MovieChat Forums > 45 Years (2015) Discussion > What Kate did (Spoilers)

What Kate did (Spoilers)

posted 9 years ago by Rufus_Bean
65 replies | jump to latest

What's your take on the ending? Personally, I think Kate ended the marriage or at least realised her feelings for Geoff had changed after all that had happened inc - discovering his ex was pregnant. I also think Geoff admitting had his ex not died, he would still be with her, is a slap in the face for Kate and the ending (to me) with her pulling her hand away from him, is Kate "pulling away" from the marriage. Such a sad, although, open ending. Geoff clearly never got over his first love and while I tried to feel for him, he seemed to be living a life he doesn't want, always complaining, feeling isolated during the mundane conversation with his friend at the cafe, I found him to be rather selfish.

I also thought it was going to be revealed that the death of his ex wasn't an accident and she was murdered.

[–] Eternal_Student 9 years ago

We were puzzled by what Kate saw in the slide show. Was Katya pregnant?; did Katya commit suicide?; did the photo of Katya's ringless fingers mean Geoff had lied to Kate?; why did Katya look so glum?; or was it simply the fact that Geoff had all these photos of Katya and none of Kate?

It seemed that Kate bottled up her feelings for the sake of the anniversary party. She had tried so hard to support and cheer up the old curmudgeon, and after his pathetic speech, and seeing the photos put together by friends representing their long and apparently uneventful marriage, plus generally feeling she had been a second choice from the beginning, she could not raise her game for one second longer. Who could blame her?

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] benman46 9 years ago

Revealing she was murdered would have been a ridiculous thing to do, and wouldn't have made any sense.

[–] Shefhammer 8 years ago

Thank you. There's some unreal comments on this board. It's as if people were expecting to see a Hitchcock film or something.

[–] sirjeremy 9 years ago

My take is that she felt him not telling her that Katya was pregnant was a huge blow and that it took the anniversary party to make her realise it. I don't think she'll leave him, though.

Did I miss something, or was it not explained what happened to the baby?

[–] Rufus_Bean 9 years ago

Thanks for the replies. A lot to think about.

It wasn't established what happened to the baby.

I'm still thinking about this film (days later), obviously it's had an impact on me( which great films do. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but, the sex scene, as soon as Kate tells him to open his eyes, he no longer can perform, it may have to do with his advancing age but I imagine he was thinking of Katya during their intimacy.

I feel so much sympathy for Kate - especially with what to do next. It must be a horrible thing to discover your 45 years with someone has ultimately been a lie. Could she start her life again? It's never to late, but at an advancing age it may be unlikely, and as the first reply to my post (on phone, apologises, can't see your name), Kate may stay with Geoff, even if it eats her up inside.

[–] Crafts20 9 years ago

Just on the baby point, there was an awful lot of hinting that what had happened might have influenced the "big decisions" in their life. I get the impression the thing that haunted Kate the most about it all is that he'd never had a baby with her, and that they'd clearly discussed it, and then to see Katya pregnant - that was the thing that most wrecked her and when she saw the photo wall she realised that there was no mountain and no child in their life - as human beings we are judged by our deeds or our kin and in the terrible week that just unfolded it was made abundantly clear that both of the couple had made decisions in their youth which meant they'd achieved neither really. So sad ;_;

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] Dejay 8 years ago

I really don't get Kate. She is far too foolish for her age. She is acting a bit like a silly teenager with romantic notions. A bit obsessive and controlling even. I know that sounds a bit harsh but - I think she is the one living an illusion.

Love and marriage is never perfect. You can't expect your other to never have loved before or have their own painful past that shaped THEM. To me it was that his live was destroyed and she gave him another one. He was traumatized and unable to deal with it. If she wanted children and he didn't then she should have left him long ago. It was her choice too and not his fault. So why blame him now?

Or maybe you are right. Anything you keep from the other for yourself sooner or later comes between you and your love. But I don't see the betrayal. He clearly loves her and is just grieving for his lost child.

[–] candacbap-88-377616 8 years ago

Age has nothing to do with hurt feelings unless the person lacks emotions. There are plenty of people who for one reason or another aren't with the one they truly loved. So, Kate was not foolish at all. She's a human being.

[–] Dejay 8 years ago

Well sure we often can't help how we feel, even if those feelings are irrational or unproductive. My comment is more about what to DO next. Doing and feeling is different.

The quote: "feel so much sympathy for Kate - especially with what to do next. It must be a horrible thing to discover your 45 years with someone has ultimately been a lie" kind of indicates that some drastic action might be justified now like divorce and starting over.

And if you look at the situation like a therapist or friend would, trying to objectively look at the situation and advice Kate what to do next, the advice honestly should be something like "don't be rash or childish - everybody has a past".

And they both swore an OATH to love each other until death. I just wish more people would get what is actually meant with that. To put it a bit over the top: Nobody cares about your feelings, just do the *beep* thing, do the loving each other regardless on how you feel.

[–] ibbi 9 years ago

Murdered?

I don't think there was anything about the movie quite as dramatic as you're making out. I saw it more as a sign that papering over such major cracks was not as easy as they were trying to make it look. That after an entire movie of her holding herself together we got a flash of honesty from her.

____
He sees angels in the architecture, spinning in infinity

[–] Rufus_Bean 9 years ago

Yes, murdered! When Kate is checking photos of Katya, and at one part near the beginning, I was expecting a revelation/shock to happen, the shock ended up being Katya's pregnacy, but her being murdered is hardly far fetched, the film itself has a lot of attributes that make it play like a thriller/horror. The setting for one thing, the foggy banks, trips to the attic at night - doesn't a door bang shut at one point too while Kate is standing in the hallway? Kate looking for clues and finding valuable information, is like a big "reveal" of a horror/mystery with the "detective "solving the crime" finally, the death of Katya "haunts" the films itself.

