There are some who might say a movie’s entire message is sent by how it begins, and how
it ends.
But rarely do directors actually treat their first and final shots with so much importance.
Unforgettable views, moments of triumph, or witty dialogue can all make a cut-to-black
and end credits seem perfectly timed, but some directors go the extra mile, crafting
a start and finish that add an extra level of storytelling for viewers paying close attention.
Here are Screen Rant’s Hidden Clues In First And Final Movie Scenes.
Avatar
James Cameron's 3D blockbuster smash may have taken audiences to an alien world, but it
begins at home, in a futuristic Earth.
Actually, Avatar begins in a dream sequence, with the movie’s hero Jake Sully explaining
that his sleep has become filled with visions of flying ever since he was wounded in combat,
opening his eyes every morning to find that he is still confined to a wheelchair.
His adventure on the planet Pandora piloting an artificially-grown human/Na-vi hybrid allows
him to do more than fly, successfully defending the planet from his own side’s forces.
The final shots of the movie mirror the beginning directly, showing Jake once again opening
his eyes – this time, to a new body, a new people, and a new purpose.
To take things further, the end credits are run over the exact same shots of flying as
Jake's first dream.
12 Monkeys
Director Terry Gilliam is known for his offbeat visions of the future, with 12 Monkeys focused
on a single prisoner, sent into the past to help scientists cure a worldwide plague that
killed billions.
The film opens with the hero dreaming of his younger self, watching an unknown man gunned
down in a crowded airport.
Unsure if the memory is real or imagined, he goes on to learn that the virus was spread
on purpose by a single person, and sets out to stop it from ever happening.
He fails when airport security shoots him dead in front of his younger self.
The boy watches as the plane takes off, setting into motion billions of deaths, and closing
the endless time loop the way it began.
Cast Away
Although most of the film is set on a remote tropical island, Cast Away begins in the heart
of Texas, introducing an unknown woman sending a FedEx package.
The choice makes sense when the camera follows a FedEx package from there all the way to
Russia, where the film’s hero Chuck Noland is introduced.
When Chuck finally makes it back to civilization, little of his old life remains, and he decides
to start over from scratch – but first, he has to return a package that washed ashore
on his desert island along with him.
That brings him to the exact same intersection the movie opened on, where Chuck finally encounters
the woman who he says saved his life.
After considering which direction to head, Chuck turns to the woman’s disappearing
truck with a smile, and the film’s final shot gives another look down the deserted
road it opened on – plus Chuck.
Gone Girl
David Fincher had an incredible challenge adapting the novel “Gone Girl” to film,
and the opening shot is a hard one to forget.
Showing what should be a loving scene between a husband and wife, star Rosamund Pike’s
sudden stare into the camera and Ben Affleck’s narration put audiences on edge, warning them
that the story about to unfold was anything but simple.
A kidnapping, lies, and murder all led the estranged couple back to eachother, forced
to decide just how willing they were to keep lying for the sake of a marriage – and public
perception.
Having the couple end up right back where they started from may have been a hard pill
for viewers to swallow, but Fincher makes the message loud and clear, ending the movie
with the exact same shot he opened on – but the audience’s opinion of the woman in frame
has completely changed.
Total Recall
It’s a simple enough story: an everyday Earthling in the not-too-distant future, Douglas
Quaid, dreams of a passionate affair with a beautiful woman on the surface of Mars.
So when a business offers to implant false memories for a price, Quaid decides to make
his dream a reality – at least as far as his mind is concerned.
The procedure goes awry, and Quaid’s false memories disappear, revealing that he really
WAS a secret agent working on Mars, and the woman from his dreams wasn’t imaginary.
At least, that’s what he thinks.
The movie never states whether Quaid’s return to Mars really happened, and whether he succeeded
in releasing air into its atmosphere, and saving its poor population.
But taking a quick glance at just how closely the film’s final scene resembles Quaid’s
dream, those suspecting it was simply a fantasy have even more evidence to back up their claim.
Cape Fear
Director Martin Scorsese wasn’t exactly subtle with the tension and terror of Cape
Fear, the story of a convicted criminal who seeks revenge on the lawyer who put him there,
terrorizing him and his family, particularly his teenage daughter.
Beginning the movie with chilling music and a blood red close-up on the daughter’s eyes
warns audiences that the story she’s about to recount is a violent and truly unsettling
one, due in large part to Robert De Niro’s acclaimed performance as the film’s villain.
The family survives in the end, with the lawyer successfully killing his former client - but
the damage has been done.
To remind viewers that Cape Fear is as much about the loss of innocence as it is about
revenge or protecting your family, the film returns to the “spared” daughter, this
time fading from innocent white to red – and keeping audiences from feeling too good about
its happy ending.
So what do you think of our list?
Did we miss any of your favorite bookends and mirrored scenes?
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