A few simple sentences to try to answer the mystery of the movie ending

Edwin 2022-04-24 06:01:01

Puzzle:

1. What did the girl go through after she became "detached"? What did she tell "Your Excellency" mother-in-law?

2. Why did "Your Excellency" mother-in-law commit suicide?

Important lines the film gives to the audience:

1. "Your Excellency" mother-in-law's organization is looking for the truth at the level of religious belief

2. The method used by "Your Excellency" is to inflict extreme pain on innocent people

3. According to the dialogue of "Your Excellency", the "truth" that Anna told her was "endless doubts". There are at least two interpretations of this:

1) This is what Anna said, which is what she experienced after "detachment"; 2) Anna didn't say this, it's just "Your Excellency"'s understanding or interpretation

4. The last shot is of Anna and her best friend/love Solucy falling in love with each other as children

5. If the situation in point 3 is (1), the truth of belief that "Your Excellency" is looking for is doubt. But doubt is the opposite of faith, so her pursuit is doomed to be empty, so her confidence is shattered and she commits suicide. This approach is purely conceptual, and there are not many concrete clues to support it in the film.

6. If the situation in point 3 is (2), what Anna experiences in "detachment" may be memories of mutual love. The last shot is proof. But Anna may not be able to express it clearly in words, or "Your Excellency" may understand it differently. But no more specific clues were provided in the play.

7. If the truth that Anna experiences is "love", it is understandable that "Your Excellency" is difficult to accept. Because the means she uses are the opposite of love. In other words, when she knew the truth, she knew that she would never get to that state, and she committed suicide because her confidence was shattered. This possibility is the same as point 5.

8. This non-cool cult movie concludes that "the ultimate truth of religion is love", perhaps a bit anti-climax. But in the Western concept of the martyr, suffering to the limit as a testimony of faith, is indeed a reference in Christian culture. The close-up of Anna's "detached eyes" at the end of the film is also reminiscent of the close-up in Dreyer's classic "The Passion of Joan of Arc". Of course this is my subjective opinion.

The above is my guess.

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Extended Reading

Martyrs quotes

  • Mademoiselle: Martyrs are exceptional people. They survive pain, they survive total deprivation. They bear all the sins of the earth. They give themselves up. They transcend themselves... they are transfigured.

  • Anna: I miss you.