Shane. Was he mortally wounded when he rode off?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by keys74, Feb 22, 2023.

  1. keys74

    keys74 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I just watched Shane (again) and it is still an extremely well made and highly entertaining Western, especially considering that it's 70 years old now. I was wondering how other members of this forum view the ambiguity of the ending. Do you believe that Shane sustained fatal injuries in that last gunfight? His parting words to Joey and the way his departure are shot strongly suggest that he died shortly after leaving. Any thoughts?
     
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  2. Crack To The Egg

    Crack To The Egg Forum Resident

    Location:
    OR
    One of my film theory professor argued that Shane absolutely died, but the use of the ambiguous ending made the death feel even more profound for both the child and the audience as both are left in suspense forever.

    Imagine that young boy growing into a man and always wondering if Shane died, while knowing the likely answer. Those are the types of events that stick with a person, as does the film.
     
  3. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
  4. Dr. Funk

    Dr. Funk Vintage Dust

    Location:
    Fort Worth TX
    Maybe.
     
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  5. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    live or die Shane was gone...
     
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  6. It has been quite some time since I watched "Shane" but from what I can remember....which is limited more each day, it went something like this.
    When Shane is involved with the gunfight between he and Wilson he is not apparently harmed by any of the people on the ground floor....Shane shoots all of them and they do not shoot Shane.
    Then, as Shane is moving around, the man on the upper level with the rifle takes a shot at Shane, but not before the kid warns Shane...."Shane, look out!" or something like that, but that seems too late because Shane recoils and almost falls down from apparently being shot just before he shoots the rifleman who falls to the ground floor.

    As the movie comes to an end we see Shane talking to the kid. The kid mentions Shane is bleeding. The kid says some stuff about how Shane would never have been shot if....
    This puts the viewer into the position of understanding, but not perfectly knowing, that Shane has possibly been shot and is hurt as he rides off leaving everything behind.

    It is arbitrary about how badly Shane has been hurt, leaving it up to the viewer to decide whether Shane survives or not.

    Some ques to think about.
    Shane is riding high in the saddle and does not seem to be burdened by his injuries.
    Shane clearly, and strongly, rides off into the distance.
    While they mention an injury, there is never anything shown to verify how badly Shane is injured.

    It is entirely plausible that Shane survived the single rifle shot.
    But it is also plausible, depending on the type of symbolism you wish to use, that Shane had to die because he sacrificed himself to save the others.

    No matter what, there is no clear end for Shane in this movie, other than he rode away. Everything else is implied, infered, or imagined by the viewers based on what they wish to believe.
     
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  7. jbmcb

    jbmcb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Troy, MI, USA
    I get the movie confused with the book quite often, as we read the book then watched the movie way back in American Literature class.

    Anyways, I was always under the impression that he was dead before he left Bob's sight, but stayed on his horse.
     
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  8. majorlance

    majorlance Forum Resident

    Location:
    PATCO Speedline
    Love the ambiguity of the ending. One of the many reasons Shane remains a timeless classic 70 years on.
    Great topic, Keys! :tiphat:
     
  9. Kassonica

    Kassonica Forum Resident

    yes that's the way I read it as well...
     
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  10. keys74

    keys74 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Here's a thought provoking synopsis of the ending:

    Shane's death is understood in the context of the ending. He is the reckoning which culminates the overarching themes of the movie: guns & gunfighting. He witnesses how his way of life has impacted the homestead, he no longer believes the gun is a tool, and he realizes that his "kind of days are over" and there's no going back from what he is... a killer.
    Shane knows his death is imminent, which is subtly spoken through the line, "Tell your mother there are no more guns in the valley", which is another way of saying that all the gunfighters are dead now, himself included. The ascension up the mountain is symbolic of his death and redemption.
     
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  11. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    like many of the suckfull ending out there we just have to pick the one that suites us and move on...: )
     
  12. John Moschella

    John Moschella Senior Member

    Location:
    Christiansburg, VA
    Yes, dead. Gut shot in the 19th century, your dead.
     
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  13. EProphet

    EProphet Forum Resident

    Location:
    Leutonia
  14. Plinko

    Plinko Senior Member

    Yes. Wouldn’t have been very Shane-like to stick around drawing attention to himself with a dramatic death. So he rode off to die alone..l
     
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  15. finslaw

    finslaw muzak to my ears

    Location:
    Indiana
    What movie discusses this? I forget.

