MovieChat Forums > Bu Neng Shuo De. Mi Mi (2007) Discussion > The Ending Explained

The Ending Explained

posted 16 years ago by AlannJ
8 replies | jump to latest

Well after just watching the movie (including the ending several times) and reading all the posts on the board, I think I have a pretty good idea of what happened at the ending of the movie. Now, without going into too much complexity about time travel and stuff, several things that you get from the movie help explain what happens. Or you can just jump to "What Exactly Happened"

1) Playing the piano and traveling back and forth isn't random, has to be linked to something between the two settings (1979 and 1999) because we know when Rain plays she arrives on the corresponding date in the school semester for both time settings.

2) When you use time travel to go into the future (1979 ---> 1999) you can only be seen by the first person you yourself see. (examples are like when shes talking at the piano competition but Jay Chou doesn't see here, etc.) HOWEVER, when you go back you must be able to be seen by everybody, because Rain leads a normal life once she arrives back in her time (1999 ---> 1979).

3) Finally, the photo at the end of the movie tells us that time has definitely changed... as in Jay Chou going back has changed what happened to Rain and thus their lives/ world is different from the setting of the movie. We know this because if you read the Chinese on the photo it says it is the 1979 graduation picture (notice same outfits/pins as the day Rain dies in the earlier scene), but now Jay Chou is there and Rain is happy, different hair style etc...

So what exactly happened?

I think that when Jay Chou plays on the piano at the end either the fact that:
(1) he is playing "The Secret" for the very first time, thus sending him to the beginning of the semester in 1979 (like Rain did earlier in meeting Jay when he arrived on the first day) or
(2) the time travel only works for the school semester, and as it has ended when Jay plays, the time travel starts over with first day of 1979 semester again.

But either way Jay arrives at the VERY BEGINNING of the 1979 semester... meeting Rain when she does not know him and has not found "The Secret" yet. (Her smile and then looking down means she doesnt know him yet)

Having decided to stay for good in that time and with everybody able to see him Jay Chou doesn't return at all, Rain no longer finds the secret, no longer dies from an asthma attack, and Jay continues his life from 1979 onwards with her... thus causing their different appearances in the new 1979 timeline with the photograph and a happy ending.

(Probably has to hide his identity from his dad, create a new one, etc.. but it should work out haha)

Whew and that's what I think occurred, any comments/questions welcome.

[–] HeavensMee 16 years ago

Good job summarizing how the storyline ended. I was moved by this lovely movie.

[–] huonglan 16 years ago

Very good explaination and I'm also happy when it happens that way. But will the other people like her mother and his father return in the past as well? If yes, Jay can not be son of his father since has he hasn't been born yet? If no, her mother and his father will have to live lonely in the present world?

Anyway, i love the movie. Have I said that before? :-)

[–] abby41387 16 years ago

About how he ended up going back to the very beginning, like before she even found "Secret", I came across an explanation somewhere, and the poster suggested that because he played the piece so much faster, he was able to go back to the very beginning, instead of the same day.

[–] calebcjh 16 years ago

Thanks for that explanation, plus the subsequent reviews =D

I have a few questions which I still cannot answer...

1. The few times Jay visited Rain's house in 1999, her mother once said she was ill, and the next allowed him in and said she was listening to music. But we never see her. You say she died on graduation day of an asthmatic attack. Does that mean her mother became insane? Personally, I doubt she died, she just had an attack, and became really insane. It is so much more sad to realize that she lived 20 years that way.

2. The Secret had a message written by Rain on the last page. It was addressed to Jay, but it doesn't make sense. It says briefly "It does not matter if you remember, but I want to tell you that I love you." I cannot understand it. At the point of reading, Jay has yet to change the past, but of course, if he changed the past in the future, the present should change too, but thats complicated time travel talk. So, assuming it was changed, then yes, Jay would be the only person to know the Secret because he father told him about it. Rain would not know as you said because she did not find it, and neither would Jay's father. Also, the message is weird, why would Jay forget anything? The only one who "forgot" would be Rain, because it was the beginning of the semester again.

3. I want to confirm my analysis of the way time travel works in the movie. Basically, the fact that the scribblings with correction fluid on the table appeared slowly instead of instantly, it shows that there are no parallel timelines, and there is a master timeline. This is the easiest and simplest way of describing time travel and how time changes. Basically, there is a master timeline, this timeline keeps tracks of the other timeline and the changes made to it. You can also call this movie time since it progresses with the movie generally. It means that the changes made in the past will be reflected at every point in time gradually in accordance to the master timeline. It is possible that the correction pen used by both of them are one and the same. Originally, the correction pen should have quite abit of fluid left in 1999, but because Rain used it, it drains, and as we can see, her last line was quite sketchy partly due to her asthmatic attack and partly because there is little fluid left. And when it comes Jay theres almost none left. Basically I mean to say that whatever Jay does in 1979 will not dramatically change 1999.

[–] zhutan3 15 years ago

I think the asthma attack didnt kill her, but rather she just fainted from lack of oxygen?

[–] lonely_mage 15 years ago

As much as it's happier to think she didn't die, she clearly did die. Jay's Dad, and her mother's last picture of her were when she was a student. Asthma attacks can kill, it's not completely uncommon if the asthma is not well managed. Her mother is clearly still living through the upset.

Regarding time lines, there are so many holes within what would/could/should have happened in relation to what is done in the past and the consequences in the future. For example, in reality it would be unlikely that Rain's tip-ex words were not cleaned up or rubbed out over the last 20 years. It's not possible to try and make sense of everything logically because it's not real. But at the end of the day, it's a film - an awesome film! It's got some brilliant story ideas, and I liked these scenes very much.

[–] PariahDog 14 years ago

About the secret score notes: I believe Rain wrote it in the past, when she decided not to go back to the future anymore (hence the 5 month silence). She ended up giving the secret score to Jay's father, who has kept it for 20 years and obviously never read it.

When Jay's father reads it, Jay has not yet gone back to the past. That is when Jay's father realizes Rain had been speaking the truth.

Unfortunately the father realizing she's speaking the truth has no consequences at all. I feel like this is an unclosed plotline. What happens to the father after his son disappears?

[–] theycallmemrglass 15 years ago

Well this was a beautiful film and I loved it. I was very very confused with the ending though and being one to need an answer straight away, I thought I come to this forum, and lo and behold, here I find the thread of explanations. Man, I love the internet! Anyway I digress, thanks CALEBCJH for that fantastic explanation.

The problem with this theory is that there will be another Jay who is born and lives a life in parallel with time travel Jay. So 2 Jays co-existing but at an age difference of 20 years. Since we know that time has changed in a way that Jay will not go back in time because Rain wont travel into the future. Am I think too deeply here? lol. Also, the rules set is all very well and despite some doubts from some on this thread, do fit into the context of the film. But I cant help thinking there are too many random rules are made for convenience of story telling.

I always think time travel is often more beautiful when it cannot be changed and reveals an intricate cycle where the pieces finally fit together. Like Somewhere in Time, 12 Monkeys, even Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban!.

Still loved the film though.