Hi. Does anybody else think there is a relationship between Cheyenne and Mary's mother? Why does she smile at him when he comes back from the US? Just because he did come back? Can Mary's mother be Cheyenne's mother too?
shareI was wondering too what's the connection between Cheyenne and Mary's mother, but I don't think she could be his mother, there isn't such a difference of age, although they seem connected in some way. Brother and sister maybe ?
shareI've been enlighted by a sudden thought: Mary could be the little sister of one of the two boys who committed suicide in the 80's, and her mother is still waiting for his return, because that dead caused her a psychical breakdown.
Could it be ?
this was my thought too. It seems Mary's mother is unable to come to terms with her son's death so insists that he has gone on some kind of journey and blames Cheyenne for her son's departure. Although I'm still puzzling over the ending.
This might have made sense except that the father of the boy who died would have known Mary at the cemetery.
shareThat was my thought, too: that Cheyenne (obviously a stage name) was really Mary's "missing" brother Tony. I don't think they ever explained the relationship between Mary and Cheyenne, did they? He only stated at one point that she wasn't his daughter. And why would Mary and her mother have asked Cheyenne to find Tony (without any other explanation or history given)? And in the scenes in the U.S., I don't remember anyone ever mentioning his mother (whether his father was widowed, etc.): she was a totally absent figure. It seemed to me maybe that in the end, when he found himself and became more mature, he shed his stage persona and returned to his mother as Tony, as he had once been, and she recognized him... hence the smiles between them. If she had taken him for Tony at first by mistake, from a distance, she would have been disappointed to see that it wasn't him at all, once he came closer... but instead they kept smiling, as if in mutual fond recognition.
shareI don't think Cheyenne is literally Tony but he does seem to almost play the role of a surrogate son for the mom. Also the actress does have that moment of disappointment you talked about when she stops smiling. but I think she smiles again because she is happy to see the change that Cheyenne has gone through. Even though it's not her son, she is happy for him. I thought that was one of the most moving parts of the film because it showed the idea that despite the pain we go through in life there are still moments we can be happy and find love and beauty in it and in other people.
The voice over at the end is the father that talks of something about the beauty of Life also being the still, lazy beauty(?) of women young boys dream of while lying in bed(?). Or I think that's what it said... Anyway, that last part made me think that the connection between Cheyenne and the mom is deep. Deep enough to be the last shot of the film. I think it symbolizes Cheyenne's finally getting to come "home" emotionally.
Also, for some reason, I got that on some level the mom is the sort of woman that Cheyenne would have been with if he had wanted to have kids. His actual wife is an important person to him who he loves, but they relate more like best friends or playmates rather than on a deep emotional level you think of traditional husband and wife with children. I think its the idea of needing the other person. The wife doesn't really need Cheyenne the same way as the mom character would... if that makes any sense...
In an interview in Cannes the actress Eve Hewson (Mary) explains it all.
http://www.festival-cannes.fr/assets/Image/Direct/042359.pdf
"Who is Mary?
Mary is a 16 year old Goth and Cheyenne’s best friend. She’s a dark old soul from a broken family –
her brother’s left and her mother’s lost her mind and kind of forgotten about her. Cheyenne takes
her in and takes care of her. They’re friends and form sort of a tribe together. She’s a huge fan of his.
They confide in each other. He’s the one who knows all her secrets."
The boys who suicided themselves, Chayenne's fans, were two brothers, born in 1972 and 1973, and dead in 1988 - nothing to do with Mary and her mother.
In my head i just made him the uncle of mary/the brother of the mother. It made sense as to why they were together all the time. and at the end where Marys mother sees him as a regualr man she seems to mistake him for Tony at first so i just figured he was related because he looked like her missing son and even though it wasnt him she was still proud that he was "growing up" makes sense to me
"Everyone has an opinion....and then you die."