The greatest ending in cinema history, according to Brie Larson: “Perfectly summed up”
When you’ve been acting since the age of nine, you’re probably qualified to have an opinion on the subject. That is the case with Brie Larson. Ever since she first appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as a child, her path to superstardom has been set in stone.
From cult hits like Scott Pilgrim vs the World to blockbusting juggernauts like the Avengers movies to her Oscar-winning turn in Room, it’s been a whirlwind career. And she’s still only 35 years old.
One thing you have to get right while making a film is the ending. Getting that right can ensure that your work goes down in history. Get it wrong, and everything goes to pot. In Larson’s mind, there is one movie that sticks the landing better than anything else, and, unfortunately, it’s a sad one.
In an interview with Criterion, the star was asked to name her ten favourite movies. As well as Carol Reed’s The Third Man and Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes From a Marriage, Larson also picked out Mike Leigh’s 1993 bleak-tacular, Naked. “Quite possibly my favourite ending of any film,” she revealed. “Perfectly summed up in one beautiful, long, hopeless shot.”
The film stars David Thewlis as Johnny, a ratty, nihilistic young man who ends up in a twisted version of London after a sexual encounter in Manchester. He proceeds to traipse around the city’s darkened streets, running into all manner of strange people, some even too disturbing for him to handle. The much-praised ending comes after each of the characters goes through their own harrowing ordeal. Johnny seemingly reconciles with his old girlfriend Louise (Lesley Sharp), and the two plan to return to Manchester with her life savings to begin anew. However, when her back is turned, Johnny robs his former beau, and skulks off into the night with her cash.
The “long, hopeless shot” that Larson describes is of Johnny hobbling away from Louise’s house, money in pocket. He had been savagely beaten by a gang of thugs the night before and can barely walk, but he is so determined to continue his selfish lifestyle that he is willing to put his health and well-being in danger. It proves that, even after everything he has been through, Johnny hasn’t changed one bit. It’s a harsh, thought-provoking examination of humanity and our inability to grow, perfectly in line with Leigh’s trademark dour look at the world.
Unsurprisingly, people weren’t rushing to the cinema to watch a movie where a bunch of depressing things happen one after the other. Naked made just over £52,000 across its opening weekend, but it excelled in the arenas it was made for. At the Cannes Film Festival, Thewlis, who became a must-have star off the back of this, won ‘Best Actor’, while Leigh picked up the ‘Best Director’ gong. Naked routinely comes up in discussions of the greatest British films ever made, and whilst it’s certainly not Paddington 2 (in every conceivable sense), it’s still worth checking out.
As it stands, Larson has yet to collaborate with Leigh on anything, the director shows no signs of slowing down. Even as he approaches his mid-80s, the British icon is still working, so maybe his biggest fan will get her own ‘Naked’ moment some day.
