A Few Of My Favorite Twists

Though I've avoided reviews (but I have heard that it's awful), M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening has made me revisit my piece on some of my favorite cinematic twist endings. Here are a few of my favorite twists:

What makes for a true twist ending in a movie? Is it merely a shocking jolt of amazement? Is it that moment of recognition the movie was seeking? Is it... "Rosebud?"  It can be all these things and more, provided the picture's story is greatly altered by the final, shocking disclosure. It should also smack audiences with a "never saw that coming" wallop. And it should never be abused. (M. Night listen up). As for now, I've listed 10 of my favorite twist endings. Some are classic, some are new and some are probably surprising. And for Memento and David Lynch fans, please understand, those brilliant Chinese Box of movies (the fantastic Mulholland Drive especially) deserve their own special twist list, so unique are their visions.  Don't yell at me for not including them.

And that's right, The Usual Suspects did not make the cut (not my favorite, sorry). However, apologies for not including Planet of the Apes (and yes, I happen to like Charlton Heston so don't bust my chops on that one -- screw you Michael Moore). And be warned: Spoilers lurk below.

10. The Others (2001)

Alejandro Amenabar directed another twisty story with Open Your Eyes (re-made as Vanilla Sky), but his English-language ghost story is something of a modern classic. Nicole Kidman plays the overprotective mother to two light-sensitive kids who are experiencing all kinds of creepy happenings in their rambling, gothic home. Ghosts talk to them, some even possess them, and the servants are downright weird. Refreshingly old-fashioned and deeply sad, the film's grim, rather bold ending reveals that Kidman's nervous manner is based on the fact that she and her children are not only ghosts themselves but victims of her murder-suicide. The Others is both powerfully unsettling and incredibly underrated.

9. Suspicion (1941)

This is the curious case of Alfred Hitchcock being forced to create a new twist ending based on studio insistence. And though the resulting finality is altogether weird, almost non-nonsensical, I'm arguing its value for the film's terrifically tense atmosphere and sequences (that glass of "poisoned" milk!) and for simply being so off-putting and surprising. Joan Fontaine stars as a mousy (though pretty) poor little rich girl who's sure to live the life of a spinster until wolfish charmer Cary Grant sets eyes on her. The mismatched pair marry and the resulting story pits an understandably concerned Fontaine against a husband who's not only a wastrel -- he gambles away their dough, steals from his job and generally embodies every trait of a bad apple -- he's probably going to kill her. But wait a second ... no, we were wrong. He actually loves the woman he calls "monkey face" and clearly she must be paranoid. Huh? In the original story, Fontaine was to willingly drink a glass of poisoned milk, sacrificing herself for the cad she loves, but RKO couldn't stomach an evil Grant. Hitchcock ditched this darker and much more congruous ending with Grant and Fontaine enduring a wild car ride that paints Grant as some kind of savior (a fucked up savior but still...). A twist for Hitchcock, a twist for the studio and a twist for the audience, Suspicion remains intriguingly baffling.

8. Charade (1963)

A tremendously charming cat-and-mouse thriller/romantic comedy that, once again, makes Cary Grant the good guy, Charade soars from a twist that's wonderfully endearing. Elegant Audrey Hepburn plays a woman who becomes embroiled in a nefarious mystery after her husband (whom she planned on divorcing) is murdered. All kinds of scary men are now after the penniless widow (including a memorable James Coburn, Ned Glass and George Kennedy) and the vulnerable women must wonder -- are these men seeking her or the hidden money her husband's left behind? And then there's Grant, a suave enigma who appears to be helping her, or is he? Well, he is, eliciting this famous utterance from Hepburn: "Oh, I love you, Adam... Alex... Peter... Brian... Whatever your name is."

