The Best Offer Explained: What’s Up With the Ending?

Drama directed by Giuseppe Tornatore “The Best Offer” appeared in film distribution in 2013. The film received many awards and prizes and was warmly received by critics.

Some of them noted the similarity of the film with Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo. Critics also responded positively to the acting of John Rush and noted an excellent visual picture.

The film received a lot of conflicting reviews from the audience, which we will try to understand.

So, the theme of the film was the life of an elderly and lonely auctioneer – Virgil Oldman.

Even the name of the protagonist, according to the sensations, was chosen for a reason – after all, Virgil is consonant with Virgin – a virgin, and Oldman literally means – an old man, an old, tired person.

Virgil’s life is boring and monotonous. Rare auctions where Oldman participates have long bothered him and do not bring joy. And no one is waiting for him at home – after all, he lives completely alone, and even his relatives have died long ago.

The situation of Virgil is aggravated by the fact that he himself is in every possible way fenced off from the world in which he lives. Constantly wearing gloves, he prevents even the very possibility of tactile sensations, and not inviting guests to his house and living completely on the outskirts only exacerbates his problem. Auctions also cannot be considered an analogue of real life. Here people are possessed only by the thirst for profit, and the rest of the people for them are only a means to achieve their own goals.

True, in addition to participating in auctions, Oldman communicates with two of his friends – the auctioneer artist Billy, and the young mechanic Robert, who is also unusually lucky with women. It is from this moment that the main story of the film begins. Robert introduces Virgil to his friend, Claire.

She suffers from agoraphobia and hardly leaves the house.

Verjdil is interested in this woman and he decides to meet her.

And although Claire acts strange, often short-tempered and unstable, Virgil quickly falls in love. He does not even think that a woman is trying to manipulate him.

And Claire, meanwhile, flirts and brings Virgil closer, then repels him and is deliberately cold.

The old auctioneer is quickly drawn into this game and does not notice how he falls into Claire’s skillfully placed nets.

The woman, meanwhile, finds out where Virgil’s paintings are, their protection system, the security routine. It was Virgin’s very gullibility that helped her find out. He himself lets her into his mansion, spending a party with her.

And the end of the story is not surprising.

After sending Virgil to get another trinket for herself, Claire slips into his mansion and steals all the paintings in the collection.

Arriving home, Virgil finds only a devastated vault. But Claire does not just steal the paintings, she mocks the old man, deliberately leaving the painting with a stranger who looks a lot like herself. Thus saying – “You are worthy only of the picture, but not of me.”

The Meaning of the Movie The Best Offer

Some see the meaning of the film in an interesting and exciting story about art, and the plight of those who touched the beautiful.

But it seems more likely that this story is about a person and human relationships, only covered with beautiful art.

It shows that money in the modern world is more important than feelings and other human feelings. Along the way, the film shows the problem of a lonely person, in a world where there is no one close to him. The hero of the film is engaged in the sale of expensive and old paintings, but is this occupation capable of replacing friendship and love for him? Of course no.

This is the sore point of an elderly auctioneer, his friend Robert notices, twisting novels right and left with a lot of girls. He probably decides to cash in on the gullible old man, using the services of his friend Claire.

She skillfully “breeds” the old man, and when he begins to fully trust her, she stabs her in the back. Thus, we can conclude that when there is a lot of money at stake, it is worth trusting only yourself. Also, any picture, no matter how expensive and famous it is, always remains a picture – a part of the past, incapable of action. She will never be able to replace a living person with real feelings and emotions, so it is pointless to hope to avoid loneliness by surrounding yourself with pictures.

The only way out of this is to surround yourself with real people, not soulless objects. Moreover, you should be extremely careful when it comes to money and not trust anyone who promises you good things.

The meaning of the film’s ending The Best Offer

The film ends showing us Virgil Oldman sitting alone in a restaurant with chimes. He seems to be waiting for Claire to come back to him and everything will turn out to be a stupid joke. The directors decided to end the film on a dramatic break. But since the genre of the film is drama, you should not hope that Oldman will be lucky. The chimes hanging in abundance around the restaurant are a metaphor for wasted time that Oldman will not get back.

However, the hero should not grieve too much. Yes, he lost his entire collection, but probably the accumulated funds from years of trading will not let him starve to death. Although he lost everything he had in return, he was able for the first time in years of loneliness to feel at least something.

It’s time to start your life from scratch.

Write in the comments your meaning of the movie Best Offer. We look forward to waiting!