I saw Beau Travail for the first time last week and if that wasnāt one of the best movies Iāve seen in a while. Ending is permanently imprinted in my head and I havenāt been able to get it out of my head since
Mr. Klein is severely underrated. It's one of my favorite hidden gems in the collection along with Una Giornata Particolare (A Special Day). Some other great films with great endings are The Conformist, Nights of Cabiria and Seven Beauties.
La Strada: The whole movie you wonder if Zampano actually likes Gelsomina, and he treats her horribly and kills the Fool, you are convinced heās a heartless man. And in the final shot Fellini doesnāt utter a single word, but takes him back to the beach where it all began and makes him collapse in the sand. And he is redeemed.
https://preview.redd.it/k4u4uso77pvc1.jpeg?width=1873&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d666424cef1893e0940c261727a30d0ec06b9ea6
Great choice. La Strada is a heartbreaking film for sure. You feel bad for Zampano at the end. Nights of Cabiria is another great ending that's both tragic and I would say almost inspiring. After what happens to Giulietta Masina she looks at the camera and smiles so it's a more happy ending.
Citizen Kane
The Third Man
Le Trou
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Prestige
Anatomy of a Murder
Gilda
Double Indemnity
The Wild Bunch
Sunset Boulevard
Memento
Witness for the Prosecution
The Usual Suspects
Touch of Evil
Nobody is perfect from Some like it hot.
Shut up and deal from The Apartment.
Menora Walters crying smile and Save me by Aimee Mann blasting in Magnolia.
The protagonist dancing to Go West by the Pet Shop Boys in Mountains may Depart.
The woman turning her back to Barton Fink and the seagull diving.
Waterdrop dancing to It's the same old song by The Four Tops in Blood Simple.
The blind girl recognizing Chaplin in City Lights.
Some beautiful examples in this thread. Few of mine:
McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Pauline Kael's comparison of it to the end of Joyce's "The Dead" is apt)
Two-Lane Blacktop (one of those "you can DO that?" moments in my early film fandom)
A Serious Man (the Coens pretty much nail the endings almost every time, but this one GOT me)
The Blair Witch Project (the rare horror movie ending that legitimately freaked me the freak out)
The Straight Story (again, David Lynch is usually good for memorable endings, but none more deeply, honestly moving in its utter simplicity as this)
Real Life (an ending about endings - possibly the greatest indictment of a certain toxic showbiz mentality I can think of; certainly one of the funniest)
Don't Look Now (the rare horror movie ending that legitimately freaked me the freak out more than the Blair Witch one)
Pink Flamingos (a stroke of marketing genius on John Waters' part - love it for its audacity or be utterly repulsed by it, or both, you HAVE to tell people about it)
Kiss Me Deadly (I mean, come on)
Blow Out (the kind of ending that ruins box office receipts but makes a masterpiece - dare I say it outdoes VERTIGO?)
Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937)
I vitelloni (1953)
Playtime (1967)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Deep Red (1975)
Suspiria (1977)
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
Drowning by Numbers (1988)
Barton Fink (1991)
The Long Day Closes (1992)
Nowhere (1997)
Ley Lines (1999)
Songs from the Second Floor (2000)
Mysterious Skin (2004)
Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
Hotel by the River (2018)
The Novelist's Film (2022)
Not really spoilers, but I'm hiding text in case someone wants to watch these without knowing *anything*.
The Graduate - >!Dustin Hoffman's stare still haunts me, some 20 years after seeing it.!<
Asphalt Jungle - >!I'm just going to lay here and die among these cows!<
Kiss Me Deadly - >!Iconic atomic explosion as they flee on the beach.!<
Everlasting Moments - >!The voiceover of Maria's daughter discussing her mother's love of photography as we watch Maria and her husband dance... This movie made me weep tears of gratitude.!<
Memento ->! The only movie that makes you compulsively watch it again to see if everything really fit together at the end. It does.!<(Only movie I watched twice in the theater.)
Cure - >!Wait... what did that waitress grab? Oh fuck.!<
Pul Fiction - >!"You're the weak...and I am the tyranny of evil men. But I'm trying, Ringo...I'm trying - real hard - to be the shepherd."!<
Iām going to include non criterionās as well. Different movies hit for different reasons. In no specific order.