[–] Eternal_Student 9 years ago

I agree Rufus, the atmosphere and build-up are worthy of a murder mystery. The mistiness is reminiscent of the Venice canal banks in 'Don't Look now'; and the slideshow of David Hemmings examining his grainy prints in 'Blow-up'. Indeed we wondered what the marks on the slides were, and if they could be blood.

Another point that didn't occur at the time of viewing was the names: Katya and Kate are both versions of Katherine. They also, we learned, had the same hair colour. Katya was pregnant but died presumably before having the baby. Kate had 'agreed' with Geoff, or been persuaded by him more likely, not to have children. Did Geoff marry Kate as a Katya replacement but this time kept her in a 'purer' form?

Geoff went to the library for a book on climate change, but was clearly only interested in the rate at which glaciers melted. Presumably he wanted to calculate how much time he had left before the body could be recovered and examined forensically, when the pregnancy would be discovered, and perhaps more revelations.

OK, murder may be a step too far, but the way Kate dropped him cold in the middle of the dance suggests she suddenly felt she did not actually know the man she had married, or what he might be capable of.

[–] jonathanatkinson17 9 years ago

I think the look that we're left with on Kate's face is just one of despair. The entire film has been building up to this 45 year anniversary party that she has been orchestrating and by the end she has realised the falseness of it all. I think I remember reading someone saying with regards to this film that some secrets can't be survived and this has destroyed Kate. As she said "it's tainted everything we've ever done", they didn't have children presumably as Geoff's previous lover was pregnant when she died, Geoff used to take photos all the time but stopped when he met Kate. This is going a bit off track but I wonder if it was suggested that this helps Geoff maintain the illusion that he has just been with his first lover this whole time - Kate does apparently look similar to her, or at least did when she was young.

At the party their friends organise a big collection of photos of this whole marriage that has just been a lie but looks to them like a loving couple. Geoff stands up and gives a gushing speech professing of his love for Kate and cries so everyone truly believes him, perhaps by this point he even believes himself but Kate knows different. She never compared to his first love and he even told her as much. They share their dance together all while Kate looks like she can't bear to even touch him and by the final frame she can no longer hide her despair that she has reached almost the end of her life that has all been false and no one even knows but her.

Pretty sad *beep*

[–] Dejay 8 years ago

She never compared to his first love and he even told her as much.

Sorry but where did you get that from? First why even compare totally different person and their "value" to each other - that is a materialistic and immature view on love. And second he only said he would have married her. It has nothing really to do with her does it? He didn't know her then!

I get that many things feel "tainted" to her but that is just how his past trauma shaped him. To obsess over it is kinda immature too.

He didn't try to turn her into a replacement - on the contrary. He let her be her own person and avoided things that reminded her of Katja. How is that really a lie?

And maybe brunettes are just his type lol.

[–] chuck-526 8 years ago

The way I understand this, the reference is to the conversation one night in bed before turning off the light, when Kate inists Geoff tell her whether or not if Katya had lived and they had made it to Italy they would have been married. The first time Geoff begs off, saying something about he thought Kate didn't like hypothetical questions. The second time though he answers very straight, saying that yes, if Katya had lived and they had made it to Italy, they would have married each other.

It's a matter of interpretation whether or not Geoff's telling the full truth. It's a matter of interpretation exactly what "married each other" means. One could even say it's a matter of interpretation whether or not this meant Kate never compared to Geoff's first love. But it's not a matter of interpretation that he said those words - he did.

[–] timkens 8 years ago

I took "We would have married each other" (in answer to Kate's question, "Would YOU have married HER?") to indicate a mutuality in Geoff's relationship with Katya that just wasn't there in his relationship with Kate.

[–] Marisa_Gabriella 9 years ago

I thought it was interesting that she pulled her hand away from him just as everyone got up to dance so no one was looking at her when she did it. Even her husband doesn't react to it. It makes me wonder if she will suffer in silence and continue to stay married to him once the party is over so to speak.

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http://tinyurl.com/qb554o6

[–] SlackerInc (1081) 4 years ago

This. She is not going to leave him because she does not want their friends and family to realize that the picture they are painting of a beautiful and happy 45 years is not exactly true.

[–] baz678 9 years ago

Anniversaries can be celebrations but also a reminder of the big decisions we didn't make. I felt for Kate and her loss, the life she didn't have.

Strangely, I see her as going through a crisis, and imagine them pulling through this. At the anniversary, she is disillusioned and it's painful. But their many conversations show that they have a real bond.

[–] MrsBuckyBarnes 9 years ago

it never occurred to me for a moment that his ex would have been murdered. that would have been a horrible mis-step, and taken away from the central drama, which was the dissolution of a marriage.

i'm in two minds about whether kate left her husband. i would have liked her to, but her decision to proceed with the party and her reasons for doing so suggests she is accustomed to suppressing her thoughts and feelings for appearances sake. what is very clear is that their marriage has been irreparably damaged. i think kate is right when she said to her husband that she knows she was enough for him, but he does not realise it. i think he did after she had her mini showdown with him and i believe his words to her at the party were genuine, but her love for him has died as a result of his deception and she did not feel the rush of affection she expected to when he broke down. i assume it was primarily his decision not to have children and now she knows the reason why, i don't think she will ever forgive him.

i had some sympathy for kate, but at the same time i thought it was rather cowardly of her to try and go ahead with the party rather than confront the crisis in her marriage, only to then find her suppressed emotions overwhelming her at the party. what the hell did she think was going to happen? mature adults who don't understand their own emotional makeup annoy me.

[–] vince-volaju 7 years ago

Not with that nice house and property soon to be inherited would Kate have left an ailing older husband. Don't be naive! 😉

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