The ending of Vanilla Sky

[andre patton]

Saw this in 2001, in theaters….I was like 15, my friends and I thought it was such a profound, philosophical movie, I remember walking out of the theater, and looking around like 'Is this a lucid dream, or my life, whats real whats not, etc'….I loved it back then. There are issues with the Cruise and Cruz dialogue, though they have good chemistry, the lines are out of a C list romantic comedy. Also, some of the most intriguing ideas presented are never full explored, but the atmosphere, performances, direction are all still really fukking good, and it definitely holds up, as a great romance, thriller, if not a deep statement on dream and reality, as I thought when I was a kid.

Cruise and the mask in the club will always be a snoop face moment….

same here. i saw it in theaters. i was about 15/16 as well. when cameron diaz said she swallowed his nut the whole theater was like:

then we left the theater, me n my homie got into a philosophical discussion about whether we were in the real world, or some lucid dream.

so we're driving down the street or whatever and my homie goes, "i think this is all a dream. but theres only one way to be sure" then the nikka starts driving faster and faster. now he's going about 70mph down the street...blowin thru red lights n shyt. thankfully it was past midnight so there were really no cars on the road. then he takes his hands off the wheel and im thinkin well this is how i die. the car side swipes a parked car on the side of the road and my homie is like, "oh shyt. this is real!" then we take off.

 

[OmegaK2099]

that whole scene after the club

 

[Sensitive Blake Griffin]

you all should try watching the OG spanish flick open your eyes. i can't remember if there are any differences story wise but I liked it a little better, penelope's fine fukking ass is in the spanish version as well

 

[Silkk]

same here. i saw it in theaters. i was about 15/16 as well. when cameron diaz said she swallowed his nut the whole theater was like:

then we left the theater, me n my homie got into a philosophical discussion about whether we were in the real world, or some lucid dream.

so we're driving down the street or whatever and my homie goes, "i think this is all a dream. but theres only one way to be sure" then the nikka starts driving faster and faster. now he's going about 70mph down the street...blowin thru red lights n shyt. thankfully it was past midnight so there were really no cars on the road. then he takes his hands off the wheel and im thinkin well this is how i die. the car side swipes a parked car on the side of the road and my homie is like, "oh shyt. this is real!" then we take off.

You should've laid his ass out

 

[The_King_of_Everything]

Every man has had a "Sofia" once

 

[Sad Bunny]

Watched this 2 years sgo.

Someone explain it to me

 

[The_King_of_Everything]

Watched this 2 years sgo.

Someone explain it to me

Im just going to give you something quick.


everything happens except that he commits suicide after the night in the club.
He then goes into his lucid dream program that he bought thru the company "just like Benny the dog"

His program glitches and becomes a nightmare.

Tech support fixes the problem and he realizes he's asleep and can be resurrected. Sofia is dead at this point because he's been dead for decades. Sofia actually did fall in love with him but of course he died so she never really got the chance to be with him. His best friend had a memorial for him.

Tech support explains that he can choose to be ressurrected and at this point surgery could fix his face to the way it was or stay in his perfect dream with Sofia.

He chooses to come back to the real world and his biggest fear is heights so in order for him to leave he has to jump from the tallest building that he created. He mentions earlier how he think his dead was disappointed in him due to his fear of heights. Also in another scene it is suggested that he's not afraid of heights but just the impact.

The film ends with him jumping off the rooftop and waking up. "Open your eyes"

The film taught me never to let bishes drive and that I love penolope Cruz the end

 

[The_King_of_Everything]

Secrets – Many of these are reader submissions. Enjoy!

