QUESTION:

Can someone please explain the ending of "A Life Before Her Eyes". I'm not clear on who Uma Thurman is in the movie. If she is in fact the young blond, didn't she die? And what is the deal with Emma? Thanks!

eyje answers,answers

Asked by "an anonymouse user" Aug 19, 2008 Tags: |

ANSWERS:

12 Answers

At 2008.08.26 16:46, Ryan said:

The title gives it away: “The Life before her eyes”. Right before you die they say you see your life passing before you. She is actually the one who got shot and died not her friend. The movie tells you she had an abortion. She picked the baby name Anna with her friend which we saw in the little crosses. And the child in her life flash is also Anna and is always running away from her and she is searching in the woods for her, this represents her feeling of loss over the baby. Also her child tells her “you hate me”. Which is her guilt for aborting the child, that the child would think she hated her that’s why she aborted her, again her guilt. What we see in the whole movie is what passes through her mind the moment before she decides to sacrifice herself. She knows her friend is pure and she feels she is not. In her flash she shows you she feels she is a slut. She’s very critical of herself like she is weighing her own value compared to her friends the whole time. The movie is what her life could have been. She was the woman with her husband only since it never happened because she died that day it was her seeing herself which is the whole premise of the movie, her life passing before her eyes. You notice you never see the friend in her adult life. Also, she tells the woman at the memorial she is “not” one of the survivors. And her mother cries her name in anguish the moment she is shot. Mothers know this type of thing. Her mother knew it was her. I think it was very clear. There is no way a college professor is going to be with a 17 year old girl it was all her fantasy and proof this was just her life and what it could have been passing before her eyes while she made the decision to die so her friend could live.

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At 2008.08.26 16:49, Ryan said:

I hope that helped.

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At 2008.08.26 16:55, sonnia said:

Thank You Very Much Ryan for your informative cool answer.

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At 2008.09.09 06:01, ilva suzanne said:

the kids name is Emma…not Anna

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At 2008.10.15 21:53, Beth said:

I wouldn’t place money on the college prof thing…. ;(

Excellent explanation, though.

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At 2008.10.17 19:50, Keri said:

Fantastic explanation…I was quite puzzled after watching and I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t get. I now do! Thanks! Great Movie!!!

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At 2008.10.20 08:25, kw said:

thanks that was a good explaination - i was so confused at the end that i watched the ending twice.

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- At 2008.11.10 18:30, Norene said:
  
  I watched the movie last night as well. The ending really bothered me.
  I understood it and connected the title but still wished for the neat bow at the end like maybe showing her friend Maureen at the memorial would have been good. Afterall they were best friends and Diana gave her life essentially by insisting that Mike shoot her.
  
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At 2008.10.20 15:12, Praseena said:

thank you so much,Ryan.That was so beautifully explained.I would have gone to bed wondering otherwise

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At 2008.10.27 22:16, Sarah said:

Thanks so much for making that clear. I watched the movie last night and it’s been bugging me all day. What I don’t understand is how all that could’ve flashed before her eyes after she’d been shot - it’s pretty lengthy, don’t you think? I hope she wasn’t in too much pain. I know, it’s just a movie! The child being lost in the woods was a little out there, too. All, very far fetched, but overall a thought provoking movie!

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At 2008.11.17 15:07, K said:

Awesome! I was lost too and never would have understood it.

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At 2008.11.21 13:40, Christo said:

Nice job. I’m pretty good at getting the meaning of movies like this but I went blank on this one. Great job of breaking down.

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