Was the guy....? (spoilers++) - Noise (2007) Discussion

[–] TonesH 17 years ago

I would have to go back again and pay attention, but I think the brilliant thing about this film is that it didn't matter if it looked like him or not. Supposing that it was him, I think it's a brilliant exploration of the reconstruction of traumatic events undergone by witnesses. We never really find out what happened to Lavinia on the train, or how she got away. By showing the difference in appearance between Finlay in the bus and Finlay on the train, we are never quite sure if her reconstruction of the events on the train were anything like what she told everyone they were. And then we must further ask how much her recollection is dependent on what the police say. With the line-up did she put No 3's face on the gunmen. Did he wrong her in the past, and did her anguish put his face there?

And even if it wasn't Finlay, in the context of the film it doesn't really matter. The motive for the murder was left unknown because, in what I thought was a brilliant stroke in a pretty stagnant genre (police procedural), what possible justification is there for such an horrific slaughter? This isn't LA Confidential where everything happens for money and power. The guy on the train and FInlay, whether they were the same person or not, were the same personality, and therefore the same in the context of the film. They were both socially-alienated monsters who lash out upon the public for no conceivable reason beyond the fact that they are completely insane. This message was incredibly poigniantly timed given the latest massacre in the US university. Why do people do things like that? Societal contexts come into play (music, television, society as a whole), their social relations (with neighbours, 'friends', family) very much so, but ultimately it comes down to the fact that these people are insane. And, as sane individuals our access to the warped mind-set of these people is almost impenetrable. And this is reflected in the lack of answers at the end, and the lack of answers is justified by it.

Leaving this, however, I simply don't know if it's Finlay. I imagine that once the complete cast with names is added to imdb we will see.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] kstar10 17 years ago

well, it was the same dude - just had his haircut ;)

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[–] ajramone27 17 years ago

I thought Finlay just had a problem with the way McGahan fobbed him off.

I think "Number 3" was the killer. I think he tracked the girl down with the intent of causing harm, but just couldn't go through with it.

But then, how would I know? There's a lot about the film that is open to interpretation.

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[–] GeorgieGirl-1 17 years ago

Finlay had a problem with everyone, not just McGahan. This is evidenced by his coming to the caravan with a general description relating to the faults of the community at large rather than any specific information about the crime.

He was the same guy as on the train, only his hair was altered.

Number three had a much thinner face and frame in general.

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[–] jonschaper 17 years ago

Besides his general racism and hatred for everyone in his neighbourhood, Finlay had gotten into a fight with another person while bragging about his great insight into the killer at a bar. For someone who clearly didn't give a crap about other people or human life he was also certainly interested in making sure the police were still making an effort to investigate the murders. That fits in with the mentality of serial killers who seek out admiration and attention. Yes, the train murders were more of a "spree" killing, but Finlay definitely appeared to be attempting to prove himself with the murders. The killer left the photo of the girl with the words "dead meat" in order to provoke the police into giving the investigation greater attention. That is consistent with Finlay's attention-seeking at the caravan, in the bar where he got into a fight while seeking attention for his insights into the murder, his need to get revenge for not being treated seriously and being called a c--- instead of being given admiration, etc. In other words, he certainly fit the bill as an attention seeking killer who had no regard for the lives of others and who wanted to prove his superiority to others. I also thought the "shroud of turin" drawing looked a fair bit like him.

I think McGahan didn't suspect him because he was a very marginal person in the investigation. All he really had to go by was the "shroud of turin" drawing of the killer. He was also feeling marginalized, being stuck in the caravan, and wasn't exactly an enthusiastic detective on the case. He was even kept outside the caravan when the detective was inside meeting with the forensics expert, and the forensics expert told him off for essentially doing his job as a street cop and stopping an assault. He's a cop, not a sociologist or a detective, who apparently became a cop because he had bad grades. And he had the tinnitus on his mind. He must have just thought Finlay was a pathetic loser like anyone else would. When McGahan was staring in the direction of the "shroud of turin" drawing at one point I thought he was noticing the resemblance, but then it turns out he's staring at the photo of the woman.

As for the killer crying on the train: First of all, he isn't exactly a rational person. It may be difficult to understand why he acts the way he does. Secondly, killers sometimes go through a period after they've committed murder in which they don't necessarily feel guilt, but some sort of disappointment. Serial killers often go through a period in which they have to build themselves up to a state of excitement again. Finlay merely got a haircut. If the killer were suspect #3, the girl would have been more certain, especially when she got a close look at him inside the car. I chalk up his crying in the car as simple guilt over his attempt to frighten her and do not see it as a sign that he's also the crying killer.

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[–] Deeebs 17 years ago

Agree with GeorgieGirl that Number 3 was too thin (thought that when she ID'd him from the line up).

I actually thought that Finlay looked exactly like the "shroud of truin" identikit photo from the moment he walked into the caravan. And all the time Graham spent staring at the Fiona girl's photo next to the identikit I thought it was going to click in his mind that Finlay was the guy.

