Exactly. This was much clearer on the second viewing.I used to think this was the beginning of your story. Memory is a strange thing. It doesn't work like I thought it did. We are so bound by time, by its order.
Whispering to her newborn: Come back to me. Come back to me. Come back to me.
I remember moments in the middle
(Hannah says I love you! Then later... I hate you!)
And this was the end.
Louise (crying over Hannah's bed) Come back to me. Come back to me.
But now I'm not so sure I believe in beginnings and endings. There are days that define your story beyond your life. Like the day they arrived.
You need new buddies.Heard a firm "NOT good" from a buddy today.... curious on this.
Mine too and I've also seen four of the nominees. In order I think mine are:decided this is my pick for Best Picture
caveat: only seen 4 of the nominees
What if I think the winner to you?decided this is my pick for Best Picture
caveat: only seen 4 of the nominees
Interesting to hear. I've seen it once, and kind of felt like it might not be a good second viewing because the pace of it seemed kind of slow. Not so slow it bothered me while I was trying to figure things out. But knowing how it goes now, I thought it might drag a bit on additional viewings.Finally saw it a second time
Even better
I don't see how these two movies are even remotely comparable in either theme or substance.Stupid movie. I see dead people. Shamalamadingdong already did that
Yes. They are what Tindr will evolve to in the future.Also, was the entire point of the aliens' arriving just so Adams could hook up with Jeremy Renner? I'm not really sure what the point of their "arrival" really was.
Thanks. That did seem to be what the ending was about so that fits. Thanks again.Yes. They are what Tindr will evolve to in the future.
Their point of arriving was they needed humanities help in 3000 years. So they arrived to give the humans a gift. A gift of world peace. Which they gave by teaching her the ability to learn their language.Watched the movie last night. Very well made and well acted but as TLEF316 said it is a bit slow. The pace made it difficult for me to remain engaged. I'm also not sure why Adams reciting the Chinese leader's dead wife's final words would result in an entire world pulling back on attacking the aliens. That seemed like a bit of a streeeeeeeeetch. Also, was the entire point of the aliens' arriving just so Adams could hook up with Jeremy Renner? I'm not really sure what the point of their "arrival" really was.
My recollection is that it was the Chinese who were about to attack the aliens, not an entire world.Watched the movie last night. Very well made and well acted but as TLEF316 said it is a bit slow. The pace made it difficult for me to remain engaged. I'm also not sure why Adams reciting the Chinese leader's dead wife's final words would result in an entire world pulling back on attacking the aliens. That seemed like a bit of a streeeeeeeeetch. Also, was the entire point of the aliens' arriving just so Adams could hook up with Jeremy Renner? I'm not really sure what the point of their "arrival" really was.
Seems like a big gamble that Amy Adams learning their language is going to help them 3,000 years down the road, not to mention just her learning the language preventing the attack at the end. Again, I thought the movie was well made and well acted (Adams, Renner and Whitaker are always money) but the aliens' motivation and the Chinese bit at the end were not well developed in my opinion.Their point of arriving was they needed humanities help in 3000 years. So they arrived to give the humans a gift. A gift of world peace. Which they gave by teaching her the ability to learn their language.
Didn't they have other countries, including Russia, following suit?My recollection is that it was the Chinese who were about to attack the aliens, not an entire world.
The point of their arrival was to bring about world peace so we could survive 3000 years to save the aliens when they need us.
Learning the language essentially gave her the ability to see the future.Seems like a big gamble that Amy Adams learning their language is going to help them 3,000 years down the road, not to mention just her learning the language preventing the global attack at the end. Again, I thought the movie was well made and well acted (Adams, Renner and Whitaker are always money) but the aliens' motivation and the Chinese bit at the end were not well developed in my opinion.
Didn't she already possess that ability? The beginning of the film is a flash forward and she repeatedly has flashes to what we end up learning is the future throughout the film, even before she learns the language. It would appear she always had the ability to see into the future.Learning the language essentially gave her the ability to see the future.
It wasn't a gamble at all. They knew exactly how it would all work out.Seems like a big gamble that Amy Adams learning their language is going to help them 3,000 years down the road, not to mention just her learning the language preventing the global attack at the end. Again, I thought the movie was well made and well acted (Adams, Renner and Whitaker are always money) but the aliens' motivation and the Chinese bit at the end were not well developed in my opinion.
