contemplative endings

[adrian]

Someone's comments on the "final lines" thread got me wondering about movies with contemplative endings, with no dialogue. Sort of like a reverse There Will Be Blood. My memory sucks though, so I can't think of any aside from maybe 2001.

[ShogunRua]

Someone's comments on the "final lines" thread got me wondering about movies with contemplative endings, with no dialogue. Sort of like a reverse There Will Be Blood. My memory sucks though, so I can't think of any aside from maybe 2001.

My two favorite endings of all time are both of the contemplative kind, without any words;

1. Seven Beauties

2. Kanal

Don't want to spoil either of them, but suffice to say, that both end with very "simple" actions. And yet, with everything that has happened previously in the movie, they have a greater effect than an atom bomb blowing up.

[cftvgy]

I have three bad examples that might lead you to think about how to differentiate "contemplative" endings:

Lord of the Rings: the ending of part 3 took about 45 minutes. I don't remember there being much voice-over, mostly smiles and hugs but it was really on-the-nose.

Meloncholia: Again, not deep, but very dramatic and without dialogue.

The Shawshank Redemption: Narrated without concluding what the outcome is (whether what you see is truth or fantasy is left to the viewer).

[Stewball]

Someone's comments on the "final lines" thread got me wondering about movies with contemplative endings, with no dialogue. Sort of like a reverse There Will Be Blood. My memory sucks though, so I can't think of any aside from maybe 2001.

Dr. Strangelove
Inception
Gladiator
Master & Commander
High Noon

[MmzHrrdb]

beau travail

[TheDenizen]

Kurosawa's "Ran" has the best ending ever (and is my favorite movie). No dialog, just an image. So bleak.

[3dRevelation]

I don't know if it can be considered contemplative, but I really liked the end of Bonnie and Clyde:
[spoiler]Bonnie and Clyde get shot the hell up, and then there is silence and the police walk up and just stare without saying a word[/spoiler]

[W00DY]

It's not quite the ending but the penultimate scene of Antonioni's "The Passenger" is amazing.

[sebby]

Surprised no one has mentioned Stalker.

[MacSwell]

I love the ending to Citizen Ruth, one achieved with no dialogue but plenty of background noise.

[spoiler]Busting out the back window of an abortion clinic, Ruth quietly makes off with £15,000 of MC Gainey's money (that was promised to her if she went through with the process) as a furious confrontation between pro-life and pro-choice activists rages all around her. The very people who have made her a central figure of the national debate fail to recognise her as she walks past them all because they're too busy shouting insults and obscenities at each other. Just perfect.[/spoiler]