• When the film starts, a voice says “open your eyes” over and over.. first in Spanish (the title of the original film).. then in English. It’s Sophia’s voice, not Julie’s. Julie’s voice comes the second time, once David wakes up from his dream of deserted times square. What is odd is that he hasn’t even met Sophia yet. Why is she in his dreams? Or does this support the theory that the entire movie is dream.
• Film opens with the song “Everything in it’s Right Place” by Radiohead. Chorus of the song is “Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon” – These words relate directly to Brian Shelby’s sweet and sour speeches. Also, the ‘Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’ album cover can be seen in David’s house, this later figures prominently in the film.
• Two posters from the French New Wave are in David’s bedroom. A bout de Souffle(Breathless) and Jules et Jim (Jules and Jim). Crowe hero, Francois Truffaut wrote “Breathless” and directed “Jules and Jim.” These are significant later in the film when the “lucid dream” is revealed. In the opening of Almost Famous, after the characters have seen To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a marquee with Truffaut’s Stolen Kisses on it. Both Breathless and Jules and Jim deal with self-destructive free-spirited characters whose personal relationships suffer and violently end because of their own needs to be “free”. Jules and Jim ends with Jeanne Moreau driving Henri Serre off a bridge in a car the same way Julie did to David inVanilla Sky.
• In the first scene when David drives out of his garage…you look on the windshield of his car and the inspection or registration sticker says 02/30/01. The significance is that this is ok in a dream sequence. There’s no Feb 30, right? Not only is that in the first scene on his Ferrari, but it is also on his Mustang throughout the whole movie, which supports that the whole thing, from beginning to end is one big dream/nightmare.
• During the first dream sequence, when David gets out of his car, what is on the Times Square Jumbotron? The Twilight Zone! It’s an episode called “Shadow Play” (original airdate: May 5, 1961) about a man (Dennis Weaver) found guilty of murder and sentenced to the electric chair. He’s certain that the whole murder is a recurring dream…
• To Kill a Mockingbird can also be seen at Times Square. You can also see “Excite Your Senses” and “Fatigue” numerous times scrolling by on the electronic billboards. You can also hear tires squealing and one frame of the bridge (right before David and Julie crash). Many other images can be seen from Courtney Love to Russell Crowe to Leave it to Beaver.
• During the subliminal imagery at the 03:50 minute mark (Times Square Sequence), an image of Katie Holmes on a rubber tire is seen. The same picture was used on the cover of Rolling Stone in late ’98/early ’99.
• You’ll also find one single frame at the 03:55 mark which shows the fence that David and Julianna crash into. What does this mean? If you believe that David is recalling this dream to Dr. McCabe, then it’s probably his subconscious playing tricks on him.
• In Julianna’s first scene in the movie and her cell phone rings. The cell phone rings to the tune of “Row Row Row Your Boat” which of course, contains the lyric, “life is but a dream”.
• At David’s birthday party, he’s asked how it’s going. His response? “Livin’ the dream, baby…livin’ the dream”.
• When David’s smashed guitar is initially shown at the 21 minute mark you can hear “that it was a gift from Danny Bramson”. Bramson is a longtime friend and the producer of many of Crowe’s soundtracks.
• Also at the party, when Brian Shelby comes into the second apartment where David and Sofia are talking, you can see his t-shirt with the words “fantasy” in sparkly sequins. This supports the idea that the whole movie (until the last scene where David wakes up) is all but a dream.
• They also have a drink which is a Jack Daniels & Coke… “sweet and sour”?
• Look for one shot in prison where you get a full view of the chalk board. You’ll notice many little things like DREAM spelled out backwards, #9, etc.
• In the cell, Carl Jung’s book, “Memories, Dreams, and Reflections” can be seen on the table between David and Russell’s character. The book is all about Jung’s personal dreams and how they helped him uncover his “shadow” and remove his persona or mask.
• There are multiple occasions when the number (or time) 9:09 is displayed prominently. (David’s watch, the chalkboard, a kid wearing a blue shirt that says #9 and of course all the mentions of cats (who according to various myths, have nine lives). Crowe has stated in multiple interviews that this is an homage to the Beatles and their song Revolution #9.
• If you look on David’s prison garb, on his name tag it says “Frozen Guy” in really bad code that is easy to figure out. Also, his L.E. patient number on his cryo tank says PL515NT 4R51MS. If you replace the numbers with the corresponding letters of the alphabet it almost spells out “Pleasant Dreams”. The computer screen at Beth Israel hospital during David’s reconstruction also shows his patient number. Additionally, on the lower left, it spells out “don’t wake him up”
• When David is getting his mug shot taken, the slate spells out in simple code ‘When did the dream become a nightmare”?
• At the club, Brian tells Sofia that the bathroom is behind the girl who looks like Bjork. Bjork pops up later during the sort of pop culture montage of music/movies/TV images when David is freaking out. When Noah Taylor’s character compares life to a music video, Bjork’s “Big Time Sensuality” is played. The video looks like it could’ve been shot in Times Square.
• The board consists of six men and one woman. The team of doctors also appears to be six men and one woman. Both groups have control over part of David’s life. The seven dwarfs, one in real life and one in his lucid dream.
• Brian Shelby jokes about being from Ohio, but just so happens that Dr. McCabe’s is from Ohio. Could David see a little bit of Brian in his made up fellow?
• In the funeral scene and on the roof, Sofia wears the same jacket of the actress she is considered to be parallel with in David’s dream explanation.
• There are two times when Sofia calls David a pleasure delayer, she says it so subtly that it’s almost missed.
• Dr. McCabe at one point tells David that yesterday he’d had a nightmare. David replies with “It’s all a nightmare”.
• Songs for the film were chosen so that the lyrics constantly relay the emotion of the scene. When the characters aren’t speaking, the lyrics take over and continue to carry the set emotion…..listen to them closely.
• For example, the song that plays over David leaving Sophia’s in the morning is Jeff Buckley’s, “Last Goodbye,” which that morning was there last one true goodbye. Yes, they see each other after this, but after the car wreck when both of their lives are forever changed. “Last Goodbye” also contains the lyrics: “Kiss me, please kiss me, but kiss me out of desire, babe not consolation” which follows David’s plight rather well (as the next time he sees her is after the accident and he wants her affections but not sympathy for his disfigurement).
• Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” album (featured in the closing montage) also has some lyrical significance. One of the best lines from the song “The River”, is: “Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true, or is it something worse?”
• Also, two R.E.M. songs are featured. Don’t forget what R.E.M. stands for. Rapid eye movement. As in a state of sleep. It’s when you dream.
• You can hear the splice when the “lucid dream” begins.
• The events that take place directly after the splice involve some of the “sweetest” scenes between David and Sofia (REM’s “The Sweetness Follows”). This stands in contrast to the sour of Radiohead’s “Everything Is In Its Right Place”, which opens the film.
• Right at the beginning of his Lucid Dream, David’s conscience plays tricks on him. He immediately mistakes Sofia for Julie when Julie pops up and yells Boo! for a split second when really he’s looking at Sofia.
• To Kill a Mockingbird alsoplays in the holding block on the TV screen in the security room in almost all of the scenes between David and Dr. McCabe. It’s one of Crowe’s favorite movies and is later revealed as the “ideal father figure” for David Aames.
• When David’s face is being repaired, a computer image is shown on the screen. In the bottom right corner, it reads BETH ISRAEL HOSPITAL. Just one of the many religious hints found….. besides What if God Was One of Us obvious meaning when it is played.
• When David is arrested and they take his mug shot, his prisoner identification translates into: When has the dream become a nightmare?
• One of the doctors listed on the X-Ray images of David’s skull is named H. Troma. Or better yet Head Troma?
• At the club, Sofia wears a t-shirt that says St. Rose. Along with being the patron saint of Latin America and South America , St. Rose is the Patron Saint of Vanity! St. Rose used to pray: “Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love in my heart.”
• When David and Sophia are laying together naked in bed Sophia asks, “Is this is a dream?” David replies, “absolutely.”
• The second time David wakes up (after seeing himself disfigured in the mirror), he makes two or three faces into the mirror. A smile and making a circle with his mouth. The lead character of Truffaut’s Breathless did the same thing into a mirror more than once
• During the splicing of subliminal images towards the end of the film, the cover of the Bruce Springsteen’s album The River and Beth Orton’s Trailer Park can be seen.
• When David is in need of tech support, listen for the bell rings and voices of the monitoring scientists. There is also the repetition of David’s patient account number (30319) multiple times throughout the film (during glitches).
• In the elevator, at the end, when David says, “Someone died, it was me.”, you can see a shot of the inside view of the car landing on it’s side (from the crash scene).

