The meaning of the ending to no country for old men - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

TheU · 09-19-2009, 07:59 PM

One of my favorite movies of all time. At the end of the movie, Tommy Lee Jones' character tells his wife about 2 dreams. I think that the 2nd dream when his dad rides ahead to make a fire, he's accepting his role in the world, and at peace with it. I know that there are others out there who see it differently, I'm just interested to see how others interpret the ending

4X4 · 09-19-2009, 08:04 PM

I interpreted the ending as annoying. It shoulda ended after Chiguhr bailed from the car accident, or at least 10 minutes earlier than it did. I'm no connoisseur, but the dreams at the end did little to make a really damn good movie any better. Or maybe what annoyed me about the dreams was how long it took to get them out. It was like half an hour tacked on to the end of a movie.

DementedReality · 09-19-2009, 08:13 PM

saw the movie ... only thing i remember is i couldnt wait for it to end ...

evilcougar · 09-19-2009, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dementedreality

saw the movie ... Only thing i remember is i couldnt wait for it to end ...

+1

enthused · 09-19-2009, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DementedReality

saw the movie ... only thing i remember is i couldnt wait for it to end ...

I got tired of waiting for it to end, so I fell asleep.... about 20 minutes in to it.

Vulcan · 09-20-2009, 12:54 AM

The sheriff is too old for the game anymore and if he continues, he's going to get killed. He knows this and so is retiring and trying to accept his change of life. This change has made him contemplative about death and so he dreams of his dead dad preparing the way for him to the next life. The fire to me is a combination of the light that people claim to see in near death experiences leading them on and also a symbol of warmth and home.

To say the movie should have ended after Chigar's accident misses the point that the movie wasn't about Chiguhr or Llewellyn Moss, it was about the Sheriff not being able to cut the mustard anymore. The other characters were good but they could have been anyone that sheriff Bell couldn't handle and no longer could understand. At least that's the way I see it because I can relate to Bell's situation.

Flame Of Liberty · 09-20-2009, 05:02 AM

Such an awful, boring and pretentious movie.

If you want a movie with a similar "meaning" (and a movie that doesn't beat you with it over your head 20 times) check out The chaser - aging former detective (now running an escort service) realises he is not being able to cut the mustard anymore as he chases a killer.

However the big difference is this movie actually entertains you and keeps you interested and is not riddled with demented scenes (like the one where the evil guy pretends to be a cop, stops a car and kills the dumb driver with his cattle gun thing).

But it wasn't directed by the godly Coen bros. so this korean movie won't get much attention.

Locke · 09-20-2009, 06:08 AM

He realizes that 'good' can be worn down, tired out, torn apart and killed, to me its symbolic that all men have a breaking point, good men get out so as to enjoy the virtues of their labour, what little of it they can, as they understand that bad men will persevere forever.

I see it as an admission that evil will always win because evil men have nothing to lose.

jeremywilhelm · 09-20-2009, 08:55 AM

Horribly pretentious and obtuse movie. I was wishing i had 2 hours of my life back at the end.

gottabekd · 09-20-2009, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vulcan

The sheriff is too old for the game anymore and if he continues, he's going to get killed. He knows this and so is retiring and trying to accept his change of life. This change has made him contemplative about death and so he dreams of his dead dad preparing the way for him to the next life. The fire to me is a combination of the light that people claim to see in near death experiences leading them on and also a symbol of warmth and home.

To say the movie should have ended after Chigar's accident misses the point that the movie wasn't about Chiguhr or Llewellyn Moss, it was about the Sheriff not being able to cut the mustard anymore. The other characters were good but they could have been anyone that sheriff Bell couldn't handle and no longer could understand. At least that's the way I see it because I can relate to Bell's situation.

100% this. I quite enjoyed the movie. Like others, I was expecting the story to be wrapped up in a neat little package with a bow, so was initially surprised that it ended the way it did. Of course, that is the whole point of the ending, and why it has such an impact after the fact. It's also a revealing moment, "Oh, so that's where the title plays in."

If nothing else, visually the movie was amazing. The Texas landscape was beautiful. I thought it was a fantastic film, and have been itching to see it again.

TurnedTheCorner · 09-20-2009, 10:13 AM

Now I'm going to have to watch this again some time.

