The+movie+ending?

I personally thought that the ending to Vanya was rather depressing. Even though I am certain that Chekhow intended it to end this way, I can't help but wishing it was different--just a little happier maybe? When the professor Alexander and Yelana leave the estate, they leave the rest of them sitting and talking, doing nothing of real significance. Actually, while watching this movie they really did not move around much at all, I think that's why it often bored me. I was not continuously engaged by their dialogue (but I’m usually not a action movie type person either, witch is strange) but I think I need a bit more movement-- a little more excitement. So in the end, Sophie and her Uncle Vanya enter into the final dialogue. Sophie says to her uncle that they will toil for other and that their life will be unhappy, but that they must continue to live it. She says that happiness will be found in the future, in the heavens for both of them. Sophie sympathizes for Vanya, saying that she knows he hasn't experienced much joy in this life, but to be patient and wait for the next life. Was anyone else depressed by this ending? What about the dark stage lights? Was the scene dark to purposely dull the mood? **CDu**

I couldn't disagree more with the last poster. I actually thought that the ending to Uncle Vanya was as uplifting as could be reasonably expected, all things considered. Vanya does not kill himself and makes a remarkable recovery in his relationship with the professor, going from attempted murder to smiles and a warm farewell. The ending was really the only feasible resolution to the intricate conflict presented in the play. Yes, I agree that it was not an action movie, but I found parts of it to be pretty funny, and if you were paying attention to the contradictions and inaccuracies in their speech, even more humor can be found. Though the ending wasn't uplifting in the traditional sense, Vanya and Sophie make tremendous strides toward happiness. user:PSp-c

I agree with multiple statements. At first when I watched the ending, I was kind of sad. Even though Vanya did not kill himself and his friendship with the doctor was recovered, there still seemed to be a bit of depression in the air. Everyone still seemed to be sad. The people they loved are now gone, and who knows when they will still see them again. They are back to work the second the Professor leaves. It almost seemed as if they were back where they started. However, I will agree that Sonya made a giant leap in her outlook on life at the end. She knew that there was going to be something better for both her and Vanya, all they had to do was wait. CDu, I think you are correct when you discuss the lighting of the movie. Lighting plays a huge role in determining the mood of a scene. In this final scene, only one light was on, hangning right over their heads, everything else seemed to be lost in oblivion. They were left on their estate, even though they had each other, they still seemed so alone. 1205201937

One of the first things I noticed about this movie was how it was constantly set in the dark. The background was always very plain and the lighting was minimal. This helped with the depression theme from the beginning. With sun and brightness we probably wouldn't have been able to sympathize with the characters poor attitudes as easily. As far as the ending, I disagree with PSp. Maybe by looking deeper into what they said we could find some humor or uplifting moments, but I failed to see them. However, that was how the entire movie was; I wasn't really expecting a happy ending like i'm used to. The one thing I did see in Sonya's final speech was an element of hope. To me, it was all still depressing, but she tried to say that since they've suffered so much, in heaven they can rest and be happy. This didn't really satisfy me though, because they still thought their lives are horrible and they will just wait for them to end. 1205205431

To touch on the post by Psp, I understand excactly where you are coming from, but I do not think that my original post was clear for you. I was specifically referring to the final dialogue, the last words, when I said that the ending was rather depressing. Sure, your 100% right in that all things considered, the ending as a whole was not as bad as it could very well have been. Actually, like you noted, things seemed to work out for the best. Vanya didn't kill himself and the Professor and Yelana did leave on good terms. So to clear things up again, I thought what Sophie had to say was sad because she was basically saying that their life sucks. But, I can also completely turn that around and say that she was looking on the bright side. She was trying to be optimistice but basically saying, you won't be happy for awhile, but that all they can do is serve others and keep the next life in mind. This may be martyrous, but I don't think God wants us to suffer in this life. I don't think that God really wants Sophie and Vanya to settle for an ok life when they could be working to make the life they have better. Any thoughts? 1205279673