That's not how I interpreted it. They were just showing us the first flash forward out of order but all the rest started when she started to learn the language.Didn't she already possess that ability? The beginning of the film is a flash forward and she repeatedly has flashes to what we end up learning is the future throughout the film, even before she learns the language. It would appear she always had the ability to see into the future.
Yeah if the whole point of the movie is the aliens can see into the future and hoped the U.S. would recruit a person on this planet who shares that ability you're right.It wasn't a gamble at all. They knew exactly how it would all work out.
The beginning narration is a reflection back on her life that occurs in the future. Then we hit present day. From that point forward, the flashes arrive as she starts learning the language. That's how I remember it anyway.Didn't she already possess that ability? The beginning of the film is a flash forward and she repeatedly has flashes to what we end up learning is the future throughout the film, even before she learns the language. It would appear she always had the ability to see into the future.
Perhaps. I guess if we just throw time out the window completely (and I know a big part of the film is how the aliens don't perceive time like we do) that would fit.That's not how I interpreted it. They were just showing us the first flash forward out of order but all the rest started when she started to learn the language.
1. The Chinese general was using mah jong to communicate with them. Another written "language" like what Louise was doing. She didn't like that - because mah jong is a zero sum game. One person wins, the other loses.Watched the movie last night. Very well made and well acted but as TLEF316 said it is a bit slow. The pace made it difficult for me to remain engaged. I'm also not sure why Adams reciting the Chinese leader's dead wife's final words would result in an entire world pulling back on attacking the aliens. That seemed like a bit of a streeeeeeeeetch. Also, was the entire point of the aliens' arriving just so Adams could hook up with Jeremy Renner? I'm not really sure what the point of their "arrival" really was.
Well said though I still think Louise cold-calling the general and repeating his dying wife's final words got him to stop a massive attack was a stretch. It's a leap (a pretty big one) on his part to conclude after hearing what she says that she's somehow been able to figure out what the aliens really want and that she can transcend time.1. The Chinese general was using mah jong to communicate with them. Another written "language" like what Louise was doing. She didn't like that - because mah jong is a zero sum game. One person wins, the other loses.
If you remember at the beginning of the movie, she told forest Whitaker to ask the other linguist the sanskrit word for war. He said it was aggression. She said it was a disagreement over cows. The idea that information is literally lost in translation is an important one because the Chinese general heard them say they would give a weapon and he was like OK, no more sharing information.
Which makes sense because he was a military general thinking through a military paradigm. The CIA guy was similarly always talking about how the aliens might be trying to get us to fight each other or might suck all the oxygen out of the room to kill them. So the idea that they used the word weapon was important. Louise didn't think weapon meant weapon. She figured out it meant a tool, and was referring to their language and their ability to think independently of time.
Louise figured that out and communicated to the Chinese general, which caused the general to reopen communications with the other countries and get them to stand down, which made the aliens leave. She was only able to do that once she was able to figure out how to communicate with him. He was smart enough to realize that if she figured out how to transcend time, he could help her resolve the conflict by giving her a piece of information nobody else could know and the words it would take to convince him to stop the attack. There's a bit of a time paradox here, because he tells her 18 months after she calls him, and he only knows to tell her because he found out she could transcend time when she called him.
He's one of the heroes of the story because he figured out how to collaborate with her and how to solve the Big Problem.
2. No, the entire point of the aliens coming was to get us to stop fighting with each other and work together. The big turning point was when the daughter asks the word for the opposite of a competition, and Louise doesn't know right away, but with Ian's help, later answers a "non zero sum game". The heptapods were going to need humanity's help in 3000 years, and they need us to stop fighting with each other do they brought us a gift to help us understand.
It turns out that Ian and Louise meeting was pivotal, though, because without that, they would never have had Hannah, and Hannah was the one who helped Louise come to several of the realizations that enabled her to figure out the heptapod language and timelessness.
The only person who could tell her what she needed to tell him to make that happen was the general. The same general who have her his private cell phone number. He knew exactly what information she would need to convince him.Well said though I still think Louise cold-calling the general and repeating his dying wife's final words got him to stop a massive attack was a stretch. It's a leap (a pretty big one) on his part to conclude after hearing what she says that she's somehow been able to figure out what the aliens really want and that she can transcend time.
That wasn't the twist imo.shadyridr said:My 7 year old figured out the twist (by accident) 5 minutes in.
