Most popular dramas talk about nothing more than human ambition, desire, possession, and luck, but in Woody Allen's film "The End of the Race", there is a special emphasis on the importance of luck.
From the beginning of the film, the picture shows a tennis ball stopping in mid-air due to touching the net, and the narrator says:
"Some people say that good luck is more important than kindness, and that's a true quote. ...... Just like in a tennis game the ball will touch the net, a lucky ball will fly forward, and then you win the game. If the ball goes backwards, you lose."
Director Woody Allen casts a spell on the audience at the beginning of the film (photo)
For more than half of the film, the protagonist Wilton (Jonathan Rices) squeezes into high society and has an affair with Nora (Scarlett Johansson). The emotional entanglement of the two has attracted all the attention, and the luck emphasized at the beginning of the film has long been forgotten by the audience.
It wasn't until Wilton threw Mrs. Isby's ring toward the river to cover up his crime, and the ring bounced into the air when it hit the guardrail by the river, that we remembered the tennis ball that touched the net at the beginning of the film—the ball flew forward and you won the game; if the ball fell backwards, you lost.
The ring that hit the guardrail and stopped in mid-air did not fall into the river, but fell backwards to the ground. At this point, probably all the viewers thought that this mistake would be a sign that Wilton was doing his best.
However, the subsequent transfer of the peak circuit audience was horrified, and this mistake not only did not make Wilton pay the price, but also became the reason for him to retreat. So when the film finally ends, Tom congratulates Wilton's newborn child:
"I don't care if he achieves anything later, I just want him to be lucky."
This is director Woody Allen's best annotation to the film.
"A movie that wants to be memorable doesn't necessarily have a happy ending, but a 'just' ending seems necessary."
For "The End of the Race", it is precisely because it manipulates the audience's expectation of a "just ending" that it is so impressive.
Also, when Wilton first met Nora, she was playing pool with a man. Nora's skills overwhelmed the man, so he switched to Wilton and hers. Just as Nora was about to serve, she said to Wilton in a defiant tone:
"How about a thousand pounds?"
And when Wilton listened, he just smiled and replied:
"I'm self-casting." （What did I walk into？ ）
However, Nora only served the ball, and Wilton immediately responded with a kill score. Helpless, Nora could only say self-deprecatingly:
"I'm the one who threw myself into the net!" （What did I walk into？ ）
And this snooker match is a microcosm of the changes in the relationship between the two in the future. At first, Nora was both charming and confident, and she had the upper hand, not only fascinated Wilton fans, but also the fiancée of the rich man Tom.
On the other hand, Wilton was still just an obscure tennis coach at the time, and he naturally seemed powerless to control Nora. However, after the two fought, the audience clearly understood who was the real "self-casting net".
Wilden succeeds in gaining power, and Nora not only breaks her marriage contract with Tom, but her acting career is also unsuccessful, and she can only work as a salesman in a clothing store. Gradually, in this game of stealing, Nora is destined to become a loser like this pool game.
The narrative of this film is smooth and vivid, and the atmosphere between scenes changes precisely.
Whether it is the passion of kissing in the rain, the suspense of shooting Nora, the solemnity of the ghost haunting, or even the joy of the two police officers handling the case, all kinds of different emotional atmospheres are cleverly integrated in the film, showing the director's mastery of the drama and the first-class skill of scene scheduling.
But can life really be compared to a ball game? Everyone should have their own answer in their hearts. But the only thing that is certain is that Lady Luck's choice will never be easily understood by the average person.