Fictional works where the revealed mystery is awesome

[jackdavinci]

As a counterpoint to the other thread about fictional works where revealing the mystery ruins things, are there any where the revealing turns out to be awesome instead? I'm thinking of mystery in the broader sense, like Lost rather than just whodunnits, though we can include those too.

I kind of liked the reveal in Sphere, enough so that removing it from the film ruined it for me. I thought the myth arc mysteries in Babylon 5 ended up being pretty satisfying.

[steronz]

Memento? The Sixth Sense (I'll admit I may the only one who truly did not see it coming and thoroughly enjoyed the twist)? Planet of the Apes?

Or are you looking for more grandiose mysteries?

[Zsofia]

We just watched this amateurish (in the best possible way) silent Call of Chthulu yesterday - I will not reveal how they did the R'lyeh scenes, but it was AWESOME.

[CalMeacham]

Science Fiction "Sense of Wonder" moments fulfill your requirement. Here are a few:

Forbiden Planet -- the scenes after the wall opens in Morbius' study, and they visit the Krel laboratory and power plants.

E.E. Smith'sd "Lensman" Series -- at the end of every volume, the scale of the epic increases


The Matrix, after Neo takes the red pill (specifically after the "liquid mirror" pours into his mouth).

[SciFiSam]

Sarah Waters' "Fingersmith."

[Ludovic]

In LOTR, the West. It's not explained very well at all in LOTR proper and I was sure it would be a disappointment once I read the Silmarillion. But it just made it that much more awesome.

[eclectic wench]

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt. You spend the first half of the book frantically trying to work out WTF has happened, and when you find out, it's the only thing that could possibly live up to the buildup, and it's brilliantly done.

[cmyk]

I came in to mention The Matrix andThe Sixth Sense as well.

Was the big reveal in Planet of the Apes surprising? I'd already knew the "twist" before I had watched it, the movie being well before my time.

There's also the poignant "Rosebud" in Citizen Kane.

[cmyk]

Also, Psycho.

[Dangerosa]

Usual Suspects

[PSXer]

The man with the harmonica's motive

[Joey P]

Originally Posted by Dangerosa

Usual Suspects

That's what I was going to post when I read the OP. Certainly not you're traditional whodunit and even if you want to treat it like one the 'who' is more of a puppet master. What makes it awesome is how said puppet master plays into the story.

[Dendarii Dame]

"The Acquisitive Chuckle" and The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold
"A Study in Emerald" by Neil Gaiman
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

I'll probably post again with more...

[Annie-Xmas]

Ira Levin scored twice with Rosemary's Baby (He has His Father's eyes) and A Kiss Before Dying.

[Morbo]

Oldboy. I don't need to say anymore.

The reveal to William Hurt's character (and us) about the nature of the city in Dark City.

I still get chills to this day during Vertigo when "Judy Barton" has convinced Scottie that she's not who he thinks she is, then suddenly it shows a flashback to the bell tower in the Mission church.

[Greg Charles]

Jean De Florette / Manon Des Source. The reveal took two movies to develop, and turned on just one lost letter to a solider, but it had the power to completely devastate the main character.

[RikWriter]

Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith.
http://www.amazon.com/Only-Forward-M...8061535&sr=8-1

I found the big reveal to be very well done and somewhat devastating.

[Mahaloth]

It was recommended to me by Dopers for this very reason.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

The reveals, twists, and resolutions were great and satisfying.

[Maiira]

Another Lovecraft one: I saw the twist in "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" coming from a mile away, but I STILL had to take a minute to spazz the hell out after I'd read it.

Actually, most of Lovecraft's twists are like that; modern audiences have seen them all before (and most probably even predate HPL himself), but they're still perfect.

[WOOKINPANUB]

Though everyone knows about it know, I would imagine the "she's my daughter, she's my sister" reveal in Chinatownwas probably a gobsmacker when it first ran.

[Mr. Excellent]

Originally Posted by Morbo

Oldboy. I don't need to say anymore.

The reveal to William Hurt's character (and us) about the nature of the city in Dark City.

Although, of course, the opening narration spoils it. Which is why friends don't let friends watching Dark City for the first time hear that narration; keep it on mute until you see the bathtub, folks.