I certainly agree with you all: the end was depressing. The play mainly concerned the characters, especially Uncle Vanya, all searching for some sort of life. Uncle Vanya comes close with his seduction attempts of Yelena. Uncle Vanya even admits that Yelena is only chance to live again. Well, in the end, Uncle Vanya obviously does not get Yelena; instead, all Uncle Vanya gets is a consolation prize, the estate that his father had sold in the first place. Uncle Vanya's future also looks bleak as he and Sophie end the play with talk about all the chores they will do day in and day out until they die. The ending begs the question that Sartre, the existential philosopher, brings up in his book Being and Nothingness: "What is living?" Uncle Vanya clearly is not "living", and I personally feel that ending would have been better if Uncle Vanya had followed Yelena to Finland, but instead he resigns to merely existing, the state of being that many people end up resigning themselves to.1205289431

The ending was depressing, and it was so dark and gloomy because there really was no ending. The movie ended with no real resolution, no moving up to a better life or leaving the house in disgrace: there was just stagnation, which is perhaps the most depressing ending of all. The characters did not change or learn something during the movie--let me rephrase that--they did learn things, like Sonia learned that the doctor did not love her, and the professor learned why Uncle Vanya hated him, but the characters did not learn and truths that changed their behavior by the end of the play. They did not develop: they remained stagnant. The professor was still self-centered and leeching off others, the doctor still drank, Sonia was still unmarried, and Elena was still trapped in a loveless married to a man almost triple her age. No characters made life-changing decisions that either improved or worsened their conditions: they ended the play just as they began. 1205289842

The ending was really depressing. It wasn't sad, if he had killed himself it would have been sad. Depressing seems to be a much more applicable word because they were stuck in the same boring pointless life that they were living in the beginning. The aspect of God in the play also didn't make a great deal of sense to me, I know that sacrifice is a key Christian kind of theme, but they weren't sacrificing anything they were just wasting their lives, so I didn't really understand how they could be holding up for God to reward them because even though it is a really optimistic way of looking at it, it's not something that I would consider a sure thing just because I've wasted my life. I would think God would want my life to have some kind of meaning. I guess the one thing that was redeeming was their ability to pick up their pieces and go back to work, even if it is the work that has very little meaning to them. 1205292237

I think that the ending was a mix of the two, depending on how you look at it. Yes it was depressing because it was dark and they just sat there in near silence. No one really got what they wanted, either. Very few of the characters left happy. The only ones I can think of that would have some happiness are Yelena and Nanny. Yelena finally got to leave the estate and maybe find something to do with her life and Nanny finally could settle down to tea and supper at the regular times. Yet I think there was a happier side to this ending, as well. As I think someone mentioned before, Vanya did not shoot himself or anyone else, the professor seemed to be in good spirits when he left, and Sonay, while still a bit sad, seemed to give the impression that she might be able to move on with her life. Even though it ends with them all sitting around the table, it seems as if that is where they want to be. They can sit in thier comfortable silence that they are used to and work along side eachother, but now with out distractions such as the fights and the professor's constant demands. 1205296005

I agree that the movie ending was quite depressiong, but I feel like there's more to it. I almost feel like the movie ending was a happy one because it was as if many of them were given fresh starts. The professor and his unhappy wife left the environment in which other men were hitting on her and she was completely bored. Uncle Vanya actually sat down to do some work, realized his life had some meaning, and was parted from his lustful lover. His niece and him became comparable companions for she was extremely lonely too; in addition, she was being to get over the doctor who didn't lover her back for six years. And of course, Nanny got her meal times back. Thus, I do not think that the ending was completely depressing for it was almost like a new chapter in most of their lives. Any other comments? 1205322860

