The Daughter : Question about Hedvig (spoilers)

Where did she shoot herself? her head looked fine so I am guessing the heart but how could she survive that at close range?

Good question! I just saw this today and my guess was the stomach region, but who knows. That's an ambiguous ending for you! I loved the movie and as a friend said, for a country full of sunshine, Aussies sure know how to do bleak!

From all that back country living, you would think that she would know where to point the gun.

Didn't mad max have troubles with misfiring shotgun shells.
I liked the movie but it lost its way at the very end.
I was sure someone was going to die.
Sam Neil was like a caged lion.Like Bill Murray in a drama. Restrained.
I think it should of been death by shotgun.
It could of been better.
If it had the symbolic ending of another Geoffrey Rish movie such as The Best Offer then it would of been more memorable.
A movie needs to finish on a positive note for the viewer and this just didn't.

Some Spoilers Ahead!

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A movie needs to finish on a positive note for the viewer and this just didn't.

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I'm going to disagree. Whilst I appreciate that some people may find an ending like this somewhat jarring, this is how they (writers, director, producer) chose to tell the story. In many respects it may seem unfinished or is it?

We're not watching their entire life span just a particular point in time. The actions of long ago, and the aftermath and fallout thereof. I believe that Oliver is a good bloke and it was shock that drove him to denounce his daughter in a moment of utter despair, frustration and humiliation. When he learns that Hedvig tried to take her life though, he snaps out of it.

Well, that's how I read it. I saw the injured Hedvig at the very end as representing the duck that had been shot by Henry who we discovered is her biological father and I'm left with the feeling that with the tender love and support of her family (as she did with the duck) she will learn to "fly" again so to speak as did Lucky.

That's my 2 cents and no, you can't have it!

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I was sure someone was going to die A movie needs to finish on a positive note for the viewer and this just didn't.

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How's this for a positive alternative ending?

Oliver decides to return home. Walter views from a distance through the window as Oliver, Charlotte and Hedvig argue with one another. At some point Hedvig says something which gives her parents pause. The family then slowly begins to leave the house together.

Walter walks towards them and out of earshot, we see all four quietly talk. Walter nods in agreement and they proceed to walk towards the shed. Walter takes out the rifle but after some more discussion, he hands the rifle to Hedvig.

Cut to Henry's house, where the four are seen approaching the doorway. Again, from a distance, we see them talking to Henry and with a sense of resignation, Henry nods in agreement. The camera follows from behind as Hedvig leads the entire party up the stairs. We then see Christian. Hedvig slowly raises the rifle. A somber shot of Henry, Walter, and her parents ends with the sound of a shot. Anna is in the background, with a slightly ambiguous look of satisfaction on her face.

As the party leaves, Henry tells Oliver and Charlotte that they can expect to get the paperwork for Hedvig's trust fund shortly. Oliver walks away with his arms around both Charlotte and Hedvig in a somewhat tentative reconciliation. A slightly disheveled Walter then appears, insuring everyone that Christian is in good hands now. Walter then looks at Hedvig and sees her smiling.

(Implied is that while the anger towards Christian was misdirected, the misdirected anger was what ultimately united Oliver's family. And they get away with the murder, because no one even notices that the whiny bitch is gone, not even his drab, monotone ex.)

Later, Hedvig is about to leave for college. The sight of her proud and smiling parents in the background indicates that the family has successfully reconciled. Hedvig takes one last visit to Walter's preserve. NOW we can have the final scene with the duck. THE END.

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A movie needs to finish on a positive note for the viewer and this just didn't.

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whooo man ,where do you you live in ? which world ?
how can you pretend that movie should have a happy end or a positive end.
you might be a religious people to think that.

Life is though, not happy for all the world.
Life is not an Apple adv !?

Had the same problem with the ending. If she didn't do a head shot which would have ended with her in a coffin then she would have really only had two options the heart (and boom she is in a coffin). or the gut which if she lived long enough to make it to the hospital would have likely not been fatal Kind of depends a lot on the type of gun and where she had it aimed and what type of shell she was using but honestly the ending sucked. Kill her or don't but don't leave it open.

I've read that many female suicide victims do actually decide to shoot themselves in the heart rather than the head. The metaphorical significance of the heart for women as the more emotional gender is obvious.

And vanity. Gunshots to the head are rare.

Yes.