... Maybe my long posts in this thread were a little too annoying or donwright pompous and scared most of you away, sorry about that! I have a big mouth sometimes. Rules of etiquette forbid talking about religion for a reason, LOL! ...

OK, the package wrapped in gift paper will remain unopened, like the present John received from his wife in the movie... and that´s not a bad thing necessarily, I mean, Nic himself is in favor of ambiguity so... let´s remain ambivalent about it!

Thread closed.

I´ll give you my two cents first:

Talk about suspension of disbelief! This movie has so many layers and makes such a good job of manipulating the audience that it makes it impossible not to take everything about it in a twofold (or more) fashion. I have a feeling that you can answer ANY of the questions above in whatever sense you choose, and you´re still gonna be always right and never wrong about the KNOWING script. The important thing is not choosing between one option or the other, but evaluating if your choices are fulfilling or not to you. As Koestler tells Caleb when he´s accused of denying the existence of the afterlife:" I never said that, I just said we don´t know for sure".

I think that ambiguity is totally intentional, since the script is designed to make you think about your choices in life, no less. What´s your stand on the big questions? Usually we´re only faced with this kind of profound thinking when we´re in a life-threatening situation that makes us re-evaluate our priorities. Hence the end of the world situation We´re put into Koestler´s shoes by witnessing all those terror or suspenseful scenes, horrendous crashes and distressing against-the-clock races towards a dim hope that proves hopeless. Also, IMO this movie is intentionally pushing you aside, even though it´s deeply set in reality and the performances are totally realistic. But you as audience are being asked to reflect on the symbolic nature of the events and characters and attitudes that are being depicted. And that means that there´s a degree of almost hyperrealism (hence the red digital camera in this movie?) that looks really threatening, just as threatening as when you´re faced with the big truths we´re so afraid of. (Maybe that´s what Nic meant when he talked about being "abstract" in interviews?)

And it´s all about choices because it´s all about choosing between being confronted by uncertainties/or remaining ignorant because ingorance is bliss. That´s why the title makes reference to knowledge. "Knowing" allows you freedom of choice, that is to say, free will. Which is what Koestler mentions to Caleb in the farewell scene: "They could have taken you away from me, but they didn´t. You gotta go with them. But YOU have to choose".

Having said so, I believe Nic does such a great job impersonating this desperate, shattered man thrown by the circumstances into a whirlwind of conflicting feelings, that you cannot help but identify with his predicament No one like Nic can play uncertainty and inner turmoil to a tee. IMO his son in the movie is deliberately solemn and aloof, because his character Caleb stands for the survival of the species, but also for the unattainable nature of truth. IMO his costar Rose Byrne doesn´t keep up, but that´s also because her character doesn´t have the courage to face the hard truth of her own mortality. She egotistically wants to hold on to her daughter (which stands for her former convictions) and not to bow to the evidence and ends up being destroyed by her own panic. Koestler, on the other hand, resignedly gives up his son (his past certainties) for the better good and complies with the new situation as best he can. When he sees the spacecraft, or the Ezequiel wheel, he fall to his knees in surrender because the evidence above him is overwhelming

(That´s the moment of the movie I disagree with, because for a brief moment the script begins to loose that uncanny ambiguity that makes it so great and seems to take sides until the ambiguous end, which is a shocker and a very bold artistic choice with that powerful image of that dream-like land which we can either decide is another planet or the afterlife or...  The music in the soundtrack in that moment resembles the Beethoven´s piece we just listened to moments before while the planet was being destroyed, so there´s a continuity and a significance there, but the funeral sense is lost here and the orchestra sounds rather triumphant in this scene).

I love the scene where Koestler is reunited with her father though... Their embrace tells volumes about reconciling the two seemingly opposed theories, determinism vs. chaos....

In short: for me this is no science fiction or terror tale, it´s a philosophical proposal to make you face your inner beliefs and maybe conclude that they´re just beliefs and not convictions because we could be surprised by the turn of events in our lives and end up acknowledging the unthinkable, like Koestler.

I personally don´t belive in a Grand Scheme behind things around us. But I believe in our own capacities and responsibility towards them. And since this movie can also be interpreted as the end of the world being caused by our carelessness handling our planet´s resources (resulting in climate change) it could be taken also as a cautionary tale of sorts.

I know that was too long... but that´s just me, I was bored today, LOL! Feel free to post short answers, Ok??