Didnt make sense *spoilers*
Was this guy in hell? that's the only conclusion I got from this movie . He was dead and was in hell experiencing all these bizarre events
shareI thought the same thing myself when I first saw this film and it's not an easy film to get through, but I've noticed certain things on repeated viewings:
The blinking in the sky and the "interference" in the form of the wavy screen that tormented older analog televisions, to me, can be taken as literally being forms of interference that may be affecting the Rambler's brain directly. In my own imagination I think the Rambler signed up for some sort of experimentation and the blinking lights, the wavy interference are the after-effects of said experimentations and the random, bizarre things that happen in the film are manifestations of the Rambler's subconscious made real by whatever they did to him in prison.
I haven't gone very deep into philosophy, but I do think that Nietzsche's concept of eternal recurrence can be applied to the Rambler. The Rambler is stuck in some sort of loop in which he's given the chance to do things "right" in order to move on, or move up, but because of his nature he's doomed himself to repeat the same bizarre cycle over and over again until he decides or forces himself to change something, anything, about the path he keeps taking. Or doesn't take.
I have also thought that the mad scientist who records dreams and seems to keep popping up to give the Rambler rides was/is part of the supervision of the experiment about what would a parolee when released from prison after having been experimented upon.
Sometimes, when I get frustrated with this film I just tell myself that we, the viewers, are seeing the film through the Rambler's imagination which probably would conceive some bizarre things with the banality of prison. So the Rambler superimposes his imagination upon reality which may or may not really be happening, but we the audience do not have the privilege of knowing if what we are seeing is "true reality" or Rambler reality.
The Rambler is stuck in some sort of loop in which he's given the chance to do things "right" in order to move on, or move up, but because of his nature he's doomed himself to repeat the same bizarre cycle over and over again until he decides or forces himself to change something, anything, about the path he keeps taking. Or doesn't take.
Could be bardo, even.
Some loops come to an end (re: Lost Highway) and some don't. We have the reset button pushed for us at the end of this film: it is exactly like the begining.
A man standing in front of a burning house (at night), then on the road bathed in a different kind of fire, the sun (by day).
Did you notice that the mysterious light in the sky stopped moving and beeping before he entered the house at the end?
Did you hear the beeps resume immediately at the end of the last shot?
As an aside to the folks that didn't like or understand this film: How much head trauma do you have to observe in a film in order to get it through your, um, head? share
Medinensis,
I did not notice those things that you pointed out and I rewatched the film to make note of these.
My understand the film has been modified to where if we take the film as the Rambler going through a series of bizarre loops where he's doomed to repeat the same actions again and again until he does something different, then this film could be an instance where did some things differently, but not enough and, as you say, the reset button is pushed and the Rambler enters back into the loop for another go.
I know this film did not score points with the critics, but it is has become on of my favorite films because it doesn't seek to make sense and I absolutely love that.
" . . but it is has become on of my favorite films because it doesn't seek to make sense and I absolutely love that.
Films such as The Rambler are constructed to make you feel as disorented as the character. What meaning we find in the film is largely based on how our minds feel about the imagery, instead of what we can logically prove using data points.
But whether one thinks he is in a literal Hell, or having his mind manipulated deliberately, or dreaming, or having a dying dream, or in a bardo state . . . . we get the gist.
Being forced to watch your angel die over and over can be hell, no matter what. share
" . . . if we take the film as the Rambler going through a series of bizarre loops where he's doomed to repeat the same actions again and again until he does something different . . . "
Well, he did make an important discovery at the end of the film.
He was rewarded with finally finding his song.
That's making some progress I'd say.
He's getting there. share