I thought there was a definitive ending. Well, I guess with anything I chose the ending. He lives. Seeing Mary snaps him out of it. He wants to live. He is isolated throughout the film and people tell him to be part of the world, also - how can he judge others - maybe he should look at himself first. He thinks it's ok to poison himself but not ok to poison the earth. It's ok to kill one self but not kill a group of people? In the end Mary is there and he wants to live for her with her for the baby - if he really did care about life on earth he must live with people in society whatever messy and confusing it will be. And it seems there was a definitive ending for you too. It wasn't ambiguous for you. You went to the dark side. And you did not like that. And that's fine. For me, I loved the ending. It made me think about the whole movie again, and what the story really was about and in the end he finds hope. He chooses to live.
It's been too long since I've seen it, so I don't remember it well. I'm also biased because I love Bergman's Winter Light, which is (to me) about the (non)existence of God, and since First Reformed is so similar, I was still thinking about that, not the taking action on climate change angle.
honestly, my thoughts have already evolved a little bit on this one, and it's at least in part related to that. I think there are some bigger picture thematic concerns not so limited to "the environment," things like "faith," "hope," "responsibility" and stuff. I think it is VERY specifically looking at those things through the lens of environmental collapse, but they are bigger ideas and climate change is sort of being used as a vehicle for them. It's interesting, I don't think the movie is that concerned with whether or not god exists, it almost takes it as an assumption that he probably does, or at least does for most of these characters, and that probably god would be angry with what we've done to the planet.
Ultimate I still basically stand by the idea of the essay but I think there are some readings that work better in conversation with the broader themes maybe. Interesting film! Almost a 5/5 star for me, but not totally making it there.
I thought there was a definitive ending. Well, I guess with anything I chose the ending. He lives. Seeing Mary snaps him out of it. He wants to live. He is isolated throughout the film and people tell him to be part of the world, also - how can he judge others - maybe he should look at himself first. He thinks it's ok to poison himself but not ok to poison the earth. It's ok to kill one self but not kill a group of people? In the end Mary is there and he wants to live for her with her for the baby - if he really did care about life on earth he must live with people in society whatever messy and confusing it will be. And it seems there was a definitive ending for you too. It wasn't ambiguous for you. You went to the dark side. And you did not like that. And that's fine. For me, I loved the ending. It made me think about the whole movie again, and what the story really was about and in the end he finds hope. He chooses to live.
a valid reading, this is all why it's such an interesting film to keep thinking about.
It's been too long since I've seen it, so I don't remember it well. I'm also biased because I love Bergman's Winter Light, which is (to me) about the (non)existence of God, and since First Reformed is so similar, I was still thinking about that, not the taking action on climate change angle.
honestly, my thoughts have already evolved a little bit on this one, and it's at least in part related to that. I think there are some bigger picture thematic concerns not so limited to "the environment," things like "faith," "hope," "responsibility" and stuff. I think it is VERY specifically looking at those things through the lens of environmental collapse, but they are bigger ideas and climate change is sort of being used as a vehicle for them. It's interesting, I don't think the movie is that concerned with whether or not god exists, it almost takes it as an assumption that he probably does, or at least does for most of these characters, and that probably god would be angry with what we've done to the planet.
Ultimate I still basically stand by the idea of the essay but I think there are some readings that work better in conversation with the broader themes maybe. Interesting film! Almost a 5/5 star for me, but not totally making it there.