/PSA

[Morbo]

Originally Posted by Mr. Excellent

Although, of course, the opening narration spoils it. Which is why friends don't let friends watching Dark City for the first time hear that narration; keep it on mute until you see the bathtub, folks.

/PSA

Heh. I do that too.

[Sister Vigilante]

Sixth Sense
Usual Suspects
The Crying Game

[Mahaloth]

Originally Posted by Mr. Excellent

Although, of course, the opening narration spoils it. Which is why friends don't let friends watching Dark City for the first time hear that narration; keep it on mute until you see the bathtub, folks.

/PSA

There is a very nice director's cut DVD that has the silence in the beginning. It's worth it.

[Archergal]

Originally Posted by Dendarii Dame

"A Study in Emerald" by Neil Gaiman

That's a good one. Unless you do like I did, and play the audio version for someone who hasn't READ Sherlock Holmes.

[Mixolydian]

"Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?"
Seven

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

Originally Posted by CalMeacham

E.E. Smith's "Lensman" Series -- at the end of every volume, the scale of the epic increases.

Definitely! Children of the Lens was a great example of how to end a long-running series. Though I wish he would have put more about Cynthia in it.

I thought Clarke's Childhood's End worked pretty well, too.

[Shark Sandwich]

Fight Club

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

The Greek Coffin Mystery and The Egyptian Cross Mystery by Ellery Queen. IMO, the first of these is as radical as The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and the second is a brilliant piece of misdirection. If you ask yourself the right question in the first 30 pages, it's obvious who the murderer is, but I'm betting most of you are like me: you didn't ask that question of yourself.

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler The scene where Philip Marlowe fingers the murderer is probably not as surprising as some other mysteries, but the way Chandler wrote it made it very powerful.

For science fiction, I've always thought Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars was pretty mind-blowing.

[Disposable Hero]

Originally Posted by Zsofia

We just watched this amateurish (in the best possible way) silent Call of Chthulu yesterday - I will not reveal how they did the R'lyeh scenes, but it was AWESOME.

Could you put it in a spoiler box please? Having just read a few of Lovecrafts short-stories I'm intruiged.

[muldoonthief]

From Watchmen:

"It's Adrian."

[Peter Morris]

Angel Heart

[Zsofia]

Originally Posted by Disposable Hero

Could you put it in a spoiler box please? Having just read a few of Lovecrafts short-stories I'm intruiged.

Well, it follows the story as far as I remember, but

SPOILER:

there's a King Kong-style stop motion Chthulu at the end that ought to suck but IMHO was AWESOME. There's two big set pieces in the movie - the Louisiana cult and the ship with the island, and both have this wonderful dreamlike quality.

The scenes where people are sitting and talking to each other are amateurish. The scenes where stuff happens are fantastic.

ETA - and somebody obviously shares my nitpick rage about bad fake old newspaper clippings in movies - the ones in this one are perfect.

[etv78]

Originally Posted by Shark Sandwich

Fight Club

You broke rule #1!

[jsc1953]

Originally Posted by Peter Morris

Angel Heart

Came here to post this. Awesome and creepy.

[Gagundathar]

The Murders in the Rue Morgue is a classic.
Some consider it to be among the first detective stories.

[Sailboat]

In Children of Men the mystery isn't very hard for the audience to figure out, but the two scenes where the characters become aware of it* are awesome in the original sense of the word -- everyone is struck dumb with almost religious awe.

*Spoilered:

SPOILER:

When "the girl" is examined and again in the famous scene when everybody stops shooting.

[PlainJain]

Originally Posted by etv78

You broke rule #1!

And #2!

[qubed]

A lot of these (Oldboy, Chinatown, Usual Suspects) of these don't seem like mysteries that are revealed, but rather unsuspected twist endings. To me, the mystery of The Matrix is how & why the machines came to power, which isn't revealed until the sequels (and isn't a good reveal). Likewise, the mystery of Children of Men is why were children never being born, which is never explained.

[Malleus, Incus, Stapes!]

Originally Posted by The_Peyote_Coyote

The Greek Coffin Mystery and The Egyptian Cross Mystery by Ellery Queen. IMO, the first of these is as radical as The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and the second is a brilliant piece of misdirection. If you ask yourself the right question in the first 30 pages, it's obvious who the murderer is, but I'm betting most of you are like me: you didn't ask that question of yourself.