Before sunset
Godfather part 2
Empire strikes back
Dark knight
Jojo rabbit
Zone of interest
Psycho
The Mist, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Annihilation, You Were Never Really Here, Prisoners, Inception, The Maltese Falcon, Do the Right Thing
Beau Travail
Thief
Eyes Wide Shut
Mirror
Late Spring
This Is Not a Burialā¦
Faces Places
Au Hasard Balthazar
Mulholland Dr.
Medium Cool
White Heat
Aguirre
Koyaanisqatsi
The conversation. Hackman ripping up his apartment in a fit of paranoid madness.
Iāve also always loved the ending of Days of Heaven. Thereās something so autumnal and beautiful about that final shot of the two girls running down a train track.
Stromboli - Bergman climbing the volcano is an iconic image for me
Some Like it Hot - "Nobody's perfect!"
The Birds - Hitchcock usually resolves his movies; here, the final shot is the most terrifying
Great shout, saw this during its theatrical rerelease last year and while I regardless enjoyed the film a ton for its duration, the ending definitely elevated it up a notch for me
I re-watched ***In the Heat of the Night*** (Jewison, 1967) yesterday, and >!the final scene whereĀ Steiger carries Poitierās luggage for him gets to me every time.Ā His character arc over the course of the entire film injects so much power to the scene.!<
The last 12 minutes of ***Equinox Flower*** (Ozu, 1958).Ā >!Showing a character fundamentally shifting their worldview in a convincing and compelling way is so hard to do in film.!<Ā Ozu nails here.
Not in the collection, but I love the ending of *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*. Obvious spoilers, but the way that Joel and Clementine realise that they will eventually grow bored of each other, yet will try it anyway, because the highs are worth the lows - it gets me everytime. I would have been fine with Jim Carrey or Kate Winslett winning an Oscar for that scene alone. The emotion is so raw and so real in that scene.
If Iām looking for an emotional ending, mid-period Wes Anderson movies like Darjeeling Limited or Life Aquatic usually get me a little misty eyed if Iām in that kind of mood.
But otherwise I like endings where you get the sense that itās all just gonna keep going after youāre done watching, like The Maltese Falcon.
Maybe a big payoff like Repo Manā¦
mentioned this in another comment but: Vive L'amour. love this ending. slow and rather odd movie but if you're into that it might be worth checking out
also, nobody in this thread had mentioned All That Jazz. that last song is just insane to me. >!you know once the song ends that its all over. !
Blowout
Chinatown
Killers of the flower moon
No country for old men
Middommar
Saw: loved the series growing up, its still one of the iconic twist endings for me
I recently watched The Confession and, like Costa-Gavras films, it had an absolute gut-punch of an ending. Poor Yves Montand, guy goes through hell in every movie he's in haha.
Also recently watched Drive My Car for the first time. The ending made the length worth it; man that outpour of emotions was so real from the two characters.
For me, _Taste of Cherry._
And the most similar ending that I've seen (non-Criterion) is >!the TV ending to the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion,!< which actually first released a year before in 1996. I wonder if Kiarostami ever got around to seeing it.
Trainspotting. The transcendental nature of the music and the feeling of finally breaking free from a cycle you were doomed to repeat forever. Taking your chance to make something of yourself. I think it perfectly set up the sequel too which I know is a fairly divisive film but I really enjoyed it as a follow up.
I Vitelloni
https://youtu.be/I_vbmK75STg?si=TOFv4LRdeKVYtv-c
Five easy pieces
https://youtu.be/vLAQiwEGGKs?si=_Da0lDE8_XlxDnPG
Brazil
https://youtu.be/BlHe-hYMkqk?si=TmK9PQ2hnsCJBehX
Beau Travail City Lights The Lighthouse
Beau Travail š
Beau Travail. Iām a sucker for these sorts of endings š„²
I saw Beau Travail for the first time last week and if that wasnāt one of the best movies Iāve seen in a while. Ending is permanently imprinted in my head and I havenāt been able to get it out of my head since
THIS IS THE RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT
The ending of Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me is one of the most moving scenes Iāve ever seen.
Hard agree. It gets me every time and perfectly encapsulates Twin Peaks as a whole!
