First movie to ever make me genuinely tear up, and more interestingly, it was hours afterwards! On top of everything you said, I think it's really good at making every viewer take something different away, that's unique to their lives and baggage. It's really interesting to read discussions on this movie, and see what scenes stuck with people. Obviously everyone has the big scenes in mind, but then there are smaller random scenes that I hadn't noticed, that had deeply affected someone else.
Meanwhile, I had scenes that stuck with me for various reasons. The biggest was a moment when Calum asked his daughter to turn off the camera, and then the screen goes off and you just see them in the reflection. It's a very well executed scene, but it also hit me hard because I'm someone that's pretty obsessed with recording my life to preserve memories, and I could imagine future Sophie being really upset as the video cut to black, thus only leaving a memory, if even that much.
Another is when Calum tells her that she can always tell her anything. On the surface it's already really sad, because she can't tell him anything after this trip. But it works on a meta level as well, because this movie is being viewed through future Sophie, and the scenes we see are the moments that stuck with her for one reason or another, so that moment stings extra hard once you realize that this memory is probably making her think of bad things that happened later in her life that she wishes she could've shared with her dad.
I'm sure other people came away with similar interpretations, but what's interesting is that most movies would only have this amount of substance to them and no more, and therefore every discussion would pretty much only consist of that. Even some great movies only have a handful of moments that everyone discusses ad nauseum. But this small little movie has so much packed into it, that everyone's experience with it seems to be at least mildly different.
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Lucia2016 (554)
a year ago
'but then there are smaller random scenes that I hadn't noticed, that had deeply affected someone else'
Totally and i that is basically the film in that it's all little subtle scenes where nothing much appears to be happening but yet so much is happening. One in particular that has stayed with me for some reason is when he's chatting to the scuba diver, and this inane 1 minute chat says a lot about the main character. he so wanted to be that guy and tried and failed to have something similar and he's not bitter towards him he's just gutted.
The bit that got me going though is the obvious last dance scene but not the cut away rave bits everyone loves but just him forcing himself to get up and dance with his daughter because he knows time is running out and he felt he let her down with the kareoke so desperately wants to leave a lasting memory for his daughter.
As you said lots of people have interpreted the film in different ways the last dance for example i just heard someone say that dancing was his happy place and that scene is him being happy, i don't agree personally but that doesn't make either right.
Spoiler
For me the mystery isn't whether he killed himself or not i think thats obvious but it's wether he knew on that holiday that he was going to do it, for me it makes it far more tragic if he was planning it and this holiday was a farewell manufactured positive memory his daughter could remember him by and the closer it gets the more we see him break down because he is affraid and doesn't really want to leave his daughter but has already made the decision
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Bartholomew (30)
2 months ago
Calum planning to kill himself doesn't seem to really jibe with him telling Sophie that she can always confide in him, or with him getting upset about the dropped mask and attempting to dive after it. He was suicidal, but not in the sense of actively killing himself. Instead, he seemed to no longer care whether he lived or died, tempting fate by standing on the balcony railing and by crossing the street without looking (not even when the oncoming bus honked at him). My guess is that he died "accidentally" due to complete disregard for his own safety.
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Lucia2016 (554)
a year ago
'but then there are smaller random scenes that I hadn't noticed, that had deeply affected someone else'
Totally and i that is basically the film in that it's all little subtle scenes where nothing much appears to be happening but yet so much is happening. One in particular that has stayed with me for some reason is when he's chatting to the scuba diver, and this inane 1 minute chat says a lot about the main character. he so wanted to be that guy and tried and failed to have something similar and he's not bitter towards him he's just gutted.
The bit that got me going though is the obvious last dance scene but not the cut away rave bits everyone loves but just him forcing himself to get up and dance with his daughter because he knows time is running out and he felt he let her down with the kareoke so desperately wants to leave a lasting memory for his daughter.
As you said lots of people have interpreted the film in different ways the last dance for example i just heard someone say that dancing was his happy place and that scene is him being happy, i don't agree personally but that doesn't make either right.
Spoiler
For me the mystery isn't whether he killed himself or not i think thats obvious but it's whether he knew on that holiday that he was going to do it,
It's been noted how he is spending money around that he doesn't have on Carpets and such as if ridding himself of his remaining few possessions
for me it makes it far more tragic if he was planning it and this holiday was a farewell manufactured positive memory his daughter could remember him by and the closer it gets the more we see him break down because he is affraid and doesn't really want to leave his daughter but has already made the decision
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