I don't think that the ending was really depressing at all. They're getting back to their former way of life in which they worked and were not idle. They have come to terms with their lives, their existence, that it is really maybe not a joyous time, but is all worth it in the end. Sonya says how they will look back on their lives with pleasure, and it's clear that they have accepted their callings to live simple lives, and they will live them out to the fullest. Vanya before wanted some great magnificent purpose to his life, but at the end Sonya helps him realize that this is not necessary for leading a full life. So for me the end of the play was rather upbeat even though all the characters weren't living their dream lives.1205374228

Honestly, I do not know how the end of the play could be anything but depressing. I was felt deep empathy as the characters sat quietly at the table, back to their hum-drum lives with nothing to look forward to. At least when Yelena, Alexander, the doctor, etc. were visiting, there was vitality in the house that was undeniable. Yelena and Sonya, who had previously never connected due to what was unspoken between them, finally became close friends. Then, in the end, Sonya was left all alone. Vanya was alone. MKa, I can see your point that the ending isn't terribly depressing based on the fact that their lives returned to "normal"--that is, before company had arrived. However, the wistful and sad tone is undeniable in Sonya's voice as she gives her final monologue:

//“[W]e’ll look back on this life of our unhappiness with tenderness, and we’ll smile—and in that new life we shall rest, uncle.” At once compassionate and doleful, Sonya’s words are a moving expression of hope born of desperation. Chekhov guarantees neither a better future nor a transcendent afterlife, but his characters don’t really have much of a choice. Between suffering and death, they choose suffering—and cling to hopes that it may all be worth something in the end.// -- http://www.popmatters.com/pm/film/reviews/38532/vanya-on-42nd-street/

In the end, the characters have nothing to live for except duty and work concerning the estate. They have not found true love by any means; they only have one another. They can only live out the rest of their days until they die, which will be a glorious day because their burdens will be lifted. What is not depressing about that? 1205443324

I agree that the ending was depressing. Vanya does finally stand up to the professor and tells him what a terrible life he is having, and they do get to keep the estate, but that hardly makes the ending happy. I think that Varnya and Sophie are both still extremely depressed because Varnya is beginning to think that he will never find anyone to love and Sophie has now lost the doctor whom she has loved for a long time. I cannot see how this movie could have an uplifting ending. I thought that it was extremely depressing and I could not help but feel bad for the characters and their situation. The professor left for a life of happiness while expecting those at the theater to still pay him.1205453163

ok i missed the first couple days of the movie, but i did get the chance to watch the last day, and from an outsider's point of view, i found some parts uplifting and other parts completely depressing and frustrating. In a way, yes, the fact that Vanya did not kill himself was uplifting. He realized that life was better, or so i think. I kind of think it is a little uncertain. I mean, he does finally give up the pills to the doctor at the end, but it took a TON of persuading. The sad part came for the hopeless romantic side of me. The doctor got rejected and sophie got rejected. I wanted the doctor to end out with someone. It was sad when he kissed his one and only love goodbye. I felt like she loved him to, but couldnt be with him. Sophie was in love with the doctor and I felt that he knew it. He says goodbye and she just acts oblivious but once he leaves she rushes to see him off. It was so sad. And then, they just went back to work, Uncle and Sophie, both trying to get through the day in their own personal pain. 1205457272

I found the ending to be discouraging. It seemed like no one got what they wanted and this was portrayed strongly at the end of the movie. I thought that everyone in the movie was just going to go on with life and not really live it. There was such a depressing feel at the end. I honestly felt bad for the characters. So many people leaving at the end made it even more upsetting. Everyone seemed like they didn't really know what to do with themselves, that they were just going to do whatever to get by. It definitely wasn't an ending with an uplifting message. The only positive part of the end was that Uncle Vanya didn't want to kill himself. But at the same time that whole section was upsetting because it took so much convincing for Uncle Vanya to give the pills back. It's hard to see someone so unhappy with life like he was. I was still feeling bad for Vanya at the end of the play even though he had decided to live. I honestly had sympathy for all of the characters at the end.1205462123