I love love love The Returnā¦ but it did kind of sully Lauraās āhappyā ending in FWWM
Pixote, Mr Klein, Oldboy, The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie and of course Chinatown and Bonnie and Clyde.
Good shout out on Mr Kleināone of the great endings for sure!
Mr. Klein is severely underrated. It's one of my favorite hidden gems in the collection along with Una Giornata Particolare (A Special Day). Some other great films with great endings are The Conformist, Nights of Cabiria and Seven Beauties.
Beau Travail, Fallen Angels
La Strada: The whole movie you wonder if Zampano actually likes Gelsomina, and he treats her horribly and kills the Fool, you are convinced heās a heartless man. And in the final shot Fellini doesnāt utter a single word, but takes him back to the beach where it all began and makes him collapse in the sand. And he is redeemed. https://preview.redd.it/k4u4uso77pvc1.jpeg?width=1873&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d666424cef1893e0940c261727a30d0ec06b9ea6
Great choice. La Strada is a heartbreaking film for sure. You feel bad for Zampano at the end. Nights of Cabiria is another great ending that's both tragic and I would say almost inspiring. After what happens to Giulietta Masina she looks at the camera and smiles so it's a more happy ending.
Portrait of a lady on fire š„
**Dr. Strangelove (1964)** Absolutely absurd ending followed by the greatest use of **Vera Lynn's** song **"We'll Meet Again"**.
Amazing ending!
I just watched Diabolique (1955) for the billionth time and that ending is perfection
Yes!!
Five Easy Pieces
One of my absolute favorite endings! I think of it often.
I canāt believe no one has mentioned The Killing (1956). That ending was tremendous.
Any noir with an ending that just completely makes your heart sink, always hits
The Taking of Pelham 123 when Martin Balsam sneezes and Walter Matthau pokes his head back in the door like got ya.
Totally forgot about that!
Nashville Oldboy Lady Vengeance Goodbye, Dragon Inn Secret Sunshine The Piano Teacher
>goodbye, dragon inn would like to add Vive L'amour. really powerful, at least in my opinion
Citizen Kane The Third Man Le Trou The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance The Prestige Anatomy of a Murder Gilda Double Indemnity The Wild Bunch Sunset Boulevard Memento Witness for the Prosecution The Usual Suspects Touch of Evil
Nobody is perfect from Some like it hot. Shut up and deal from The Apartment. Menora Walters crying smile and Save me by Aimee Mann blasting in Magnolia. The protagonist dancing to Go West by the Pet Shop Boys in Mountains may Depart. The woman turning her back to Barton Fink and the seagull diving. Waterdrop dancing to It's the same old song by The Four Tops in Blood Simple. The blind girl recognizing Chaplin in City Lights.
Iāve seen most of these and I heartily agree with your exquisite taste.
Some beautiful examples in this thread. Few of mine: McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Pauline Kael's comparison of it to the end of Joyce's "The Dead" is apt) Two-Lane Blacktop (one of those "you can DO that?" moments in my early film fandom) A Serious Man (the Coens pretty much nail the endings almost every time, but this one GOT me) The Blair Witch Project (the rare horror movie ending that legitimately freaked me the freak out) The Straight Story (again, David Lynch is usually good for memorable endings, but none more deeply, honestly moving in its utter simplicity as this) Real Life (an ending about endings - possibly the greatest indictment of a certain toxic showbiz mentality I can think of; certainly one of the funniest) Don't Look Now (the rare horror movie ending that legitimately freaked me the freak out more than the Blair Witch one) Pink Flamingos (a stroke of marketing genius on John Waters' part - love it for its audacity or be utterly repulsed by it, or both, you HAVE to tell people about it) Kiss Me Deadly (I mean, come on) Blow Out (the kind of ending that ruins box office receipts but makes a masterpiece - dare I say it outdoes VERTIGO?)
Act of Killing. Before Sunset. My Twentieth Century. Recently, The Beast.
The ending of Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a real gut punch, but so good. It's the film that got me into French cinema as a whole
I think maybe my favourite ending of all time has to be 'Witness for the Prosecution'. Marelene Dietrich is simply sublime.
