MovieChat Forums > Don Juan DeMarco (1995) Discussion > You ALL missed the point - MAJOR SPOILER

You ALL missed the point - MAJOR SPOILER

posted 20 years ago by stainless_steel_rat1
71 replies | jump to latest

I've read all of the notes on this board, and I'm afraid to say that every single person here missed the point of the movie. This is not attacking anybody's intelligence, it's just that I haven't read a single post that has come close to discovering the true subtlety at the end of the movie.

I notice in the comments section of IMDB that many people expressed their dissappointment about the ambigious ending... was he, or was he not Don Juan? Many people said the movie sucked because they didn't want to decide for themselves. Ok, valid opinion. However this proves that the film-maker has gone right over their heads - for he HAS provided a definite ending. They just didn't recognise it. I'll ellaborate...

Many people here have theorised that Depp is, and many people that he isn't, the real Don Juan. Actually, this debate ALSO has nothing to do with the point of the movie.

Our first clue is given in the "grey husk" speech. Don Juan says "It is only in my world that you can breathe", to which the reply is "You are right. My world is not perfect". This clearly demonstrates that Jack finally ADMITS that the magic has left his life. It also demonstrates that Jack needs the dreamworld of Don Juan; he is captivated by the love and he realises that it is irrelevant whether Don Juan's reality is factual or not... he realises that the world is actually a better place with Don Juan off medication.

Ok, now skip forward to the "Why not?" comment. Many people like it because it provides an ambigious ending. It illustrates the point that it is irrelevant whether Don Juan is the REAL Don Juan... it is enough that the possibilities exists.

This is good, but it's only half of the answer.

People have been captivated by Don Juan's dream world and some say it's real, and other's just fantasy. But to date, all the of the fantasy elements in the movie have been supplied by Don Juan. He has been the dreamer and Jack has followed along. But think about what is going on when Jack says "Why not?". For the first time, JACK is determining the course of DON JUAN'S fantasy, is he not? It is NOT Don Juan that determines if he meets his lover; it is JACK who determines for us whether the lover is waiting on the beach or not. This indicates a subtle shift that we have left Don Juan's fantasy and entered Jack's. The "Why not?" comment at the end is NOT designed to resolve Don Juan's fantasy. No, it is there to demonstrate that the viewer is now in JACK's fantasty. HE alone now has complete control over what we, the audience, believe.
So you see, the "Why not?" comment DOES provide a definite ending, but not in the way that you first realise. It is NOT an abiguous ending. The "Why not?" comment can never be replaced because it completely makes the movie. It demonstrates the full transition of the viewer from Don Juan's fantasy to Jack's "dreaming" power.

It is COMPLETELY irrelevant whether Don Juan's fantasy is true or not... it is now relevant that we the audience like Don Juan's world so much that when he leaves our focus (as the camera pulls back), we are now WILLING to let somebody ELSE dictate how the story goes.

The point of the movie is NOT to get you thinking about whether Don Juan's world is real or not. The point of the movie is that ANYBODY has the power to create such a world. Even an ordinary schmuck like Jack... and hence by association even us, the audience.

This shift is so subtle, and it is cleverly disguised behind the OTHER meaning of the words "Why not?". I take my hat off to Jeremy Levon.

[–] yakirz 19 years ago

It's most important that DeMarco believes that he's Don Juan. Not the 16th century version teleported to 1995 Queens, but his spiritual heir. He convinces Micker, to some point, that he's Don Juan (and that Mickler is Don Octavio de Flores).

Whether other people believe him is less important. It would be nice if everyone indulged everyone else, but of course there are those who cannot see past "reality." Those who believe we should all "get up in the morning, go to work, do what you're told and don't make waves," cannot see DeMarco as anything beyond a screwed-up kid, but others can see other possibilities, and maybe live in them.

