When I consider the pantheon of great directors, which I often do, four names come to mind: Orson Welles, Fritz Lang, John Ford, and Phil M. Noir. In his masterwork, The End, Noir follows the trend of the French New Wave directors of the 1960s, taking art cinema to a new zenith of achievement. (I would compare him to Jean-Luc Godard, but doing so would belittle Noir's greatness.) In this nihilistic tale of death and love, Maestro Noir explores his deepest phobias--this is by far his most personal work. The film considers the issues of existentialism, fatalism, and solipsism, shedding light on the these once perturbing subjects and, by corollary, shedding light on life itself. To say that I reached metaphysical clarity upon my initial viewing of this film would be an understatement. I am considering burning my copy of Casablanca, so that The End has more room on the shelf. In summation, The End is the greatest movie ever created by man or by humanoid, and to forgo seeing it would be a grave mistake.
Review of The End