Awww, man, my library system doesn't have it. Is it worth ordering on Amazon?

[Lamia]

Originally Posted by qubed

A lot of these (Oldboy, Chinatown, Usual Suspects) of these don't seem like mysteries that are revealed, but rather unsuspected twist endings.

I've never seen Oldboy and I more or less agree with you about Chinatown, but I'd say part of the mystery of The Usual Suspects is who Keyser Soze is and how he operates -- if he's even real. The ending does explain this.

[bashere]

Originally Posted by RikWriter

Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith.
http://www.amazon.com/Only-Forward-M...8061535&sr=8-1

I found the big reveal to be very well done and somewhat devastating.

I came in here to post this, believing I was the only person on the planet who had read that book. Also, the reveal in Spares (the Gap, not the reason for the title).

[Novelty Bobble]

Originally Posted by Lamia

I've never seen Oldboy and I more or less agree with you about Chinatown, but I'd say part of the mystery of The Usual Suspects is who Keyser Soze is and how he operates -- if he's even real. The ending does explain this.

I think the even better thing with TUS is that, even after the ending we still don't really know either way. Sure.....he could be Keyser Soze, or he could be an intermediary, or even just a smart guy cashing in on a myth.

Anyhow, that's another thread. I dropped by to say that the ending of Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes was wonderfully done. I couldn't see how it would tie up the loose ends in an emotionally satisfying way, but it did. Perhaps I'm just a big old softy but I certainly had a lump in my throat.

[Disposable Hero]

Originally Posted by Zsofia

Well, it follows the story as far as I remember, but

SPOILER:

there's a King Kong-style stop motion Chthulu at the end that ought to suck but IMHO was AWESOME. There's two big set pieces in the movie - the Louisiana cult and the ship with the island, and both have this wonderful dreamlike quality.

The scenes where people are sitting and talking to each other are amateurish. The scenes where stuff happens are fantastic.

ETA - and somebody obviously shares my nitpick rage about bad fake old newspaper clippings in movies - the ones in this one are perfect.

Thanks, that does sound interesting.

[Justin_Bailey]

Originally Posted by Novelty Bobble

I think the even better thing with TUS is that, even after the ending we still don't really know either way. Sure.....he could be Keyser Soze, or he could be an intermediary, or even just a smart guy cashing in on a myth.

SPOILER:

The Hungarian identifies Kevin Spacey as "Keyser Soze," not one of Soze's men and not as Verbal Kint.

[aruvqan]

Originally Posted by Disposable Hero

Thanks, that does sound interesting.

I have that stop motion Cthulhu movie. It is quite excellent.

[Novelty Bobble]

Originally Posted by Justin_Bailey

SPOILER:

The Hungarian identifies Kevin Spacey as "Keyser Soze," not one of Soze's men and not as Verbal Kint.

Yes, no harm in perpetuating the myth eh? How would a lowly hungarian merchant seaman know what he looks like anyway?

[C K Dexter Haven]

Originally Posted by Malleus, Incus, Stapes!

Awww, man, my library system doesn't have it. Is it worth ordering on Amazon?

Ellery Queen is fun reading, but a LOT dated. They were written back in the good old days of puzzle mysteries with twist endings; I enjoyed them a lot. They're worth reading, so long as you know what you're getting into.

[Justin_Bailey]

Originally Posted by Novelty Bobble

Yes, no harm in perpetuating the myth eh? How would a lowly hungarian merchant seaman know what he looks like anyway?

SPOILER:

Kint's story about Keyser Soze in Turkey involved a feud with a Hungarian gang. If anyone would know, it would be another member of that same Hungarian gang.

[typoink]

Not trying to derail, but just wanted to mention regarding The Usual Suspects:

SPOILER:

I've always been a little confused just how "twist" the ending really is. I watched it having been incorrectly spoiled: I was under the impression that the ending was that Keyser Soze didn't exist and his name was a boogeyman somebody was using. The weird thing is that, watching the movie, the whole time I thought it was supposed to be setting up Spacey-as-Soze as a false twist -- like it was so obvious that he was going to turn out to be Keyser Soze that it would be a huge twist when he wasn't. When he was, it really surprised me, but only because it felt so obvious and I'd always heard TUS hinged on a big twist ending.