"Is that the girls dad?"
Yeah that all made sense and makes for a very depressing ending if you think about it (she chooses a daughter she know will die and a husband she knows will leave and resent her) which I admired.The first lines of the movie were her telling Hannah I used to think this was the beginning of your story. The last lines of the full are her telling Hannah I now know that your story began the day they left.
What you're supposed to realize is that she made the choice that day to marry Ian and have Hannah, which is shown pretty clearly when he goes for the big end of the movie kiss and she gives him a hug, looking off in the distance because she knows (and we know) what's going to happen if/ when they get together. She made the choice in that moment, and again late when he says let's make a baby, and you see all these things at the end of the movie and realize she knows where is all going and still chooses to have Hannah and all the good and bad that comes with it.
It's only depressing if you ignore all the beautiful moments they will experience and share. That is the central message of the film, IMO.Yeah that all made sense and makes for a very depressing ending if you think about it (she chooses a daughter she know will die and a husband she knows will leave and resent her) which I admired.
Read this if you're interested in digging deeperYeah that all made sense and makes for a very depressing ending if you think about it (she chooses a daughter she know will die and a husband she knows will leave and resent her) which I admired.
Yeah there's that but the daughter's still gonna die at a young age and Renner's dumping her. I like the fact she knowingly chose that. It was an anti-happy ending.It's only depressing if you ignore all the beautiful moments they will experience and share. That is the central message of the film, IMO.
You say "Yeah, there's that," as if it's an aside, but it really is the entire point of Louise's journey. Life is a series of happy moments and sad moments. And just because there will be sad moments doesn't make the happy moments any less meaningful. In fact, one could argue it makes them more so.Yeah there's that but the daughter's still gonna die at a young age and Renner's dumping her. I like the fact she knowingly chose that. It was an anti-happy ending.
yes. HTHSo this movie was about more than squid aliens who wanted us to help them so they gave us a cool future weapon?
Did she choose it though? The whole idea of "choice" only makes sense if time is linear. There is a built in determinism when time ceases to be linear and all the events of her life exist independently of what humans now perceive as time.Yeah there's that but the daughter's still gonna die at a young age and Renner's dumping her. I like the fact she knowingly chose that. It was an anti-happy ending.
Just watched this with my wife, BB, and I feel the same way. What a remarkable, beautiful film.For those of you going to see this, understand that it is a very contemplative movie. It requires patience and focus. I would 100% see this in the theater not just because of the cinematic experience, but also to avoid the many distractions that often accompany home viewing.
Do not read the spoiler tag below unless you've seen the film.
I was a mess during the last 10 minutes of the film, for pretty obvious reasons to those who know me here. I spent 14 months hoping and praying that my child wouldn't die, and one month knowing that he would. I now have scars on my soul and psyche that will never heal. I can't imagine enduring that for 14+ years. And yet, I understand her choice (to the extent it was a choice), because I wouldn't trade those 15 months for anything. Many of the greatest moments in my life happened during those 15 months. They mean everything to me. And given the chance (or the choice), I'd live them again in a heartbeat.
I guess for many, that may be a secondary aspect of the film as opposed to the central theme, but to me, it was the most monumentally powerful cinematic experience I've ever had.
Nailed it.Just not the type that usually wins awards. They will probably just throw a sound editing nod at it or something.
Perhaps you had to see in a theatre with an audience to really enjoy it as there was a lot going on and it is fairly easy to be distracted if you are watching at home on a small screen. I had mixed feelings about the film when I saw it and then and after contemplating the ending for a few days decided that I was dissatisfied with the film as a whole and wouldn't recommend it. That said I certainly didn't find it boring, although I might on a second viewing.JohnnyU said:I watched this last night and I must say, however thought provoking, it was a boring movie. I like Amy Adams however. I made my wife sit and watch the whole thing, because after the first hour she wanted to retire for the evening.
No, no...there's no problem here. I was just hoping you might give me some insight into the evolution of the market economy in the Southern colonies. My contention is that prior to the Revolutionary War:It's on Hulu. My wife watched it for the first time and we had a good discussion about it. One of my favorites.
It’s also on Amazon Prime. My wife can’t stay awake because it’s a couple hours past he bedtime.It's on Hulu. My wife watched it for the first time and we had a good discussion about it. One of my favorites.