The ending
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tim-nicholas-1 — 19 years ago(May 14, 2006 01:55 PM)
was I the only person who figured out the ending a while before it happened?
as soon as the "new exec" picked up the phone and said that line about "the next phase" that's the first thing that came to mind
still terrifying none the less -
Ralphus2 — 15 years ago(October 06, 2010 08:44 AM)
You're partly right bluesdoctor.
- Hudson could've had his new life, just not in Malibu with Nora as a painter etc. He could've gone off and done whatever he liked. The only problem is the company 'supported' his new identity (as Tony). They'd have to eventually do the same with whatever other place in the world he found for himself. Unless, I suppose, he just took his degrees and birth certificate with him and said he was an ex-painter. Also, perhaps they couldn't trust him anymore; who's to say he wouldn't get drunk again and blab about his daughter and Arthur Hamilton and the Company etc. So, I don't think the Company could LET him go off to find his own new life.
- You're completely right. He should have had no illusions as to what the Company might do for him next. Perhaps a job on the inside as an orderly?
I don't necessarily see these things as implausibilities though. The delusion of escaping middle-aged ennui hasn't left Arthur even after the Tony life failed. He still 'hopes' despite what should have been obvious.
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shempXIV — 14 years ago(August 13, 2011 07:57 PM)
You bring up some valid pointsbut perhaps the super-secretive Company thought Tony's somewhat unstable behavior would compromise them. (He contacted his wife & the Company said that was a big no-no.) Also, Tony didn't exactly seem like the coldest beer in the fridge why did he react with such panic when he learned he was surrounded by "rebirths"?
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svalinanikola — 10 years ago(August 12, 2015 04:24 AM)
- Hudson didn't need a new face to pursue a life of greater meaning.
I know this post is really old, but this was explained, he wanted to create an identity himself, he didn't want another identity given by other people. Yes, he doesn't need a second surgery, but he's still be a successful painter they made him to be. That's not what he wanted.
- Hudson didn't need a new face to pursue a life of greater meaning.
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roncerabona — 10 years ago(November 07, 2015 02:36 PM)
One of the points of the film is surely that "no matter where you go, there you are". Arthur's problem was HIMSELF - he only started to understand that too late and too little (realising maybe he never had a dream to pursue, fo example). Getting a new face and identity didn't solve that and was never going to. But he had thrown in his lot with the company and figured that was all he had to go with - and the company presumably wanting referrals to keep going and to continue its investigations into what worked might give people another chance if they played along (which he didn't). It is interesting that the company founder did not undergo the procedure himself: he is an old man.
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aratron777 — 16 years ago(March 31, 2010 07:58 PM)
WOW. This was some movie I recently discovered this movie on TCM. I have watch it several times and it gets better with each viewing.
This movie was way ahead of its time. There is a feeling of dread through out the film that progressively gets worse. Suspense keeps building and you start to realize things are not going to end well. I glad they did it in black and white this adds to its creep factor.
I suggest you watch it more then once to really understand the film. 10 out of 10 for me. -
ae36 — 9 years ago(April 24, 2016 08:42 AM)
He panics at the end because he realizes that his surrounded by "failed re-births".
What they are going to do to him is use him as the corpse for another subject as they "die" and under go the process.
So he'll just be the dead body the authorities find so some other client can be "re-born"
AE36