Wednesday

Movies -- why begin and not end?

Give me the ending
We recently watched a couple of movies that were a disappointing waste of time. Obviously, there are some people that will consider watching any TV or movie a waste of time, but all that aside, what made the ones we watched unsatisfying for us was the ending -- or lack of one.
Have you ever seen a movie that ends without bringing to a conclusion the various issues raised during the movie? Don’t get the idea that I’m talking about not having a happy-ever-after ending, because neither Romeo and Juliet nor Cyrano de Bergerac do, but they are both movies worth watching, and both give the viewer the satisfaction of closure. We want to know what happens to these people we've just spent time with, whose lives we have been caught up in for a couple of hours.

You might as well start watching a game -- pick any sport you want -- and then not be able to see the finish, just be left hanging. Who would keep watching sports if that's all you got? What kind of entertainment is that?
It is primarily so-called romance movies that end without really ending, apparently for some claim to realism. I would argue if that is the case, then why have a beginning of the story? Since the movie-makers are not going to give us an ending, or lamely say the ending is up to the viewer, then why not just give us a title and let the viewers come up with our own beginning and ending? These artsy movies, (if that is what they are called) are a bad use of the word art. Movies that end this way in the end are unfulfilling, anti-climactic, and downright frustrating, no matter how good the rest of the movie is. 

By the way, I'd say the same thing about a book, because some of those kinds of movies are based on a book. Come on, you guys, give us the ending.


Great movies:
Romeo and Juliet 1968
Cyrano de Bergerac 1950