsnumberwang 17 years ago

I hadn't really thought of it that way zootie, and that makes me like the ending more. Still I have to agree with the OP that I wish she had either just let him get of the train without saying anything to him or that the script had been written so that it ended without her encountering him. At about 85% of the way through, I was like OMG she's really not going to end up with him in a cute little chance meeting in Paris, that's so fantastic! And then he got on the train, and I was peeved. Zoe really had a chance to break with convention, and it's a shame she didn't go there. She was so close!

http://saucybetty.blogspot.com

[–] angelos01 17 years ago

But, don't you all agree that unless she stopped popping pills everything that seemed to be good would eventually turn into *beep* (*beep* is meant to be something very smelly).

[–] VincentMarshall 17 years ago

I do agree with the ending that should have been but I still thought it was a great film. Don't also forget that the studio's could have went to Zoe and said they needed her to end up with him in the end. If you pay close attention to the music and her demeanor it looked like she was going to walk off the train then all of a sudden she didn't. When I saw that I immediately thought of an "outside involvement" with the ending. I may be wrong but who knows with this day an age with studio's FUBARing great films.

Heaven Holds The Faithful Departed

[–] artificialbutter-1 17 years ago

I agree too, the ending was telegraphed a little too clearly but the final scenes were beautiful so I was still happy.

I think an even better ending would be that Nora, sure enough of herself to leave without seeing him but Julien ends up catching her as she gets off... But as cliched as the subway run-in was, my heart pretty much stopped when we see Nora just catch his back on the train, not even knowing if it's really him.

[–] jyanks 16 years ago

I agree with many of your posts above.
I don’t think Nora learned from her experiences either. She has to find comfort in herself & learn to be happy alone...or at least be somewhat content. Also, I feel that by staying in Paris, she is running away from her problems. She quit her job, leaves her friends & family, & leaves a city she has known her whole life. Maybe she should have focused on finding a job that she really liked & found satisfaction in that.
The ending makes it seem that Julien is the only answer to her ultimate happiness & that’s not true at all, and is a very poor message to send out.
As a single 30something female in NYC, I related to this movie in many ways. I enjoyed this film until the very end. I didn’t like the happy cliché ending where she ends up with the sexy French guy. It was EXTREMELY unrealistic.

Here are some endings I would have preferred.
1) On the train, as she walks closer to him, she realizes she was mistaken & it's NOT Julien. She then gets off at the airport & goes back to NYC.
2) It IS him on the train, but she smiles at him & gets off at the airport (as someone else mentioned above)
3) She has a drink with him & after speaking with him, gets her closure, and then leaves to catch her train.
4) Once back in NYC, she bumps into that blind date guy & he apologizes to her for their date. He says that he’s finally over his ex & wants to take Nora out again. I believe that would have been more realistic than ending up with Julien.

[–] everlastingGOBSTOPPER 15 years ago

YES!!! I REALLY thought she was just going to go back home!