I also love the last few lines of THE CROWN AND THE CRUCIBLE by Michael Phillips and Judith Pella. It was such a sweet, beautiful summation of all Anna, the main character, had hoped and dreamed throughout the entire novel. LOVED it.

I should really think of these comments when I’m at home with my book and DVD collection…not doing too well from memory here…

“It’s over now, the music of the night”. Sung as his world literally comes crashing down around him. The whole book/play/movie is about the little world that he tries to create to block out the cruelties the real world has shown him. It’s a world made of glass, literally and figuratively. At the end, it all crashes down.

But the very last scene of the movie is even more memorable for me. Even though it’s not in the book, and there’s no way it could have worked in the musical, it’s so PERFECT. The single red rose with the black ribbon tied in a bow, and Christine’s engagement ring tied in the ribbon, left on her gravestone. It was just a moment of absolute perfection that showed the Phantom’s undying love for her.

Also love the last line from the second Pirates movie, though right now I can’t remember it to save my life, lol. I think part of why it’s so memorable is because it’s spoken by in an accent I’m so familiar with, but never hear in movies. I do like the last line of Se7en too, but again, can’t remember it at the moment to save my life!

The warrior’s name was Tatanka Yotanka. The whites would come to know him as Sitting Bull. From Over the Earth I Come by Duane Schultz, Thomas Dunne Books, 1992.

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. And like that…he’s gone.” The Usual Suspects

I love this line for lots of reasons…especially because the speaker is referring, in a way, to himself. Without giving too much of the movie away, this line sums up evertyhing this character has said the previous two hours. And as the cop realizes what’s just happened, the line resonates…especially when he runs out after the ‘suspect’.

“Who is Keyser Soze?”–great line from the ads too.

I can think of a ton of awesome lines from movies, but I don’t think most of them are last lines…like “So you have to ask yourself: Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya?” or “That’s no moon…that’s a space station!” I’ll have to pull out a couple of my favorite movies when I get home and find out what the last line is and see if they’re worth sharing.

As far as last lines in books, I’ve read a lot of classic literature which gives the wrap up / summary kind of ending. Some of them tend to philosophize a bit at the end, too. I guess becuz I’m used to that kind of ending, I’m a little disappointed when I don’t get it in the modern literature I read.

I struggle with it in my writing, so I can’t wait to learn more when you talk about it with our writing.