Se7en ending

I've seen the film about ten times and why anyone thinks there's a gunshot or Somerset kills himself or whatever is beyond me. The narration at the end makes it pretty clear that Somerset is going to continue wearily living his life, having long ago come to the conclusion that evil is everywhere and probably always will be.

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the angel stayed until something died, one more murder suicide

Wow, it's ironic that this thread has resurfaced today, so I've got to share this:

At work, my cubicle (actually it's more like an octagonicle) sits right next to this cantankerous older woman who talks to herself all day as she works. Hour after hour, I'm hearing about invoices and payroll deduction. She's also incredibly high-strung, so she's almost always griping about something under her breath.

Anyway, today, she was complaining about something I couldn't quite put my finger on, but for about twenty minutes straight, she kept saying, "What's in the box?! Just tell me what's in the f***ing box!"

And it was all I could do not to fall out of my chair laughing.

Is a sequel to Se7en seriously being considered? It'd have to be a fantastic movie not to somewhat tarnish the previous one.

I don't think Pitt's character kills himself. But I swear, to whoever you consider divine, that there is the sound of a gunshot or thunder at the end, while Freeman quotes Hemmingway. My post about it is on the previous page.

Mig:
Yeah it's an exsisting topic on the board, right here. Although this thread is becoming more and more about the sequel than the ending.

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And I'm telling you that I've seen the film about ten times, and have discussed it numerous times with others both in person and online, and no one has ever once mentioned hearing that sound. So what's more likely: that it's an incidental sound with no real meaning, or that we're supposed to interpret this sound you hear as somehow meaning -without any other evidence whatsoever - that a key character actually commits suicide, contrary to pretty much everything else the film says & does? I'm sorry, but this whole notion is utterly baffling to me.

How about this interpretation? At the end of The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Frank Sinatra's character Major Marco tells his lover Janet Leigh all about what really happened with Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey). As he recites his own Medal of Honor tribute to Shaw, we hear thunder in the background while Marco looks out a rainy window. David Amram's music subtly adds a coda to Marco's "Damn... " In this case, it's just an emphasis to make sure that you understand how significant what just happened was. I believe it's the same in SE7EN. The "sound effect" doesn't change what happened; it only accentuates it. In fact, when I listen to that sound, it seems like a chugging oil well AND the musical score which has been playing during the entire ending of the film.

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I'm sure it's been thought about but I think enough people have respect for the first one that they wouldn't make it.

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I never said that the sound means that Pitt's character gets killed, or kills himself. I simply said that it's there. I wont bother explaining it again, you can look up my previous posts.

The very first post in this thread brings up the idea that the "gunshot" means Somerset kills himself. That's part of what I was objecting to; I knew you hadn't specifically agreed with that assessment.

Actually, I think that's a problem with the format used by this forum; the lack of a "nested" format makes it unclear sometimes who is exactly responding to what. Also, responding to a thread started years ago further muddles the scene.

Still, I've never heard the shot. And if there is one, there needs to be an explanation of some kind, for God's sake. No cop shows up at a homicide scene and just pops one off for kicks. If there was a shot fired, what do you think it means?

It's always quite clear exactly who is responding to what, if folks are using the forum properly, quoting the message they are responding to. It's just a single click, and it keeps things flowing along nicely...

As for the subject at hand - I tend to agree with you - I don't think he shot himself. At least, that has never been the impression I have gotten, and I have seen it around a dozen times over the years.

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Just watched the ending again for the sake of this thread, I hear what is more than likely a gunshot (the echo is similar) before Freeman says: "...I agree with the second part." What it implies, I have no clue.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

As I mentioned above, that sound is almost exactly the same (except fainter) as the throbbing percussion used throughout the ending of the film.

I only skipped to the part in question, and I don't really care to check again, once is enough. So I'll just go on thinking it was a gun shot, for the time being (and that Pitt shot the cop in the passenger seat, pointed his gun at the one driving, and ordered him to drive to Mexico).

You're right; I think I'm just so used to nested boards that a) quoting everything seems a little clunky, even though it works and b) I assume that adding to a thread means I'm addressing the initial question(s) raised, even if the original post is ancient. I don't really mean it as a criticism of this site, which thus far I am really enjoying. Kasper probably thinks I'm batty, though.

I just saw this movie for the first time finally. I will have to go back and listen for the shot but I never got the feeling Somerset killed himself from the dialogue. Actually the exact opposite, he trudges along in homicide.

While I agree Brad Pitt probably won't go to jail, he SHOULD (real life anyways) never be allowed to be a law enforcement officer....anywhere, ever.
But this is Hollywood...

I second that.

greets
Spikez

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I just saw the ending again...and again. I never heard the shot. If it's there it must be so faint that there's no way it was meant to be anything of importance. He even told the Chief he would be around if he needs him.

After such a statement it is unlikely that he kills himself. That's the point of the last statement...

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Brad Pitt wouldn't go to jail? Only if he's tried in celebrity-mad California! Most states in the Union a cop who shoots a captured unarmed prisoner in handcuffs definitely would go to jail. Especially after straight-arrow Freeman testifies that for several moments he tried to talk him down--Pitt's immediately shooting the killer after he opened the box would be irresistable impluse. But he goes through this long dance, rasing and lowering the gun, all the time Freeman telling him why he shouldn't shoot the prisoner. By the time he pulls the trigger, he's had time to think about it, Freeman has warned him of the consequences, so the killing is premeditated and should get him life behind bars.

Moreover, Freeman would be up on charges himself, at least within the department and likely in district court, for permiting his partner to kill a prisoner in his custody. He should have protected his prisoner by shooting his partner. Instead, he allows the partner to kill the prisoner, which makes him an accessory to the crime. Freeman would plead guilty and testify against his partner, therefore getting a reduced sentence, but pretty boy Pitt would be on his way to the big house where he'd become queen of the prom.

The dumbest thing about that movie is that the worst hurt Pitt's character could do the killer is not kill him. I mean, here's a nut who has spend years planning and accomplishing murders based on the 7 deadly sins. The last one, anger, depends on the cop killing the killer. If the killing doesn't occur, the series isn't completed, therefore the crazed killer's plan has failed, he's in custody, and there's no way he'll ever get out of prison--even in California--to play out the series again. But what does Pitt do--he throws away his own life by killing the killer. Doesn't bring back his wife and the other victims; won't give him any real or lasting satisfaction, throws away his life and career, and gives the killer what he asks for! DUMB!!!!

It's like the old joke about the masochist who begs, "beat me!" and the sadist whispers, "no."

I re-watched the ending and picked up the sound I believe you're talking about...

Listen at 4:31...


Now... to me, it sounds very similar to what one of sound like from a distance.... I'm not saying that is what it is... just that that is what it sounds like to me...

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