There were plenty of other red herrings though (Lucky Phil's photos and liscense plate details etc).

The real red herring that I never got was this: when number 3 dropped the Aus/Indian girl off at her house and pulled away there were another set of headlights behind him. They seemed to pull away a the same time that Number 3's car did as if ether to follow him or to pull up out the frnt of the girl's house.

Was that a police car "minding" her? If so why did they let her go for cigarettes on her own?

If it wasn't the cops and it was just an unconnected car it was pretty random.

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[–] jonschaper 17 years ago

My wife and I both noticed that car "following" #3 as well. I wondered if #3 was going to turn up dead. But they never explained it.

Maybe they deliberately threw in random things like that. In other words, it was "noise".

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[–] xr6guy 16 years ago

Finlay was the killer, as i posted in teh other thread.

Finlays issue was with society not caring enough to speak out, he asked her on the train if anyone called teh police, he got in a brawl about people running their mouth about crime without goin to police.

The resitration books, provide the car colour and rego, the retard knew. Finlay is standing in the background on the shot featuring a rifle.

Finlay was desperate to get caught, he saw graham get drilled by his boss.......because.......he was there!

Oh

And yeah, Finlay wears the SAME wrist watch the entire movie.

Why he left her alive i dont know.

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[–] icdiamond 16 years ago

I actually didn't notice the car pull away from number 3, but perhaps we are made to suspect it is;
- the police ( therefore providing us with some hope she will be OK)

- it is the actual murderer ( leading us to think -'Oh God - he does know where she lives')

- or perhaps some other random happening which goes on in daily life - this serves to intensify his deep emotional experience in the car and how 'people are going about their business - while other people's worlds are falling apart" - sort of part of life in the big city.

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[–] malsperanza 10 years ago

It's possible that Lucky Phil had info that could have identified the killer. He saw the place where the killer shot the Frost woman, and probably wrote down the license plate number. But the only one who knew about his license number collecting was McGahan, who had no reason to link it to an investigation he had no other info about. But once he saves Lucky Phil's life, the notebooks with the numbers are on his desk, and he is just inches away from figuring out that they may have a clue, when the killer interrupts him. Assuming the cop dies, there is now evidence on his desk that will aid investigators in confirming that the dead shooter is the mass murderer, and did commit both killings. And since Phil is alive, thanks to McGahan, he'll be able to provide closure for the whole case. So the fact that McGahan left his post to save the kid's life isn't a "failure" - it's the thing that eventually will complete the prick detective's case.

It's also possible that the car following #3's car is the killer. He had found the home of Lavinia, but part of his insanity is fantasized jealousy (the reason he killed Frost). It's hinted that on the train he formed some romantic idea about Lavinia - possibly why he let her go. So after he sees her get out of #3's car, he is "jealous" again, and leaves the "Dead Meat" photo in response. In other words, if he hadn't been stopped by McGahan, he would probably have killed Lavinia and #3 next - now that he knew where she lived, and perhaps had also followed #3 to find out where he lived.

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[–] msfoxwoods 17 years ago

In the IMDB credits, it says the actor played "Colin/Craig". Who was Colin?

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[–] Jaffers 17 years ago

Colin was his real name - Craig was a fake name he gave to Graham in the caravan.

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[–] msfoxwoods 17 years ago

Ohhhh. thanks! that was an unusually smart move on his behalf - seeing as he didn't seem to be that quickwitted at other times.

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[–] plugged1967 17 years ago

regarding finlay and the train killer you can all go and check for yourselves, watch it again for free on joox.net
i had a few hours to kill today so i had look on joox to see what was new, i've never heard of the director or the star before just gave this a random look and was most impressed. a cracking film, loved the night shots and the look of it in general really, the scenes at home with his partner were brilliant so natural and realistic, the overall slow pace was fitting and gave me time to get into the characters thoughts, very intelligent and thought provoking, just thought i'd let you know how much i loved this.
light duties!!!!! what a laugh.

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[–] batmoth 16 years ago

It was a good time spent, watching this film. Give me some faith back into the Australian Film Industry.

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[–] drtodre 16 years ago

If you think about the fact that the missing picture showed up at the caravan, you have a crucial clue to solving the mystery.

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[–] icdiamond 16 years ago

tell me tell me tell me please...

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[–] MMacKK 16 years ago

Yeah, I made the assumption it was Finlay.
I also noticed that car driving behind 3 after he drops Lavinia off.

I get the feeling that what McGaghan says is right, its just about scaring the police, maybe into doing something. The whole film, Graham is sitting around doing nothing, which angers Finlay greatly. There is little shown of the police being effective in any regard, and the incident with the photo being left at the caravan, Finlay knowing about what the Detective said to Graham and Phil's photo had me thinking they were the same person.

Plus, logic would presume that under Graham's belief of him scaring the police and wanting to get caught, then he would come to the caravan, which is what Finlay does.

Plus, like, the guy tries to shoot him. Evidence enough, surely...

Make Poverty History

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[–] 16 years ago

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