In an interview in Esquire, Woody Allen was asked why he didn't make a happy ending to the film. Allen replied, "That *w
-
JR541 — 18 years ago(October 26, 2007 10:21 PM)
The reason he just left is because he had done what a set out to do. He got Tom Baxter to get back into the movie and while he may feel bad for what he did to Cecelia he is thinking more of what will become of his acting career.
He's taking the knife out of the Cheese!
Do you think he wants some cheese? -
mrliteral — 18 years ago(October 27, 2007 03:38 PM)
But he didn't set out to make her believe he loved her and then splitsupposedly he did have feelings for her, then left anywaywhy? It's not clear. If he was actually pretending to love her, just to get her to help him put Tom back in the moviewhy would he do that either? It's just not clear motivation.
http://moviesonthemind.blogspot.com/ -
JR541 — 18 years ago(October 27, 2007 04:05 PM)
I don't think he was in love with her at all. He used her.
He used his acting ability to get her to fall in love with him. He knew that he could use that against Tom. Gil knew exactly what he was doing.
He may have felt a little bad about it but he wanted to make sure his acting career didn't go down the tubes.
He's taking the knife out of the Cheese!
Do you think he wants some cheese? -
onelastnail — 17 years ago(June 08, 2008 02:03 PM)
Exactly, he manipulated her for his own ends throughout the whole film. I guess he really was a great actor, he even had Tom Baxter fooled into believing in his own existence.
The way I see it, there couldn't possibly be a happy ending as we perceive it, because it would make "real life" no different from a movie (even though we know it really is a movie). That said, I would dearly love to see Cecilia step into the Fred and Ginger film and play her ukelele for them. Or, you know, have her step out of Woody Allen's film because she's noticed me watching it twice in the space of a week. -
ProfessorFate — 16 years ago(February 20, 2010 11:58 PM)
But he didn't set out to make her believe he loved her and then splitsupposedly he did have feelings for her, then left anywaywhy? It's not clear. If he was actually pretending to love her, just to get her to help him put Tom back in the moviewhy would he do that either? It's just not clear motivation.
SPOILERS**
I think Gil Shepard is Allen's take on many actors: vain, self-centered, shallow, and very manipulative. They'll do anything to further their careers. He used Cecelia to get Baxter back up on the screen. He may have had feelings for her, as is hinted at from the guilty look on his face on the plane, but the fact is that once Baxter was back in the movie he ditched her and hopped on a plane back to Hollywood.
"Push the button, Max!" -
NeVeRMoRe666 — 15 years ago(June 05, 2010 10:10 AM)
Actually, I thought Gil's motivations were quite clear-cut. Tom wouldn't leave the real world because he was in love with Cecilia (hence the reason why he walked off the screen in the first place)so Gil made Cecilia fall in love with him, so Tom wouldn't have any reason to exist in the real world, leading him to head back into the movie world.
It's quite sad, he never had any other intentions with her. He used her for his own purposes and for the sake of his own career. -
JaneSchmo — 17 years ago(August 19, 2008 03:11 PM)
It was a very bittersweet ending.
What I loved about the movie was that it was a thoughtful meditation on the magic of the movies and the nature of escapist entertainment. Cecilia finds consolation through these fantasies until those fantasies become more real to her than real life. And when real life slaps her down once more, she goes right back to the comfort and wish fulfillment of the movies, wich haven't let her down.
The movies ARE a big comfort and consolation, no matter how sad, tiring or boring your real life is. The ending would have been as good as if she had put on a happy piece of music to forget her troubles for a while.