I’m Thinking of Ending Things, the last efforts by the genius and unpredictable Charlie Kaufman (former prestigious writer of Being John Malkovich) results in the ideal consequence of author’s poetry.
The motto of this prodigious narrator seems to be:
“There is no deeper and more compelling journey than entering people’s heads”
Everything he touches, whether it’s an original script or an adaptation from a book (as in this case), becomes total immersion in someone else’s feelings and thoughts. It is one of the missions of cinematic art, as is with literature, let us taste other people’s lives and, in this way, provide catharsis function of even the worst human experiences.
We are talking about, above all, that of a couple, but during the unfolding the plot, the couple’s story seems to become more and more unstructured until it reveals itself as a dream composition and interior of a man full of regrets and tasteless and demotivating experiences.
The meaning and charm of the film as made by the changing of paces, of directorial style changes and impalpable sensations like a painting by Edward Hopper. Nothing happens but a meaningless nothing.
The director’s skill lies in serving us, with disengaging, a composition made of references (musical, animated cartoons, fine intellectual disquisitions, comedy, horror and psychological thriller) and great suggestions.
The two protagonists could also be interpreted as two parts of the same person, she as the ‘soul’ or the ‘spirit’, elusive and feminine, trapped in a stale relationship with him, ‘the body’, heavy and out of shape, tied to his parents and his memories and habits.
Entering in this inner world without being warned, and finding out only at the end who is the real protagonist of the story, leaves a strange taste in the mouth and requires much time to digest. But, precisely for this reason it is a film that cannot be easily stored in the attic.
Recommended for those who liked “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Anomalisa”.
