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To be honest, I couldn't figure it out first time I watched it. The documentary about its making, The Hamster Factor, clears things up. Gilliam wanted the film to finish on the shot of the young Jim Cole's face, just as he sees his future self die and Dr Railly turn to look at him - the 'dream' image. This was how the original script ended. The studio (or producer, I forget) poo-pooed this - a happier ending had to be included. So we get this:
INT. 747 CABIN - DAY
DR. PETERS closes the door to the overhead luggage rack
containing his Chicago Bulls bag and takes his seat. Next to
him, a FELLOW TRAVELER, unseen, says...
FELLOW TRAVELER'S VOICE (o.s.)
It's obscene, all the violence, all the
lunacy. Shootings even at airports now.
You might say...we're the next endangered
species...human beings!
CLOSE ON DR. PETERS, smiling affably, turning to his neighbor.
DR. PETERS
I think you're right. sir. I think
you've hit the nail on the head.
DR. PETERS' POV: the FELLOW TRAVELER, a silver haired gentleman
in a business suit, offering his hand congenially. DR. PETERS
doesn't know who this man is, but we do. It's the
ASTROPHYSICIST!
ASTROPHYSICIST
Jones is my name. I'm in insurance.
This is supposed to tell us that they received Cole's message and sent someone else back to stop Ponytail from releasing the virus. The Astrophysicist is that someone, she knows that this guy's responsible, she's sitting next to him on purpose and Everything's Going To Be Okay.
Except it's a poorly-written scene, as it confuses the audience when that's not the intention. It can look like the final irony of the movie, with this being a younger version of the Astrophysicist (she's obviously older than Cole in the future). She was sat next to the person responsible for the plague when he took his final journey and if she'd only known, there would have been no need for any of this. If anything, i can make the film look even more depressing.
But that's not what it's there for. It's meant to be reassuring. It's a clumsy scene in every sense - purpose, scripting, direction, acting. Gilliam allowed himself to be sweet-talked into including it when he saw how the new final image - the crane shot slowly moving in on young Cole's face - turned out. Which was, in my opinion, a stupid decision. The whole premise of the film is jettisoned in the last few minutes - Cole isn't even going to die any more, for fucksake. Pointless. |
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