I notice that in dicussions of "endings" that it is sometimes the case that one is speaking of the final shot, final scene, or final sequence, and other times one is speaking of the third act as a whole -- the buildup, the climax, and the resolution. After all, the three-act structure is beginning, middle, and end: thus the third act is the end.
Among Done Dealers there is a somewhat greater inclination to speak of the Third Act, but among the general movie-going public, that's rarely the case. You simply hear something like "I just loved that ending", and it could mean the whole of the third act or simply the final shot.
In a film like the Usual Suspects, where the big reveal is actually in the final scene, it seems the climax and the end are definitely one and the same, and when one says they loved the ending, it's pretty clear what was meant.
So my question, or idea for discussion, is: how do you interpret the notion of a film's "ending"? And I'd be curious for examples where the climax is great, but the ending was not, or vice versa.
Among Done Dealers there is a somewhat greater inclination to speak of the Third Act, but among the general movie-going public, that's rarely the case. You simply hear something like "I just loved that ending", and it could mean the whole of the third act or simply the final shot.
In a film like the Usual Suspects, where the big reveal is actually in the final scene, it seems the climax and the end are definitely one and the same, and when one says they loved the ending, it's pretty clear what was meant.
So my question, or idea for discussion, is: how do you interpret the notion of a film's "ending"? And I'd be curious for examples where the climax is great, but the ending was not, or vice versa.
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