MovieChat Forums > Anna M. (2007) Discussion > The Ending - Spoilers

The Ending - Spoilers

posted 16 years ago by salmo365
6 replies | jump to latest

Can anyone explain - or at least give their interpretation of the ending?

We go from her locked in the hotel room, under the bed, to suddenly in the arms of her work colleague and then years later shes walking in the mountains, we see
the picture in a nearby chapel that the Dr had been photographed with and then come back to Anna and see her watching the Dr and his family.

Was that real or all in her head? I was kind of expecting to see a final image of her back in hospital, comatosed, lost in an unreal world within herself. But maybe that would have been too easy and too tidy and it was better to leave it hanging.

Or was it actually real and her work colleague had taken her away and helped her track down the Zanesky's, which seems extremely implausible to me.

[–] marlenrf 16 years ago

I saw this movie today and I also found the ending somewhat confusing. I think that when her coworker is supposed to be with her in the hotel room, that’s not really happening. For one, the furniture was properly arranged when Anna was with her, which wasn't the real case.

Now, as for the beach, I'm not sure. I guess if the prior scene was imagined I guess it follows that this sequence was also imagined. However, I believe it more to be real (or I prefer to believe it real). It is possible Anna had gotten out of the psychiatric facility after a couple of years. And it is true her coworker really cared for her... But at the very end, when Anna sees the couple, her daughter is not with her, so that made me wonder if she wasn't imagining her child and friend after all...

I hope someone can enlighten or maybe knows of some interview with either the cast or director. I’d like to know.

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[–] SeisCinemaSeis 15 years ago

She could be imagining everything, but I don't think so. I believe that she really sees André and his wife. The point is: what does is Anna thinking when she sees them for the first time in a year or so.

She has this sort of "enigmatic and serene" smile when she sees them, but is it because she realizes that she is no longer obsessed with André? or because she finally has found him, and so the vicious circle of her obsession (erotomania) for her former physician may start once again?

I don't really know. After all, Anna is not mentally stable. Not even an entire year living in a peaceful place and the fact that she is now a mother means she couldn't fall again.

The ending is ambiguous because someone like Anna is capable of anything. It's up to you to decide if she is already "cured" or not.

[–] gilmoresque 14 years ago

i can't help thinking that there is a lot of religious allegory in this ending.....there is a surreal nature to the bed sequence, it's at this point that she lets herself suffer....and puts herself through the ordeal....

when she awakes, the imagery I thought of was 'the pieta' with her friend the nearest figure to a caring mother to her...I think in her mind she has sacrificed herself from her love for him....

this seems reinforced by the surreal simplicity of the next scenes...set on the heavenly landscape....and also the v.o. reading by her

if you wish to live for him, and attain the perfection he desires
you must offer yourself to his sacred heart as a sacrifice
and all that belongs to you, unreservedly..
wanting nothing but that which is granted by his kind heart
you must become attached only to his affection
acting on his inspiration, giving him credit for everything
being always happy, without worrying about anything
as long as his divine heart is happy, loved and glorified
that should be enough for us....

Anna's heaven was being part of a complete family...and making the Dr happy, here in her 'heaven' she could have it all, the Dr happy (even if that meant letting his wife be there, in the 'heaven') his own family (the two walking ahead)? Anna with her own 'partner' (asexual of course, as her self only lives for the Dr) and her own child...

still think ' a la folie' was much better......grump!

[–] AssetsonFire 14 years ago

I thought something similar, although I was more inclined towards her friend being the one making the selfless sacrifice. The friend didn't figure much in the story, but she seemed very affectionate towards Anna, and I was struck by how the camera dwelled on her and how she looked at Anna at the end. Your explanation is clearly correct, but it's nice to look for other possibilities.

[–] djsnafu23 11 years ago

I agree, it seems ALMOST unambiguous that the ending is imagined. Not sure if its after a suicide or just in her head though. The bed scene is more puzzling to me!

....

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Coz lifes too short to listen to Madlib

[–] Kookyburra 11 years ago

Jumping from Anna with her child to her standing alone looking down at the Zaneskys just made for a confusing and incomplete finale.

Without providing any information on how she came to be there at the same time as them (did she stalk them, was it chance?) we literally have nothing to go on.

Poor ending to a powerful film.