After pondering the 10 best opening shots in cinema history, it’s apt of course to consider the other specific shot in a film that can best linger in the viewer’s mind and help cement their lasting impression. It is, naturally, the closing shot, which brings the narrative and its themes to a close, and if done in a matter both aesthetically and thematically audacious, can result in an exceptionally iconic cinematic moment.
Either by lingering on a fascinating human expression, event or location, these 10 stunning shots are among the most beautiful and thought-provoking that cinema has to offer.
They range from the stoic, to the meditative, to the chaotic, and what’s important is that each is imbued with a wealth of information; it either manages to encapsulate the entirety of the film’s dramatic heft, or leaves our minds racing as to what occurs beyond the fade or cut to black.
Here are the 10 best closing shots in cinema history…
10. A Serious Man
The Coen Brothers’ 2009 Best Picture-nominated masterpiece A Serious Man is a perfectly-balanced mixture of the comic and the serious; professor Larry Gopnik comes to doubt his religious faith as his wife leaves him for another man and his professional reputation is being threatened by an unseen complainant – after all, why would any God dare do this to a devoted man of faith such as himself?
The hilarity comes in the fact that even the Rabbis don’t seem to offer much insight, and when Larry inevitably decides to give in to corruption and accept a bribe to pass a failing student, his life comes crashing down.
This is cemented by the film’s final shot, which occurs as a storm approaches the city, implying that, rather ironically, a possibly absent God has returned to wreak havoc on Larry’s family for his defiant actions, or depending on your interpretation, it is simply a random tragedy, promoting the idea that everything in the world has no inherent cosmic meaning. Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody To Love” kicks in, providing a stunning exclamation point to a challenging and thought-provoking slice of cinema.
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10 Comments
I’m going to disagree with you regarding the climax to Inception. It didn’t ruin the movie for, it was a masterpiece so one second of doubt isn’t nearly enough to change that. But the fact that any doubt existed at all seemed like a cop-out.
It makes you as a viewer start to question how much of the film was ever true. Was shared dreaming actually ever possible? Did Dom’s wife really die in the manner he suggests? Feasibly the whole movie could be a dream, so everything within it including Dom’s narrative could be pure projection.
The only flaw with the “top theory” for Inception is that the top isn’t Dom’s totem: it’s his wife’s. At a first glance, we never see Dom’s totem. I have heard some interesting thoughts that his wedding ring is actually his totem. The top can be seen as a “lie,” since it was not meant for Dom to use to determine whether or not he is in the real world or in a dream.
You should also consider closing scene of “The Separation” by Asghar Farhadi.
You should also consider closing scene of “The Separation” by Asghar Farhadi.
For me it will always be Melora Walters look directly into camera after a long slow push in and then her smile as save me by Aimee Mann kicks into the crescendo. Cut to black. Still brings such emotion to me.
Oh yeah. The film is Magnolia by Paul Thomas Anderson.
I totally agree. That will always be my favorite ending in film history. The way PTA slowly moves the camera closer until it’s a close up on Claudia is a brilliant bit of subtle genius filmmaking
Why do you people always write that “audiences were always perplexed by the ending of 2001″? It’s all explained PERFECTLY in the bloody book trilogy by Clarke!
Totally agree on ‘The Godfather Part II’ inclusion, but I think the last shot of ‘…Part III’ is the one I would have included; the story ends right there with an aged Michael (ever the loner in his family) dying alone, a broken and hollow man, whose wealth and absolute power reduced to nothing by the death of his most beloved, actions he himself brought upon her by his sins and those of his father before him… it really is the capstone to the entire saga, and without it, something genuinely conclusive is missing from the story (whatever your opinion of the third film, of which I like, whist conceding it’s serious flaws).
Purely subjective but no mention of Once Upon A Time In America? strange omission/confusing additions/not a great read but thanks for trying.