Why Did she jump? I liked the movie overall and thought it was nice with something fresh, but this ending really left me very confused. The movie didn't picture Iris for me as a potential suicider?
She had a fight with nadine, had a vacation, came back to work and then what nadine said to her sunk in with that sarcastic applaud? Sure I guess that could be the case but it still feels weird, out of place. Did they just use that to give the ending a twist?
She had a fight with nadine, had a vacation, came back to work and then what nadine said to her sunk in with that sarcastic applaud? Sure I guess that could be the case but it still feels weird, out of place.
thanks Corto Maltese for that explanation, I wondered myself about this extreme move. I would add personnally, that she had no personal life: no more husband, and no kids, which was not the case for many in the squad. Hence, her job was all she had to get fulfillment. She really, sincereley loved her job, and the fact she was promoted to some other branch of police (finance crimes if I remember well) with probably much less involvement, was too much for her : she was left with nothing. Hence, the final Jump...
shareLet's not forget that the final part is also about the little kid that was abused by his PE teacher.
At the end, the kid tells her "I'm sad... because I liked him".
The film gives you the feeling that even though they do this very hard job, they will never eradicate what is wrong with the world. This world cannot be saved. I think her suicide signified a bit of that attitude towards her job : she did what she could, but it's never enough. This new and big responsability as chief of the unit was too much for her.
This is my opinion, I might be wrong. Tell me what you guys think.
I think you nailed it just about right, Larry-411!
shareYeah, you could take both of these posts and sum them up in fewer words; the CPU was her life, it was taken away from her, so she had nothing left to live for.
But, wait, she still had her husband. Her friend was divorced. Her husband just wasn't into her because of the bulimia.
That said, it was an unnecessary ending that seemed a bit exploitative for emotional impact, as if the viewer hadn't been through enough already. If her suicide meant to instruct us that life in the CPU is hard, then well we knew that. If it was tied to the bulimia then that meant something else, but her character was not developed enough for us to know.
It wasn't exploitative because nothing was exploited. It was an extreme closure for the character and being shown in parallel with the triumph of the molested kid, it gave the film a more conflicted weight.
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I also thought there was insufficient motivation shown in prior scenes for the jump. But let's not forget Iris's bulimia, which was indicative of some deep psychological problem. The final freeze frame on the boy also didn't add up for me. Such a good film which ends so unsatisfyingly. Then again, the nature of this sort of film is that life does go on, and unlike in the movies there are no neat endings.
shareIt is unsatisfying because you did not put enough thought into it. See all other replies to this thread: people got what the director and the editor were trying to convey.
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I think it's clear she had been contemplating it or at least unconsciously headed towards that direction: remember the scene with the stillborn baby, which she says should be named Iris? That's some pretty heavy symbolism/foreshadowing.
shareI also don't get the emphasis on the boy at the end of the movie. Why is he shown at the competition? Why does the film end with the frozen image of him celebrating his victory? Is it some sort of metaphor for pedophilia (and other crimes) cometing with the cops and the cops not being able to win?
shareI don't know. I thought it was a sign that there was still hope for the boy, that he could rise above it all, cope with what happened, and move on. But for Iris it was too late. She reached her breaking point. She was an unhappy person who had seen too much. Tragically as an adult she did not have the care and attention devoted to her as she and her fellow officers devoted to the abused children. No one was there to protect her. Not even from herself.
sharesaw the film June 2. my take re Iris' suicide: her first reaction is that of surprise and perhaps acceptance of it as an "honor". she then looks around at the team she has worked with and the looks on their faces is indicative that they are glad to see her go. she has given her life to this job. she cannot deal with their rejection and so ends her life knowing she has boxed herself into being alone but not knowing how to get out of her box any other way.
shareI thought it was pretty sad that Iris felt she had no way out at the end. Everyone in the unit seemed to know she was bulimic yet no one did anything to help her. Of course, she didn't seem to want to help herself. Her husband asked her to get help or he would leave, and she told him to just leave.
Her job did seem to mean everything to her, and being transferred to the fraud division probably would not have brought her much satisfaction. She did seem to be burning out though and was very antagonistic toward men (kind of understandable witnessing all that abuse in her job).
It's a shame her former friend and colleague couldn't help her recognize she needed help instead of lashing out at her.
"And all the pieces matter"
she might have finally realized how crappy her life was - her husband wants to help her but she's too concerned with herself, her hatred of men (maybe she was abused or probably divorced parents - or just the job that gets u), fights at the office, then problems getting pregnant (don't forget the episode with the raped teenager and unborn child... she named the baby Iris).
shareJust came from a screening which had a discussion afterward. Naturally, this was the number one question. We did all reach a consensus.
The prevailing opinion, as some hinted at above, was that she has now lost the only thing she loves. Remember, she had no love...could not love...etc. But, in reality, she did have one love...her job was her love, saving children. In many ways these kids are like her surrogate children. By being transferred out of the CPU she now has the one thing that gives her joy taken away.
The juxtaposed cuts with the gymnast are very expository in this. The director is showing, literally, that you have a boy who might have been doomed, but has now been saved due to her diligence. Not only that, he triumphs in his competition. Cut to the opposite extreme...the ultimate irony...of the person who has allowed him to live and triumph now taking her own life. Why? Because she will never again be the facilitator of triumphant moments like the boy had...and because she will never have her own little triumphant moments of saving children.
I think like most of them Iris was addicted to the work they were doing and being removed from that and the camaraderie of her team, which was like a family, felt deathly to her. I don't think it was her fight with Nadine that caused her to jump. She had nothing else in her life but helping children and couldn't even have children herself. Very sad and compelling as a character.
I'm a fountain of bloodshare
In the shape of a girl
I think like most of them Iris was addicted to the work they were doing and being removed from that and the camaraderie of her team, which was like a family, felt deathly to her
1. She was left alone. Her husband gone, her best friend gone, she cruises around the room seeing everybody pairing up and feeling love toward someone/something. Even the little kid she talked to last felt some affection to his abuser.
She is used to pain and misery, where she felt comfortable. She cannot love or handle love. She pushes it away. She fed herself on tragedies and her friend's complaints about her unhappy marriage. That was the reality, which was easier to face. Loving, that was the scary reality.
And now she's the only one to be promoted, which finally left her completely alone. She does not belong to the world that accepted love. She is finally the only miserable one. The collapse of her image of one-sided reality.
2. She was done pretending to be tough. It was then either kill yourself or reveal yourself. But she could neither show nor accept the part of her, which was an insecure being in need of love and acknowledgement. So there was only one option.
3. Sometimes you just snap.
4. French movies end with an abrupt suicide. :D
I'd like to add the sense of ostracism to the mix:
she was clearly depressed and bulimic throughout the story. CPU was supposed to be her surrogate family, and when she was promoted, she felt betrayed by both her boss and her colleagues, as if ostracised by her own family.
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"Don't just DO something, STAND there!"
Pastor Charlie Bing