I'm Thinking of Ending Things | Beginning & Ending Analysis

I dissect the opening and closing scenes of Charlie Kaufman's I'm Thinking of Ending Things and attempt to crack the code of this cryptic film starring Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, Toni Collette and David Thewlis. What are your interpretations of the film's bookends and the themes it explores? Let me know in the comments below!
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Written, Narrated & Edited by J.S. Lewis
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______________________________________
MUSIC CREDITS:
♪ "It Maintains, Eyes Change” - Puddle of Infinity
♪ "New Horizons" by Futuremono
♪ "Falling Rain” - Myuu
♪ "Spacetime Blues” - Loopop
♪ “Elegy” - Wayne Jones
♪ “Through and Through” - Amulets
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Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
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[@cineflect]

What other films would you like to see me cover in Open + Close? Let me know :)

[@CrimsionVision]

The Florida Project :D

[@cineflect]

@@CrimsionVision That’s an excellent suggestion. Great bookends! Adding it to the list.

[@NobeGamingOfficial]

Beau Travail

[@jiggypunk]

The Fountain

[@cineflect]

@@jiggypunk Ooo, great pick! Aronofsky's films in general are well suited for this series.

[@dumpsta-divrr365]

I think the beautiful mind parody at the end is just a reflection of the hollowness in his life. Jake doesnt have enough lived experiences to look back on, so he has to compensate with these cheap approximations that he's seen in media. He never knew love, so that cheesy Robert Zemeckis rom-com seems authentic enough to him to base his fantasy relationship on. He desired recognition, but probably never accomplished anything, so he doesnt know what it's like to accept an award like that. So he just places himself into that scene. He doesn't even know what it's like to discuss a movie with a girl, so in his fantasy she simply starts rattling off a review that he read verbatim. I think the young woman summed it up pretty nicely in the basement scene. Jake never truly knew himself, never really "possessed his soul". He missed out on so many things in his life that he could only fill in the blanks with experiences he wished he had that he found in media. Anyway, this is now probably the most depressing movie that I've seen

[@zlee001]

its not mental breakdown. its hypothermia. especially when he undresses. hypothermia victim always at a point feels unbearably hot that they take off their clothes. he killed himself by hypothermia.

[@man-yp1gb]

He had mental illness and died by suicide in the vehicle through hypothermia.

[@olive4naito]

But didn't he get hypothermia because he was ending his life? It seemed like his mind was in turmoil.

[@KingustheDingus]

Remember, everything we see Lucy says is Jake’s own thoughts. After Jake runs into the school to confront himself, Lucy is about to go out into the cold, but she is worried about freezing, but then she says “I suppose it isn’t a bad way to go if I have to go” This reflects Jakes thoughts of suicide, that was his thought, so he ended up killing himself with hypothermia. Unless you subscribe to the theory that he actually went into the school and survived.

[@Hal9000x]

Great explanation! The encouter between the young woman and old Jake made me cry, so powerful. And Zemeckis at the end 😂👌🏻

[@cineflect]

Yes, that moment really got to me as well. The performances in this film are so damn good. Thanks for watching/commenting as always :)

[@1979Weasel]

Zemeckis at the end? Where? Thank you .

[@gildardorodriguez4356]

There are a lot of details put into the movie. I loved it! And I'm kinda in love with the fact that this movie was very polarizing during it's first weeks.

[@cineflect]

I find that some of the most thought-provoking films are polarizing. Go figure.

[@NancyZhouVlog]

I did not pick up a lot of the things you mentioned while watching the movie, this makes the movie more appealing to me :)

[@cineflect]

Happy to hear this. Thanks for watching :)

[@Reni8705]

We need more psychological-thinking movies. I am always looking after this type of movies. ( like shuttle island or Predestination ). But it’s hard to find movies like this. Disturbing, scary, confusing, I really really loved it. Thank you for an amazing explanation.

[@dog-ez2nu]

You will love David Lynch. Mulholland Drive is a recommendation.

[@chillaxerating]

Watch more Kaufman films!

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

Far as I'm concerned, far and away the most depressing movie ever made. Whatever depressions the viewer harbors, be prepared to carry this guy's around as well for the duration of the film and then some. The whole thing is basically the equivalent of people walking past a dead homeless person and saying 'that's sad' and then just walking away and barely giving 2 seconds to think 'I wonder what that guy's deal was?'. That's so harrowingly bleak.

[@olive4naito]

True. I couldn't even finish it. Many of us carry our own depression and don't have much room to shoulder that of others but we can help in other ways like donating to shelters and research. Apparently the book is easier to read than watching the film so that's something to consider.

[@forpoodagain4943]

Oh wow. This is probably the best analysis video of this movie that I’ve seen.

[@onedayseoul]

Please, everyone, just read the book. It's a short book so it'll probably take you less time to read it then it would to watch this movie. It's an amazing book that uses it's printed format to it's advantage so I wouldn't recommend audiobook either. This film is exhausting.

[@RustinChole]

🤷🏻‍♂️love the book and the movie. The author and Charlie actually worked close together on the making of this - I’d link an interview but that wouldn’t be in the spirit of this book/movie.;)

[@RishiNigamMusic]

This is the best analysis of the movie.

[@TL_oS]

Such a great video, several things I did not catch when watching this film are now made clear. Thank you. I really enjoyed this🥂🌟😺

[@cineflect]

I'm delighted to hear this. Thank you so much!

[@iamthebestdaughter1743]

This guy must have gotten an A in English class when you had to write a summary 😂😂😂

[@patchsticks]

incredible and meticulous analysis of a fantastic film. fucking great job man!

[@cineflect]

Thank you so much.