 

[andre patton]

Im just going to give you something quick.


everything happens except that he commits suicide after the night in the club.
He then goes into his lucid dream program that he bought thru the company "just like Benny the dog"

His program glitches and becomes a nightmare.

Tech support fixes the problem and he realizes he's asleep and can be resurrected. Sofia is dead at this point because he's been dead for decades. Sofia actually did fall in love with him but of course he died so she never really got the chance to be with him. His best friend had a memorial for him.

Tech support explains that he can choose to be ressurrected and at this point surgery could fix his face to the way it was or stay in his perfect dream with Sofia.

He chooses to come back to the real world and his biggest fear is heights so in order for him to leave he has to jump from the tallest building that he created. He mentions earlier how he think his dead was disappointed in him due to his fear of heights. Also in another scene it is suggested that he's not afraid of heights but just the impact.

The film ends with him jumping off the rooftop and waking up. "Open your eyes"

The film taught me never to let bishes drive and that I love penolope Cruz the end

I dont think Sophia ever loved him.

I think they shared a special evening together...but at the end of the day they only met once. When they met up at the club she realized they could never go back to that one night they shared, so they never saw each other again.

 

[The_King_of_Everything]

I dont think Sophia ever loved him.

I think they shared a special evening together...but at the end of the day they only met once. When they met up at the club she realized they could never go back to that one night they shared, so they never saw each other again.

That's technically wrong breh.

Tech support explained what happen at his memorial she came to his memorial and he said she never got over the idea that she was given the hope of love based off of that one night they met.

I said technically because I think he was asleep the entire film meaning he never met Sophia. He made her up from things from his childhood like tech support said. Just like tech support himself isn't real he made it up.

Benny the dog on TV was something he took from real life and made up in his mind. Julie and his best friend doesn't exist.

