When
I left Inception I thought, so, was it all a dream or was it real, and
more importantly, do I care? The answer to that last question is no, not
in the least, and so I haven’t really thought about Inception since.
Now
to be fair, I’m not big on mindfuck movies. (Inception is less a
mindfuck than a mindgrope-- thanks to Stacey D. for that one.) But I
did leave the theater thinking about open endings and why some are
satisfying and others are not. But before I get to that, I suppose a
definition is in order.
Nah,
it isn’t. You all know what an open ending is. But for this post, let’s
make a distinction between the open-ended film that is obviously
designed to give birth to a sequel and one that is not. Predators, for
example, ends with a sequel in mind, it's kind of a cliffhanger, which is a different beast. (I can’t wait for the Predators sequel. I'm serious.) Inception's ending is
supposed to leave you hanging and discussing it for months on end. Paradoxically, the film is contained in a certain way. Which
isn’t to say Inception isn’t sequel friendly, it is, and god help us if
it happens. But the question is, when are you satisfied with the latter
open-ended movie, and when are you frustrated by it? Personally, if the
end makes me laugh because of its audacity and/or makes me think about
the possibilities, (John Sayles’ Limbo, and the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man did both), that’s a satisfying experience. If it left me
slouched in my seat, made me turn my palms to the sky and exclaim, “What
the fuck?” or worse, “Who gives a fuck?” then that wasn’t a satisfying
ending at all.
Right, so here are some satisfying open-ended films.
A Serious Man
Manhattan
Citizen Kane
400 Blows
Saturday Night
Cache
2001: A Space Odyessy
Naked
Limbo
Some unsatisfying open-ended films.
Inception
White Ribbon
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Alien vs. Predator
I
know there are many films to be added to these lists, so let’s discuss.
I’m also curious to read why you think some open endings work and
other’s don’t. Is it just a question of poor storytelling, or is there
something about a certain kind of story that intrinsically makes an open
ending unsatisfying?