MovieChat Forums > Un amour de jeunesse (2011) Discussion > Help me understand the ending

Help me understand the ending


At the very end she speaks with her older boyfriend\husband, and asks him to go for a walk down to the river\creek. He says he will meet her down there in half hour. She's happy and goes by herself, spreads out her blanket and sits on some rocks near the water. Her hat blows into water, and she goes after it.

Credits roll.

There is no suggestion that the river\creek is dangerous, so there is no indication that she drowns or something bad happens.

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I don't recall her going after the hat. i haven't seen the movie in a while but from what i recall she doesn't even notice the hat blowing away, the hat was given to her by her childhood sweet heart. it being blown away was symbolic for their love, it was time for it to go

'You Have Bewitched me Body && Soul' -Mr Darcy


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Thanks for giving me your perspective. I shall watch the end again, maybe I did not remember the ending correctly.

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I went back and watched the ending again, and it unclear if she notices the hat going into the water. After the hat is blown into the water, she does go swimming, but it remains unclear if she simply going for a swim, or she is swimming to get the hat. Its very possible the intended ending is to be seen either way; 1)she letting go and moving on, or 2) she sees the hat, and goes swimming after it. Its left to the viewer to decide if she still hung up on her young love and can't move on, or is able to grow up.

Another interesting observation is that when she goes to ask her older boyfriend\husband to come with her, there interaction is more like Father-Daughter, than a couple of two mature adults. And as she walks down to the creek, she walks like a teenage girl, not a woman.

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I think its pretty clear that she tries to retrieve the hat.

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No she didn't. She wasn't even aware that the hat was gone. I watched until the very end, she's in the water smiling and at the very end when she swims she actually turns around and appears to be ready to get out of the water.

I think her not taking care to keep the hat from blowing away the way she does with her towel is symbolic that she's ready to put it all behind her and move forward. The hat was no longer a symbol of her love, it's just a hat...
I DO think she would experience momentary sadness once she realized the hat was gone, but it wouldn't shatter her world, she would keep going!

She had her time with him and got the closure she didn't get in the beginning.

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She seemed contempt with her guy. The hat blew away and that was it for Sullivan. The title of the film is "Goodbye first love"

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It's metaphorical. The hat belonged to her first love and when it blows into the water we are unsure of whether she will let it be carried away on the current or if she will go after it. She goes after it, implying that she may always be chasing that first love.

ce n'est pas une image juste, c'est juste une image

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I think the old hat was gone like her old life. I don't know that she knew the hat had gone into the water.
I was so pissed at her for being at first for being so needy and later for cheating on her boyfriend. At least they used the guest bedroom.

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