    Shane is a pretty good Western, but the later Viking ripoff Knives of the Avenger provided a great plot wrinkle that this "the good guy can't be too dark" crowd pleaser couldn't muster, and one that an open ending can't trump.
     
  16. Nephrodoc

    Nephrodoc Forum Resident

    Boy this takes me back, studied the book in AP English class. Although the movie is a pretty good western, I never thought it lived up to the book. The movie just didn’t capture the cool, dangerous nature of Shane like the book did.

    In regards to Shane, I believe he did not survive. Shane knew he was leaving if he survived the gunfight, so whether he died was left ambiguous.
     
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  17. Eleanora's Alchemy

    Eleanora's Alchemy Forum Cryptid

    Location:
    Oceania
    'The Negotiator' (1998). During the scene where Lieutenant Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey) begins hostage negotiations with Lieutenant Danny Roman (Samuel L. Jackson), they briefly discuss movies and the ambiguous ending of 'Shane' (55:03)

     
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  18. MikeMusic

    MikeMusic Forum Resident

    Location:
    Surrey, England
    Schrodinger had a theory...

    Shane is about the best film I saw as a kid and still good
     
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  19. Andy Smith

    Andy Smith .....Like a good pinch of snuff......

    I always thought he was.
    (Otherwise he’d have stayed. Sometimes the most obvious answers are on the nail).
     
  20. Matt Richardson

    Matt Richardson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Suburban Chicago
    I think he lived.

    If they were gonna have Shane die, I think it would have been more poignant to have him die in the boy's arms, Shane's last words telling the boy to be good, never let your parents down, etc etc. I don't think the writer would have missed that.

    The fact that he got on his horse and rode off means he'll live on.
     
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  21. unclefred

    unclefred Coastie with the Moastie

    Location:
    Oregon Coast
    Like Kwai Chang and Jules, Shane walks the Earth.
     
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  22. captouch

    captouch Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    It’s been years since I’ve seen it, but watched the ending due to this thread. I had always assumed he was going to die too (years ago when I actually watched the whole movie).

    But watching just the ending again, he doesn’t appear to be in bad shape. So either it just wasn’t played up acting-wise and it was supposed to be implied he died, or he wasn’t mortally wounded and recovered elsewhere
     
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  23. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Forum Resident

    Location:
    North West England
    Shane. Was he mortally wounded when he rode off?




    Don't think so either, I didn't see any blood and he was able to get on a horse. He was well enough to change his name to "Canada" and become a paratrooper in the same year.

    I've watched this film many times, in the first scene, as he approaches the farm, I can see cattle in the far distance and I can't make up my mind if it's the roof of a Greyhound bus I can see passing from left to right behind them.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2023
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  24. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    No writer would write that ending . Maudlin.
     
  25. finslaw

    finslaw muzak to my ears

    Location:
    Indiana
    Thanks, it was bugging me. At one point when Spacey says Shane was dead Samuel says "that is an assumption" and I wanted him to then spout his Long Kiss Goodnight line "everyone knows when you make as assumption you make an a$$ out of "you" and "umption."

    Shane was the most expensive Western made up to that time, and in wikipedia it discusses later works inspired by it such as Pale Rider, a childhood fave. However, no mention of Knives of the Avenger (1967), a film I just finished rewatching 10 minutes ago which is far closer plotwise and was super low budget and filmed in only 6 days. With those limitations there is one plot quirk that makes Knives a meatier film:

    In Knives the father is a King in hiding away at sea while his wife and son are hiding in a country home. They are discovered by the villain and his gang who were once part of the King's warriors, but exiled and seeking revenge. A man (I'll call him Shane) shows up at the home to protect the wife/son from them and the 3 bond, including teaching the boy to hunt and fight and some mild flirtations with the wife who remains true to her husband. However, it is not until the wife recounts her story in flashback that Shane figures out why the wife was familiar to him. In the past Shane's wife and child were murdered by the villain (and this was the reason they were exiled) and so Shane sought his revenge by attacking the King's village and, with a mask on, raped his wife. It is heavily implied through hair color that the teen son is actually Shanes. The King comes back from the sea and the conflicts abound, but the wife never finds out who the Shane figure really was. At the end Shane rides off alive, leaving the reunited family.

    I doubt a classic Western could do that.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2023
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