7. Psycho (1960)

Yeah, yeah, we all know Psycho is a masterpiece of shock. We also know that it's not even a spoiler for us to reveal that, yep, Norman Bates' overbearing, murderous mother is actually... Norman Bates. But to see the film in 1960! Imagine what that must have been like for theatergoers unaccustomed to the film's star, Janet Leigh, being murdered midway through the picture and weird Anthony Perkins running around in a dress. Though Psycho begs an argument between the twist ending over the shock ending, it did make audiences re-think everything that preceded the cross-dressing revelation. And its influence on the horror genre is immense.

6. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

The courtroom drama has always used the twist, turn and shock (think And Justice for All... or Primal Fear) but none was more entertainingly convoluted than Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution. It's a film in which the characters' somewhat campy performances actually make sense by the end, and it remains tense, poignant and darkly funny to this day. How to explain? We'll keep it as simple as possible. Tyrone Power (in the performance of his life -- next to Nightmare Alley his most brilliant performance) stands accused of killing a wealthy widow, while his crusty, heart-attack prone barrister (Charles Laughton) attempts to sort out the details. His first surprise occurs when Power's bitchy wife (played by Marlene Dietrich) testifies against her husband. He's baffled and so are we. But damn if we're not on the edge of our seat through the entire picture. With outbreaks galore and a few major surprises (Laughton's defending the wrong guy! Dietrich stabs Powers in court!), you have to love a movie with end credits that plead: "Please do not reveal the shock ending to your friends."

5. Unbreakable (2000)

I  know, I know. You're wondering, out of all the M. Night Shyamalan pictures, why in the hell did I choose the movie many critics panned (well, before they aptly trashed The Village, Lady in the Water and The Happening) and not his little twist-ending milestone, The Sixth Sense. My reason? It's simple -- Unbreakable is a better film. And the twist is much more interesting, mythic and emotional. It also manages to be one of the best examples of cinematic comic book origins without an actual existing comic book source material from which to draw. Bruce Willis plays a security guard who not only miraculously survives a fatal train accident but with nary a scratch on his body. And further, he (a la Peter Weir's Fearless) realizes newfound special powers after the wreck. What's going on? An eccentric comic book art dealer with an injurious bone disorder (played beautifully by Samuel L. Jackson) provides the explanation -- Willis is the incarnation of a real superhero. The film's reveal is potently surprising, when the supposedly vulnerable, immensely likeable and highly sympathetic Jackson turns out to be himself a super-villain, and Willis' arch-nemesis at that. A gritty, bizarro take on the mythic among us, Unbreakable deserves a second consideration. And a sequel!

4. Oldboy (2003)

Adapted from the Japanese manga written by Tsuchiya Garon and illustrated by Minegishi Nobuaaki, Korean director Park Chan-wook's Oldboy is a compelling look at the endless cycle of surrealistic vengeance. The potently sinister tale involves a regular family man, Dae-su Oh (Choi Min-sik in one of the greatest performances of the new century) who's kidnapped for no reason he can decipher, placed in a cell for 15 years and framed for the murder of his wife. When he's inexplicably set free, his horrifying quest to solve the what's and why's of his lot is riddled (almost literally) by an insane cat-and-mouse game with his bizarre, sadistic former captor, Woo-jin Lee. Dae-su also must cope with an odd woman who takes pity on him and eventually becomes his lover. Immensely violent, gloriously stylized (but with loads of meaning) and at some points, transcendentally thought provoking, the picture finally gives us the one-two gut punch: Dae-su realizes his new lover is actually his long-lost daughter. Brutal. And that his life has taken the turn to crazy town because Woo-jin, a former schoolmate, is still angry over his sister's suicide (she killed herself after Dae-su spread the news that the brother and sister were lovers). Cruelty and karma has never been so inventive. You'll need to pick up your jaw when it ends.