[@hamidrezaedrisi]

It was unbelievable you are amazing man. No One could explain it better

[@cineflect]

Wow, thank you so much!

[@rohantiamson]

I found a new film by Paul Thomas Anderson called Soggy Bottom which will star Bradley Cooper and Cooper Hoffman the son frequent Paul Thomas Anderson collaborator of Philip Seymour Hoffman. The story is about a high school student who become famous in the 1970s. It will release somewhere on 2021.

[@cineflect]

CAN. NOT. WAIT.

[@onlylize]

10:41 oklahoma! 13:20 christina's world 16:39 a beautiful mind

[@markpostgate2551]

The reason the song Baby It's Cold Outside is contentious, and gets debated routinely every December, is because within the songs own narrative there are clearly two forms of coercion pulling the protagonist in two directions; societal coercion in terms of "my mother will worry", "the neighbours might think", "my maiden aunt's mind is vicious" et cetera, as well as the coercion from the companion "what's the sense in hurting my pride", "how can you do this thing to me" so how we interpret the song depends on which side of this tug of war do we think is in her better interests - hedonism or respectability. So when you are at that crossroads and clinging to life and accepting death seem equally tempting you are in a similar should I stay or should I go tug of war.

[@RustinChole]

Phenomenal analysis! I thought I had most of it but somehow missed the significance of the cups! Well done. What a movie. I’d actually recommend people watch this video before watching the flick - it’s not the kinda movie you can really “spoil.” I could explain the plot of Synecdoche, but the wealth of feeling Kaufman brings to the screen is impossible to covey unless you see it. I wish I had seen this before I watched it the first time! I had to google Oklahoma and watch the knife fight scene and lonely room, then go back. I also wonder why the mom is on stage but his father is in the audience.

[@cineflect]

Thank you so much, Rustin. I think the mom is onstage to reflect that Jake blames his mother for his inadequacies... "misogynistic claptrap Freudian bullshit" as the girlfriend puts it in the car.

[@RustinChole]

@@cineflect oh yeah. Very likely. Honestly the most heartbreaking moment for me is when it’s revealed that the woman was just “one of a million non interactions.” Anyhow thanks for the video! The very first time I watched it I turned it off halfway through cause I knew I was missing something enormously important. I bought Charlie’s recently published first book, but have yet to really make a dent in it.

[@aguilargabriel7]

Terrific analysis! Thank you.

[@cineflect]

Thank YOU for watching and commenting :)

[@Reppip]

best analysis of the movie on yt

[@cineflect]

Thank you very much!

[@ezraravindra7232]

Excellent analysis👍👍

[@cineflect]

Thanks, Ezra!

[@samgold7958]

NICE SERIES YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER SUB!

[@cineflect]

Thank you and welcome to the channel. You can check out the Open + Close playlist here :) kzbin.info/aero/PLFneH1OLxJHPjneQEdTMSKrzlkyysMv9-

[@imfa-cinema257]

I love films that are twisty mind bender types like this like The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, and A Beautiful Mind. I love movies that give your brain a workout so you can stay sharp and not get dementia

[@inamelahi9565]

A wonderful commentary

[@TRASHXDD]

you're the media that you consumes is really something to think about

[@wilmergimenez]

I'm just going to add to the people who enjoy this movie go watch Lost Highway from David Lynch, another movie about a man trying to imagine a better past with reality always breaking his fantasy world. Lost Highway is way darker movie but is a very deep and complex movie, you need to pay really attention to grasp what is happening

[@avalonmccartney6228]

idk if you take suggested or at even still doing this series but can u do a movie called vivarium ? it's a psychological thriller and i think about it all the time. it's in a way simple but at the same time i know there's more to it i don't see. idk it would just be cool to see what you would think.

[@cineflect]

Hi, Avalon. Thanks for the suggestion! I've been meaning to see VIVARIUM as it had a very intriguing trailer. Open + Close is on hiatus at the moment. to be completely transparent, the videos didn't perform well enough to justify all the work I put into them, but I could always come back to it. I have loads more movies I'd like to cover!

[@avalonmccartney6228]

@@cineflect omg yea it's actually a really cool movie and i would say definitely worth the watch

[@christilovesfood1478]

Best video I’ve seen on this movie. Would you please explain the Tulsey Town scene?

[@RustinChole]

Which one - when they visit the shop or when he’s hallucinating the commercial through his windshield? I think it’s a nostalgia for something from his childhood, maybe a Tulsey Town near his parents house?

[@inamelahi9565]

Would you please comment on its narrative structure and temporality?

[@tomsenick2033p]

I'm not going to subscribe. I'm too depressed.

[@cineflect]

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you're holding up.

[@olive4naito]

🤣

[@ArcticKomodo]

I think he was suffering from hypothermia. You feel extremely hot because your body is trying to warm up.

[@cineflect]

That's very likely a contributing factor to the film's fever dream climax.

[@roberthudson6284]

What happens when a serial killer gets alzheimers. Little red riding hood got into the wrong car. Also, Jake is gay. He wants to be Laurie but he's doomed to be Jud Fry. Only a true Rogerson Hammerstein fan can decyfer and understand this film.

[@cineflect]

Amazing.

[@globoaviacao]

Those never ending monologues and dialogues are so boring and irritating. I guess the novel is much better than the movie.

[@nanoco1000]

Hated this film. Pure snobbery and self congratulatory wank disguised under a thin veneer of of calling itself "cryptic" and "psychological"

[@PedroSanchez-jj2ri]

I just think of it like watching a nightmare. I love this movie so much because it’s not conventional and it feels like you’re going insane. Gets better after every rewatch.