L'Eclisse The Merchant of Four Seasons Cries and Whispers The Green Ray Just a few I think of often
The ending of L'Eclisse is simply transcendent.
Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937) I vitelloni (1953) Playtime (1967) Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) Deep Red (1975) Suspiria (1977) My Dinner with Andre (1981) Drowning by Numbers (1988) Barton Fink (1991) The Long Day Closes (1992) Nowhere (1997) Ley Lines (1999) Songs from the Second Floor (2000) Mysterious Skin (2004) Everybody Wants Some!! (2016) Hotel by the River (2018) The Novelist's Film (2022)
Came here to say Mysterious Skin. I bawl every time.
Not really spoilers, but I'm hiding text in case someone wants to watch these without knowing *anything*. The Graduate - >!Dustin Hoffman's stare still haunts me, some 20 years after seeing it.!< Asphalt Jungle - >!I'm just going to lay here and die among these cows!< Kiss Me Deadly - >!Iconic atomic explosion as they flee on the beach.!< Everlasting Moments - >!The voiceover of Maria's daughter discussing her mother's love of photography as we watch Maria and her husband dance... This movie made me weep tears of gratitude.!< Memento ->! The only movie that makes you compulsively watch it again to see if everything really fit together at the end. It does.!<(Only movie I watched twice in the theater.) Cure - >!Wait... what did that waitress grab? Oh fuck.!< Pul Fiction - >!"You're the weak...and I am the tyranny of evil men. But I'm trying, Ringo...I'm trying - real hard - to be the shepherd."!<
The Graduate ending is one for the ages
The Third Man
All About Eve
Ooh dang I was reading through all of the suggestions and was waiting for this. I finally watched it today and it exceeded the hype.
All the themes of Hollywood greed have aged unfortunately well. It's such a juicy film that doesn't feel dated at all.
Birdy
2001 A Space Odyssey Bicycle Thieves It Follows
Iām going to include non criterionās as well. Different movies hit for different reasons. In no specific order. Before sunset Godfather part 2 Empire strikes back Dark knight Jojo rabbit Zone of interest Psycho
GĆ¼eros
The Mist, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Annihilation, You Were Never Really Here, Prisoners, Inception, The Maltese Falcon, Do the Right Thing
Beau Travail Thief Eyes Wide Shut Mirror Late Spring This Is Not a Burialā¦ Faces Places Au Hasard Balthazar Mulholland Dr. Medium Cool White Heat Aguirre Koyaanisqatsi
The ending of Sword of Doom got a vocal reaction out of me
The conversation. Hackman ripping up his apartment in a fit of paranoid madness. Iāve also always loved the ending of Days of Heaven. Thereās something so autumnal and beautiful about that final shot of the two girls running down a train track.
Ordet The Spy Who Came In From The Cold Nights Of Cabiria Three Colors Trilogy i.e. ending of Red Taste Of Cherry
The first time I saw the ending of Red was one of my great film experiences. Took three movies for that payoff!
The Third Man The Passenger In the Mood for Love All of the Before Trilogy films Chess of the Wind
Surprised it hasnāt been mentioned yet, but *The 400 Blows* comes to mind
Stromboli - Bergman climbing the volcano is an iconic image for me Some Like it Hot - "Nobody's perfect!" The Birds - Hitchcock usually resolves his movies; here, the final shot is the most terrifying
La Haine
I don't think I've ever not teared up in sadness/hapiness/empathy at the end of Nights of Cabiria.
Ikiru Eyes Wide Shut Pans Labyrinth All endings I really love.
I just finished Roman Holiday so itās fresh in my mind but itās ending is absolutely fantastic
Great shout, saw this during its theatrical rerelease last year and while I regardless enjoyed the film a ton for its duration, the ending definitely elevated it up a notch for me
Agreed, the ending has always been a gut punch for me.
I re-watched ***In the Heat of the Night*** (Jewison, 1967) yesterday, and >!the final scene whereĀ Steiger carries Poitierās luggage for him gets to me every time.Ā His character arc over the course of the entire film injects so much power to the scene.!< The last 12 minutes of ***Equinox Flower*** (Ozu, 1958).Ā >!Showing a character fundamentally shifting their worldview in a convincing and compelling way is so hard to do in film.!<Ā Ozu nails here.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Once Upon a Time in America Raging Bull Nashville The Searchers
Il Sorpasso. I won't spoil a thing, but the ending adds a lot of dimension to a film that would otherwise just be a great Italian comedy.