His friend and david switch roles within the film along with his friend switching characteristics with his psychiatrist "I'm from Ohio"

The whole idea of the film is that he's an ugly person on the inside but he's vain only focusing on the external.

The characters in his dream teach him how to face reality and fix that person internally.

 

[andre patton]

That's technically wrong breh.

Tech support explained what happen at his memorial she came to his memorial and he said she never got over the idea that she was given the hope of love based off of that one night they met.

I said technically because I think he was asleep the entire film meaning he never met Sophia. He made her up from things from his childhood like tech support said. Just like tech support himself isn't real he made it up.

Benny the dog on TV was something he took from real life and made up in his mind. Julie and his best friend doesn't exist.

His friend and david switch roles within the film along with his friend switching characteristics with his psychiatrist "I'm from Ohio"

The whole idea of the film is that he's an ugly person on the inside but he's vain only focusing on the external.

The characters in his dream teach him how to face reality and fix that person internally.

"hope of love" isnt the same as actually being in love.

i've heard the "its all a dream" theory before...and its definitely valid. i personally dont agree, but either way.

i think what they shared that night is what you would expect, man or woman, to be the start of a lifelong love. but they never got the opportunity to develop it. i think the tech support actually says, "she never forgot that one night where true love seemed possible" so i think it seemed possible, but never materialized.

i think sophia asked his buddy to come to the club with them that one night cause she didnt feel comfortable being with david anymore. i think she really did refer to david as, "someone she met just once" and she was trying to say although they shared a special night...truth of the matter is it was only just one time.

i also think if she truly loved him, she wouldnt have decided to just stop talking to him after that club night.

you could also argue she loved the david she met that night...and that "david" died in the accident. so the person after the accident is no longer a person she was in love with. which is fair...but i would say we're splitting hairs between that idea and my idea.

completely off base, but i think if sophia woulda gave up that snappy nappy when they met up that night then david woulda never got in the car with julia. i think he got in the car w/ julia cause he wanted to get some head or some shyt. if he woulda just got some p*ssy from sophia he wouldnt have gotten in the car. so i blame this whole thing on sophia and i bring this up when i try to convince girls to let me fukk on the first night.

 

[The_King_of_Everything]

"hope of love" isnt the same as actually being in love.

i've heard the "its all a dream" theory before...and its definitely valid. i personally dont agree, but either way.

i think what they shared that night is what you would expect, man or woman, to be the start of a lifelong love. but they never got the opportunity to develop it. i think the tech support actually says, "she never forgot that one night where true love seemed possible" so i think it seemed possible, but never materialized.

i think sophia asked his buddy to come to the club with them that one night cause she didnt feel comfortable being with david anymore. i think she really did refer to david as, "someone she met just once" and she was trying to say although they shared a special night...truth of the matter is it was only just one time.

i also think if she truly loved him, she wouldnt have decided to just stop talking to him after that club night.

you could also argue she loved the david she met that night...and that "david" died in the accident. so the person after the accident is no longer a person she was in love with. which is fair...but i would say we're splitting hairs between that idea and my idea.

completely off base, but i think if sophia woulda gave up that snappy nappy when they met up that night then david woulda never got in the car with julia. i think he got in the car w/ julia cause he wanted to get some head or some shyt. if he woulda just got some p*ssy from sophia he wouldnt have gotten in the car. so i blame this whole thing on sophia and i bring this up when i try to convince girls to let me fukk on the first night.

I don't think she was afraid of him.

The scene in the club represents the exact problem with David. It's the "mask" or facade that she was afraid of or should I say the "caricature". Remember the drawing Sophia did of him.

It's the vanity and selfishness of his nature that pushed everyone away. His friend insisted on him taking off the mask but he couldn't do it.

Sophia represents his internal being.

His friend became a reflection of his character, hence the scene with him imaginig Sophia making out with his friend the exact samething he did when he knew his friend liked the girl.

Him wearing the mask on the other side of head represented the dualistic nature of his being/personality.

 

[FlyRy]

it's up there with A.I. as one of my most love/hate movies

 

[Liquid]

same here. i saw it in theaters. i was about 15/16 as well. when cameron diaz said she swallowed his nut the whole theater was like:

then we left the theater, me n my homie got into a philosophical discussion about whether we were in the real world, or some lucid dream.

so we're driving down the street or whatever and my homie goes, "i think this is all a dream. but theres only one way to be sure" then the nikka starts driving faster and faster. now he's going about 70mph down the street...blowin thru red lights n shyt. thankfully it was past midnight so there were really no cars on the road. then he takes his hands off the wheel and im thinkin well this is how i die. the car side swipes a parked car on the side of the road and my homie is like, "oh shyt. this is real!" then we take off.

get new friends breh

 

[OmegaK2099]