For all the good things in life, there has to be one person who ruins it for the rest of us. The child who plays a little too vigorously. The friend who eats a little too much. The party which goes on too long. It’s as if they didn’t get the memo. Whilst the rest of us attended and mutually signed up to the rules of an unspoken meeting, they were inexplicably absent. They just didn’t receive “the rules” and therefore, they go too far. Like all good things, cinema is not immune to this kind of person. They’re the ones who use their phone during film screenings and kick the backs of your chairs whilst you sit, seething.
All this is mere child’s play, however, compared to the most insidious of all offending cinematic acts. Once in a while, there is a cinematic ploy which airs its ugly head, used at the end of a plethora of film genres in order to confound its audience. The Film Twist. If you are lucky enough to be in one of the first screenings of a twisty film, then you will know the feeling that you get when a twist comes on out of left field. The punch in the stomach. The need to scream to your neighbour but inability due to adhering to the cinematic code of conduct. When done well, the film twist is something that will stay with you for a long time, make you smile and think ‘just how did they pull that one?’ Of course, nothing stays sacred and the film twist is the mother of all film secrets, begging for one lone moron to shout it out to rest of us, ruining everything before it’s all even begun.
With the rise and rise of technology, it’s all we can do to avoid any sort of cinematic secret. Recently, without even searching for it, I stumbled across a huge spoiler for Interstellar. Thanks, Google. Of course, it’s not the internet which is to blame but rather, the itchy fingers behind the spoiler posts, the bell tollers and town cryers of all cinematic secrets everywhere. It seems that, when we should keep schtum, we shout the loudest. There are some film spoilers, though, which exist in the collective memory as if they were always already there, as if they were somehow inevitable. Before reading on, take caution. This post is full of some big spoilers.
The Sixth Sense
I mean, really. Who doesn’t know the secret at the ending of The Sixth Sense? Despite being 15 years old, M. Night Shymalan’s one true hit still lasts in the cultural memory as being one of the best twisty films, well, ever. The beauty of the film’s revelation is that it hints at its ending in incredibly subtle ways throughout the film narrative, manifested in an inevitably quick edit as Bruce Willis realises his fate at the end of the film. I cannot claim to have been innocent to the film: It was my parents who were the guilty party in this case. And yet, after their admission, I wanted to see the film even more. Yes it’s cliched and overplayed but, boy, is it a good twist.
The Crying Game
Along with The Sixth Sense and possibly Citizen Kane, The Crying Game appears as one of the worst kept film spoilers of all cinematic time. Viewed from the present, the film’s massive twist is glaringly obvious from the get go, before the unnecessary trouser drop. Yet, it still goes down in cinematic history. Unlike other films, the twist in The Crying Game is revealed mid plot. Perhaps director Neil Jordan knew that he couldn’t fool audiences longer than half an hour.
Saw
Responsible for not only sparking a really rather terrible film franchise but also, a total cinematic horror movement, many forget the simple genius of the original Saw film. Distracted by the sheer terror of the bloody gore on screen, we quickly overlook the dead man lying in the middle of the floor. We shouldn’t. In film, there are no superfluous props and, if Saw is anything to go by, we should always check the most obvious of details before proclaiming them null. Due to the dizzying twists and turns the Saw franchise made after its beginning, the original twist has gone somewhat forgotten. Time to rewatch and rediscover the sickening terror.
The Descent
If you’re reading in America, you may not be aware of the cruel, cruel twist at the end of Neil Marshall’s The Descent. I wish that I could unsee it. After the unrelenting claustrophobia and bloody gunge of the film narrative, the surviving pot holer’s escape into the woods feels like a sudden rush of air. Not so fast! Ten seconds later, she opens her eyes and is still trapped in the cave. Doh! A terrible twist for both us and her.
Spoorloos (The Vanishing)
Playing to everyone’s worst nightmare, Spoorloos features a man who hunts down and buries alive women, just for kicks. Whilst the Hollywood revamp of the Danish original features an inevitably happy ending, the first version was not quite so upbeat. After wanting to experience the same fate as his kidnapped girlfriend, Dutch traveller Rex meets her abductor and agrees to go through the same set of events. Rather than featuring him breaking free and moving on, he is buried alive and subsequently dies. Oh.
Oldboy
Park Chan Wook’s film has gone down in history as containing perhaps the most incomprehensible film twist of all time. Following an unexplained 15 year incarceration, Dae-Su understandably searches for answers on his sudden release. The twist which follows is not only sickening and baffling but also, deeply sad. Featuring a live shot of Dae-Su eating a living octopus, Oldboy is worth watching for more than just its twist. Like the best twisty films, it weaves its story around its audience so gracefully and imperceptibly that when it catches them, they are dog meat.