[–] sxyrd45 19 years ago

i think that in away johnny was both and i tell you why
in some way shape or form in our minds we have all became someone els in our own minds.just to seem like we are more then just a plan jane(or jack) to someone.how many girls didn't have to get in to a mondonna or janet jackson moment to feel sexy.or guys thinking they are james dean or the godfather to get into a "am cool "moment.so i think he was both and even though johnny just being himself in the film.because it is said that the girl tells him never to call her again.brando(jack)says this is my world and i say he being johnny depp aka don jaun gets the girl.if that made any sence

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] smwillig1 19 years ago

I agree with the author of the original post that there is much more to this movie than whether John really is Don Juan, but many people have missed much more than stainless_steel_ratl so eloquently states.

John is not dilusional. He does not believe he is the original Don Juan. When John is on top the billboard and Dr. Mickler arrives to talk him down, John tells him that he is Don Juan DEMARCO. Also, during his second session with Dr. Mickler, Dr. Mickler asks John what he would say to someone who would say that "this is a psychiatrical hospital, and you are a patient, and I am your psychologist?". John replies, "I'd say it is a rather limited and uncreative way of looking at the situation". He admits to understanding that he is in a mental institution.

I believe that John applies the same philosphy to all aspects of his life. He is aware of reality, but chooses to intrepret his life through the filter of romanticism from the story of Don Juan. He states that he is not limited by his eyesight, but chooses to see thing in the way he does. It isn't much different than an optimist seeing a glass as half full. The story of his life is based on fact, but has been intrepreted through Don Juan's eyes. And through this intrepretation, he re-awakens a long dorminant love for life in Dr. Mickler. Dr. Mickler realizes that John's way of seeing things has beneficial applications to his own life.

As for the grandmother's version of the truth, she admits that she had seen John only once until a few months prior. She openly shows dislike for her daughter-in-law. Is she reliable? Probably not. And the bio that John recites at his hearing? He reveals nothing that Dr. Mickler didn't already tell him. He is just repeating what the judge needs to hear in order to discharge him.

Is Dona Ana real? Why not! The relationship between her and John is believable in the fact that she couldn't accept his previous sexual experience. The mask and the shame is from the influence of the Don Juan intrepretation. Could they have reunited as portrayed at the end of the movie? It's also possible.

Stainless_steel_ratl is right about this not being so much about Don Juan's story, but about how Dr. Mickler learns how recreate his world, and how to learn to really live again. And how anyone can do the same.

Isn't it great to find a movie that has so much going on, on so many different levels, that we can debate it to this extent?

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] angela79at 19 years ago

I agree with the original post in many aspects, but I'd like to add some things I saw. I think that the film is a call for tolerance in a way. In the end we don't know whether he is Don Juan or not, but we can NEVER, under NO circumstances know. And not only in the movie. Who of you can say for sure that the world is exactly as we see it? How much do we see and how much don't we see? So, nobody could possibly say for sure that he is or isn't Don Juan, but isn't it much better for him to believe it? And shouldn't we let him believe it? And shouldn't we think about the possibility that this "fantasy" is real ourselves? I think that's the interesting message of this movie: Don't degrade people because they think something else but treat them with respect.

What do you think of my opinion? I'm curious. :)

[–] katir 18 years ago

Well I just finished watching the movie and I agree with the first post. Its not so much a debate of what's real and what's not real, but the creation of a world that is bigger than what everyday people experience. Don Juan creates this world to escape his drab life into something beautiful; he then shares it with Marlon Brando's character who, in turn, finds himself trying to find the same beauty in the world. Its living life in a way so that you see things for more than what they appear to be. So, in a way, Johnny's character was Don Juan. No, he literally wasn't THE Don Juan that the poem was based on, but he lived a life of Don Juan.

"Cap'n Jack... why'd we ever let him go? He's more fun than Barbossa!

[–] jaybee588 18 years ago

Thanks for the explanation. A friend and I were arguing over the ending of the movie, whether or not he was Don Juan or not and all that, and I came to the board to see if I could read some other people's opinions and came across your explanation. It cleared everything up between my friend and I. We were both satisfied with your explanation of the ending. It made much more sense than our own attempts to explain the ending to each other, and helped us come to appreciate the movie even more...Thanks again!!

[–] annie860 18 years ago

Well then, that was complicated
It makes total sense though. And I loved the ending. Wouldn't change it at all.

[–] kb-70 16 years ago

An ancient thread, but I think it's worth a bump so new people will see the OP's intriguing thoughts.