3. The Crying Game (1992)

A twist so famous, it garnered a Time magazine cover. Neil Jordan's gritty, lovely and supremely touching masterpiece remains as relevant today as it was nearly 15 years ago. Stephen Rea is an Irish Republican Army member who, because of his own moral decency, muddles an important mission in Northern Ireland. He escapes for London wishing to start life anew but is nevertheless haunted by an English soldier (a powerful Forest Whitaker) whom he developed a bond with while holding hostage. When he falls for the lover his hostage asked him to look after, Dil (Jaye Davidson), the film sets in motion its famous turn -- one that startled many a male moviegoer. Glamorous, world-weary Dil is actually a he (I actually figured this one out but many viewers did not). Jordan manages to merge the travails of Northern Ireland with gay club culture to craft an unexpected love story that, in another more meaningful twist, shows that gender doesn't really matter when it comes to love. I thought the film might run the risk not wearing well but, as usual for Jordan, it remains stunningly beautiful.

2. Fight Club (1999)

David Fincher's transgressive, ingenious rebel yell is a superb example of being subversive within the Hollywood system. It also possesses a fantastic twist ending that's so satisfyingly meaningful (and crazy), you almost wish you could erase your memory and watch it for the first time... yet the film keeps getting better with repeated viewings. Edward Norton is the self-help addicted, mild-mannered corporate drone who finds inspiration in creating Fight Club (a place where guys literally beat the spit and blood out of each other to feel something) with Brad Pitt's iconic Tyler Durden. But did he form the violent movement with Tyler? Well, no, not really. In fact, Durden is the imagined alter-ego of Norton's splintered psyche, a psychotic manifestation of his rage against society. Working both powerfully potent hard truths with delicious satire, Fight Club, explosive ending and all, is absolute genius.

1. Les Diaboliques (1955)

Henri-Georges Clouzot's murder mystery is a masterpiece of suspense, a cleverly constructed accomplishment that's stunningly crafted (all that murky water) and deeply dark. Nastiness, pessimism and odd, irreverent humor abound, as well as one of the most shocking twist endings in the history of cinema. The story involves two very different women with one shared purpose -- to murder a despicable man. A fragile, humiliated head-mistress (Vera Clouzot) to a boy's school endures the evil wrath of her husband (Paul Meurisse), who beats students and flaunts his schoolteacher lover (Simone Signoret) right in front of her. Both women decide they've had enough of this SOB and drown him in a bathtub. But that's just the beginning. When all sorts of disturbing clues pop up that the hubby might not be dead, the women go into existential meltdown, wondering if they're crazy. When he emerges alive from the bathtub, not only do they feel nuts, the audience does as well. Oft-copied and brilliantly perverse, Les Diaboliques is, quite literally, a watershed in twisted cinema.

Comments

[Tom Alexander]

Thank you for noting that Unbreakable is Shyamalan's best film -- agreed with all you say about it. Most of his films have the "bad" twist ending problem: the ending negates everything that went before (Sixth Sense, Village, also Usual Suspects, Jacob's Ladder, etc). Unbreakable is the one that has a twist that rethinks all that went on prior (as do the twists in all the films you mention). Bravo (as usual)!

[hanspfall]

twist and shouts.

the ususal suspects, Singer.
the game, Fincher.
seven, Fincher.
the prestige, Nolan
following,Nolan.
memento, Nolan
nine queens, Bielinsky
sleuth, Mankiewicz
jade, Friedkin

thanks

[Bill]

so why isnt usual Suspects considered a twist ending??

[Chad]

I've never understood the growing hatred of Shyamalan. I've enjoyed everyone of his movies except for Lady in the Water. (I have yet to see The Happening.)

But regardless of how you, or anyone, may feel about his plotting, I think that you have to give him credit for making beautiful pictures. In my mind, he's one of the only viable, new filmmaker's today who knows how to actually shoot a movie.

Even if you despise the plot, you can't help but be taken in by the movies themself; if you let yourself experience it, rather than trying to out-think him.

I find that totally refreshing, especially in this day and age of the quick cut, the out of focus shot, and the growth of digital video with it's feeble attempt to justify poorly shot movies and all around sloppy filmmaking. Flash, effects and laziness now take the place of any real cinematic style and sense of the moving picture as narrative.