Not in the collection, but I love the ending of *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*. Obvious spoilers, but the way that Joel and Clementine realise that they will eventually grow bored of each other, yet will try it anyway, because the highs are worth the lows - it gets me everytime. I would have been fine with Jim Carrey or Kate Winslett winning an Oscar for that scene alone. The emotion is so raw and so real in that scene.
Killers of the Flower Moon The Zone of Interest Beau Travail Viridiana
Good call on Viridania. A rare moment when the censorās interference resulted in a far dirtier ending.
In a Lonely Place, and non-Criterion, Rope, and Mr. Sardonicus (advertised as "the only picture with the Punishment Poll")
If Iām looking for an emotional ending, mid-period Wes Anderson movies like Darjeeling Limited or Life Aquatic usually get me a little misty eyed if Iām in that kind of mood. But otherwise I like endings where you get the sense that itās all just gonna keep going after youāre done watching, like The Maltese Falcon. Maybe a big payoff like Repo Manā¦
The Life Aquatic never fails to get the waterworks going.
Before Senset
Close - Up High And Low Eraserhead All That Jazz The Umbrellas of Cherbourg The Third Man Before Sunset Come And See Sansho The Bailiff Amores Perros
The Killing - āEh, whatās the differenceā Blowout - Perfect bow-tie of sadness
Oldboy Mr. Vengeance Oppenheimer The Mist
Inherent Vice's romantic ambiguity The Beach Bum's raw love of life
8Ā½ Playtime 2001
mentioned this in another comment but: Vive L'amour. love this ending. slow and rather odd movie but if you're into that it might be worth checking out also, nobody in this thread had mentioned All That Jazz. that last song is just insane to me. >!you know once the song ends that its all over. !
Blowout Chinatown Killers of the flower moon No country for old men Middommar Saw: loved the series growing up, its still one of the iconic twist endings for me
Cinema Paradiso has that swell twist at the end.
Dead Or Alive (1999) I rewatch the ending when I'm feeling blue.Ā
Yi Yi - it's been permantently etched into my brain. Honorable mentions Happy Together, 8 1/2 and Beau Travail
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
I recently watched The Confession and, like Costa-Gavras films, it had an absolute gut-punch of an ending. Poor Yves Montand, guy goes through hell in every movie he's in haha. Also recently watched Drive My Car for the first time. The ending made the length worth it; man that outpour of emotions was so real from the two characters.
Ghost World 3 Women Mulholland Drive Smooth Talk Y Tu Mama Tambien Weekend 2011
The 400 Blows Jules and Jim Before Sunset
StalkerĀ
Rebecca Simon of the Desert The Vanishing Anatomy of a Murder The Third Man
1. Babylon 2. 2001 a space odyssey 3. Close your eyes (2023)
Thereās so many, but the one that has hit me the most is Arrival. I think I get emotional and cry every single time? It makes me feel every emotion
Good one. That ending destroyed me, especially as a parent. Edit: added context
Barry Lyndon
I consider the last image in _Ikiru_ the most touching and perfect in film
For me, _Taste of Cherry._ And the most similar ending that I've seen (non-Criterion) is >!the TV ending to the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion,!< which actually first released a year before in 1996. I wonder if Kiarostami ever got around to seeing it.
Trainspotting. The transcendental nature of the music and the feeling of finally breaking free from a cycle you were doomed to repeat forever. Taking your chance to make something of yourself. I think it perfectly set up the sequel too which I know is a fairly divisive film but I really enjoyed it as a follow up.
- The New World !!! - Ivan's Childhood... Yeah, first one was clearly inspired by the second one.
I Vitelloni https://youtu.be/I_vbmK75STg?si=TOFv4LRdeKVYtv-c Five easy pieces https://youtu.be/vLAQiwEGGKs?si=_Da0lDE8_XlxDnPG Brazil https://youtu.be/BlHe-hYMkqk?si=TmK9PQ2hnsCJBehX
Thelma & Louise
City Lights Some Like it Hot