4X4 · 09-20-2009, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vulcan

The sheriff is too old for the game anymore and if he continues, he's going to get killed. He knows this and so is retiring and trying to accept his change of life. This change has made him contemplative about death and so he dreams of his dead dad preparing the way for him to the next life. The fire to me is a combination of the light that people claim to see in near death experiences leading them on and also a symbol of warmth and home.

To say the movie should have ended after Chigar's accident misses the point that the movie wasn't about Chiguhr or Llewellyn Moss, it was about the Sheriff not being able to cut the mustard anymore. The other characters were good but they could have been anyone that sheriff Bell couldn't handle and no longer could understand. At least that's the way I see it because I can relate to Bell's situation.

But did it really have to take so long to draw out? Obviously the sheriff feels old and knows that he's done. The length of the movie was just too much. There was foreshadowing throughout the movie. It was not necessary to tack on an extra half hour to tell us what we already knew.

rubecube · 09-20-2009, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enthused

I got tired of waiting for it to end, so I fell asleep.... about 20 minutes in to it.

Maybe a Michael Bay movie is more your style.

Table 5 · 09-20-2009, 02:17 PM

I really liked it. But then again I'm pretty pretentious and obtuse.

TheU · 09-20-2009, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubecube

Maybe a Michael Bay movie is more your style.

I like big boobs, explosions, slow motion and lens flare.

flip · 09-20-2009, 02:20 PM

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Originally Posted by TheU

I like big boobs, explosions, slow motion and lens flare.

Smell these.

It's your mom.

Bunk · 09-20-2009, 02:21 PM

The book (as per usual) by Cormac McCarthy is better than the movie (although I did like the movie too).

The early scenes were just so much more evocative and suspenseful in the book than the movie.

Also, one of the most interesting parts of the book (when Moss picks up the young girl, who he is eventually killed with, as a hitchiker and the ensuing interesting relationship they form) is cut out of the movie, which was disappointing.

Weiser Wonder · 09-20-2009, 02:31 PM

My perception of the meaning:

The universe is built on chaos. Your life is purely at the mercy of chance. The best you can do is take responsibility for your actions, be a good person, and "light a fire" in the "darkness" that is the universe.

To me, Chigur did not represent chance or chaos. He was a man who skirted responsibility for his actions by attributing them to chance. This is emphasized in his conversation with Mrs. Moss. "There is no chance, just you." He represented what is evil in the context of the story.

The sheriff represented someone who takes responsibility for his actions. He is overwhelmed by the evil in the world but realizes he can only fight it by acting with personal responsibility.

Terrible and chaotic things happen to both the sheriff and Chigur. Chigur gets hit by the car. The sheriff is dealt the hand of trying to protect his community from Chigur.

Basically, it's very existential film meant to make a strong moral statement about being responsible for your actions.

jammies · 09-20-2009, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4X4

But did it really have to take so long to draw out? Obviously the sheriff feels old and knows that he's done. The length of the movie was just too much. There was foreshadowing throughout the movie. It was not necessary to tack on an extra half hour to tell us what we already knew.

The telling of the dreams is maybe 10 minutes, not half an hour. I thought it was not only important, but essential - in McCarthy's books, he almost always has a kind of coda in which he makes oblique reference to the book that has come before it in a way which illuminates and redraws its theme, and leaving this out of the movie would have made a poor reinterpretation. I thought it was brilliantly done, myself, just like the rest of the movie - obviously many people disagree, which I think is rooted in the style of the film, which is short on action and dialogue compared to the modern norm.

Vulcan · 09-20-2009, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4X4

But did it really have to take so long to draw out? Obviously the sheriff feels old and knows that he's done. The length of the movie was just too much. There was foreshadowing throughout the movie. It was not necessary to tack on an extra half hour to tell us what we already knew.

Yeah, we may have already known, hell even sheriff Bell kind of knew it, but the Sheriff hadn't accepted that he was done yet.

At the beginning of the movie, he compares himself to the old timers, near the end visiting his also done friend, he is the old timer. Meanwhile time marches on and so does Chiguhr but the sheriff doesn't know what to do with his. "Maybe I'll go riding?" he says.

which sounds like a good idea for me too.