Ending

05Jul07

Kaufman made it very clear in an interview included with the published shooting script [3], that the story ended with the final scene of Joel and Clementine in the hallway, in which they appeared to have agreed to give their relationship one more try. He said it was up to individual members of the audience to decide what would have ultimately happened. This “unfinished” resolution of the story is foreshadowed with the following dialog in the scene where Joel relives the memory of approaching Clementine at the bookstore where she worked after they first met at the beach party:

Joel: It would be different if we could just give it another go-around.
Clementine: Remember me. Try your best. Maybe, we can.

There is debate as to what the repeated scene of Joel and Clem playing in the snow right before the credits means. In an interview also included with the published shooting script, Gondry said he wanted the scene of them playing in the snow to loop throughout the credits. This desire apparently sprang from the initial intent that the movie ends with the depressing revelation that Joel and Clementine spent the rest of their lives meeting, parting, and getting erased, only to meet again. However, Gondry said that this was not done, because it would ultimately detract from the credits.

One interpretation offered by some viewers of the film is that the snow scene takes place in the past, rather than an event in their future. This analysis rests on the claim that viewed in slow motion, Clementine’s hair appears to be orange and the fact that the movie showed a memory scene of the couple playing together in the snow.

In addition, several photo-stills that were from footage that wound up on the cutting room floor show Joel and Clementine sitting together on the steps to Joel’s building with their arms around each other (and dressed in the same clothes that they wore in the hallway scene). It is unclear whether these were pictures taken for promotional purposes or from footage cut from the final scene at Joel’s apartment.

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