Not to mention, his use of an actual score equally refreshing when soundtracks are chocked full of whatever one-hit wonder the studio-owned record company is trying to push down our throats.

[SolShine7]

Ditto on Unbreakable.

[Joe Valdez]

Good list, Kim. As usual you tempered your article to include films from the 1950s, as well as the geek boy favorites of late.

I love the ending to "The Howling." News anchor heroine turns into werewolf and is shot with silver bullet on live TV. I can't say I saw that coming.

I've never read anyone explain with any clarity why "The Usual Suspects" is a good movie and am relieved that you will not attempt to.

[steven]

Love the choice of "Les Diaboliques".. And the fact that Véra Clouzot actually died of a heart attack just a mere five years later just makes that scene even more creepier.

The ending of "Suspicion" infuriates me, because the build up was so masterfully done in my opinion.

here are some of my choices

Don't Look Now
La Jetee
Brazil
F for Fake
Spider
Night of the Living Dead

[Maxim de Winter]

What about the excellent A Kiss Before Dying (Robert Wagner version that is)?

[Campaspe]

Great list, as I would expect from a woman of taste. One thing about that ending of Suspicion--the traditional story that the ending was foisted on Hitchcock isn't entirely true. Rather than presume on your comments with a link I'll just post the graf:

Donald Spoto, in his biography of Hitchcock, says that contrary to popular belief and the director's own later myth-making, the director had always conceived Suspicion as a "film about a woman's fantasy life" and didn't intend to follow the novel, in which Joan Fontaine's character intentionally drinks the glass of milk her murderous husband has poisoned. Spoto says Hitchcock even told RKO executive producer Harry E. Edington that he would resolve any objections to having a romantic lead turn murderer by "making the husband's deeds the fictions in the mind of a neurotically suspicious woman."

[Campaspe]

Oh, and some favorite twist endings of my own: La Ceremonie (you have to watch all the way through the credits, but it's brilliant); Cache (ditto); and Narrow Margin (the original).

[Scott]

I've never seen Les Diaboliques and didn't read your write-up on it because I want to be surprised.

As for the rest of the list, I love it! Old Boy, Unbreakable, Psycho, fantastic choices!

[John]

Love your blog, USUALLY agree with ya (your very carefull to title blogs with a "few" or "some" instead of a "top #" sorta thang) Anyway, here are SOME of my favs:
The Mechanic
Deathtrap
Nighthawks
Would love to read your take on:
Naked-by Mike Leigh
Torrid Zone-James Cagney
Irreversible-Monica Belucci (sp?)
The Cement Garden-?

You're more bad ass than Kim Kelly!

[Michael A. Gonzales]

...your list made my day. thank you.

[Piper]

Great list. Recently, Darabont's The Mist attempted a twist ending and it felt forced. Shock for shock and not really because the story needed it. All the films you have listed are good examples films where the twist made sense to the story.

When I think of twists, I think of unsettling endings. Movies that didn't go where you expected them to and for that they haunt you long after they're over.

I think about Seven in that respect. And The Thing, in addition to your list. Oldboy is an excellent choice.

[Andy Hart]

You have picked my two favourite films of recent years in your list, Fight Club and Oldboy although my comment centres around Fight Club as it sums up a perfect twist. It came out at a similar time to the most over rated film of recent years, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense. The problem with The Sixth Sense is that I saw the twist coming along time before it was revealed therefore depriving me of the enjoyment lots of other people took from the film. On the other hand Fight Club’s twist is nothing short of perfect. It came as a complete surprise, I did not expect there to be a twist least of all the one that unfolds, but after it had happened you realise how obvious it was and you can not believe you didn’t see it coming. By the way I agree Unbreakable is a better film than The Sixth Sense, I would even go as far as to say it is quite a good film and I enjoyed it.

[SolShine7]

I agree on Charade, Unbreakable and Fight Club. Although I haven't seen all the films mentioned.