No Skin Off Mine

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Martin Ritt's Hud (1963) pays off beautifully in the final 60 seconds -- actually the last ten or fifteen. Paul Newman's fuck-it gesture reflected a strain of nihilism in the culture that hadn't been acknowledged very much in previous American films, which had always sold a certain tidy morality. I'm trying to think of other films over the last 45-plus years that have ended as coldly and cleanly. I'm not saying they haven't been made; they're just not coming to mind.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 2, 2009 at 9:22 PM

comment #1

quinn says ...

Five Easy Pieces

Posted by quinn at July 2, 2009 10:15 PM

comment #2

cinefan says ...

There Will Be Blood

Posted by cinefan at July 2, 2009 10:38 PM

comment #3

Marty Melville says ...

The door slam was a real wake-up call in '63... especially since it was Paul Newman doing the honors.

The abrupt ending may have been an influence on No Country For Old Men... another film that scored its points contrasting the old west vs the new.

Posted by Marty Melville at July 2, 2009 11:07 PM

comment #4

Kristopher Tapley says ...

My favorite Newman film and performance by a MILE.

Posted by Kristopher Tapley at July 2, 2009 11:34 PM

comment #5

Ira Parks says ...

Emperor of the North

Posted by Ira Parks at July 2, 2009 11:40 PM

comment #6

JB Moore says ...

The Long Goodbye

Posted by JB Moore at July 3, 2009 12:28 AM

comment #7

Matt Holmes says ...

Chinatown

Posted by Matt Holmes at July 3, 2009 1:36 AM

comment #8

Ulysses says ...

Seven

Posted by Ulysses at July 3, 2009 3:27 AM

comment #9

George Prager says ...

The Idiots
The Nun's Story

Posted by George Prager at July 3, 2009 4:29 AM

comment #10

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Se7en's ending is remarkably concise and symmetrical, but it isn't defined by the lead character's nihilism or indifference to the idea of caring for others or being a general mensch. It's about the bad guy (Kevin Spacey's John Doe) being devilishly smart and clever enough to win the game, and about him maybe having a point about society's evildoers. Agree or disagree, but in a bitter and fatalistic sense Se7en is a fairly moral film by the end.

Chinatown didn't finish with a declaration of the lead character's coldness and selfishness but a note of fatalistic resignation to the infernal corruption of people and things.

The Long Goodbye's was actually strongly opposed to a Hud-type finale in that it finished with a surprisingly harsh and blunt declaration by the lead character (Elliot Gould's Phillip Marlowe) that nihilism or indifference to caring or being a mensch in a friend (Jim Bouton) -- in this case a guy Marlowe had gone to bat and stood up for under pressure all through the film -- was despicable and intolerable.

Five Easy Piece's ending comes close but Jack Nicholson's Bobby Dupea isn't saying "fuck it" and "I don't give a shit" when he hitches a ride with that trucker -- he's saying he really can't handle what his life has become or show any kind of respect or emotional responsibility for his girlfriend (Karen Black) and that he needs to run and hide.

There Will Be Blood's ending, splendid as it is, isn't about the lead character giving the world a final finger -- it's about him saying "okay, I admit it, I'm screwed, I've finally destroyed myself, I'm done."

I've just thought of another film that almost ends with the proper Hud spirit -- The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner. And yet Tom Courtenay's refusal to cross the finish line at the end of the race isn't about his being a sociopath but about defiance and rebellion and "I so despise social authority and how my life has turned out so far that I'll take myself down in order to express it." It's about how a young man is beginning to become a sociopath.

In sum, I still can't think of another film besides Hud in which the fully-grown lead character says at the very end, "I don't need family or values or friendship -- just give me the deed to the ranch and a cold beer and a smoke and hang your morality. You can't stand to live with me? Totally fine. Even if I'm actually hurting deep down, I'll never admit it. So close the screen door on your way out, honcho. I can't wait for you to find out what life is really like."

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at July 3, 2009 5:04 AM

comment #11

The Hoyk says ...

The added detail of just putting Paramount's credit line at the bottom of the last shot instead of going to their traditional logo reprise makes it even more effective. It must have been an extra jolt to audiences expecting a traditional ending. Now that I think about it, it's as abrupt as the endings to some of the great Godard films of the same period.

Not quite as nihilstic, but I would offer up the ending of Claude Whatham's THAT'LL BE THE DAY, when David Essex's character, abandoned by his father as a child at the movie's start, coldly dumps his infant child with his ex-wife to go off and seek his fortune as a rock star, with no hint of recognition that he's repeating the cycle that fucked him up. Maybe BILLY LIAR too, in that the main character gives up the possibility of love and success with a real woman to stay in his crummy neighborhood and remain a dreaming wastrel.

Posted by The Hoyk at July 3, 2009 5:35 AM

comment #12

The Hoyk says ...

Sorry, you said American films, and I just cited two English films. I don't pay close enough attention sometimes.

Posted by The Hoyk at July 3, 2009 5:36 AM

comment #13

MarkVH says ...

Does The Godfather II count? I feel like Michael sitting out by the lake knowing full well he's just destroyed the last of his family (aside from Connie) and not really caring much one way or the other at least approaches it on a surface level, although there's obviously plenty more going on there.

Posted by MarkVH at July 3, 2009 6:37 AM

comment #14

JapAdapters says ...

I love how Hud follows him in the car but only as far as the front of the house..

Great book, great movie.

Posted by JapAdapters at July 3, 2009 6:58 AM

comment #15

btwnproductions says ...

Not the same thing, but I love the ironic sight-gag ending of Elmer Gantry, where a smoker lights up in front of a burned-out church. You almost have to look for it.

Posted by btwnproductions at July 3, 2009 7:35 AM

comment #16

sz says ...

welles. dont agree with your assesment at all. think beyond the context of that moment. this is the kind of movie which is designed to suggest rather than answer. although your interpretation of hud's final look certainly accurately characterizes what he's feeling right at that small moment in time (forget you) but a more rich look at the movie (which it's designed to invoke) would compel people to speculate about what happens next. my feeling is that he probably went into the kitchen got wasted, threw a fit later that night then fell into a deep depression.

if you want to talk nihilism think sam peckinpah. it's not the american way i agree. ultra nihilism is godard.

Posted by sz at July 3, 2009 7:50 AM

comment #17

pmnapoli says ...

I always liked the F U to the world ending of Escape From New York.

Posted by pmnapoli at July 3, 2009 9:16 AM

comment #18

PastePotPete says ...

It's not the exact end of the movie but I always loved that bit in Repo Man where Otto is going to the car and his love interest demands "What about our relationship?!"

"Fuck that!"

Posted by PastePotPete at July 3, 2009 9:46 AM

comment #19

sz says ...

by nihilism godard i'm referring to breathless, pierro le fou.

Posted by sz at July 3, 2009 10:01 AM

comment #20

George Prager says ...

Fuck Godard.

Posted by George Prager at July 3, 2009 10:46 AM

comment #21

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comment #22