After watching this movie, I looked up a lot of information on the Internet. I don't know if it's the translation or if I misunderstood it. I think Ava finally killed Daniel instead of killing herself. Finally, the police came to the conclusion that suicide was just an illusion made up by Ava, because in the scene before the gunfire, Daniel was lying quietly in bed, while Ava, who knew the truth, was short of breath and slowly approached Daniel in bed. Ava's arm briefly shook a moment before the gunfire rang out.

In order to find a reasonable explanation for this ending, we must find the basis from the previous plot: first of all, Ava is a very insidious woman. In order to avenge her father, she exchanged identities with her good friend Milla, married Daniel's son, seduced Daniel the day before the wedding, put him in an incest situation, and continued to show her love to Daniel after Daniel learned that she had discovered the truth ... Secondly, at the end of the film, Daniel entrusted a retired policeman to investigate Ava's identity. According to the police's description, Ava and Milla have bad criminal records in Switzerland, such as drinking and taking drugs. The scam she set for Daniel was not just for revenge. Finally, after Daniel's wife found out about their extramarital affairs, she deliberately kissed Daniel who didn't know the truth, leaving him in a rebellious position. ...

The story is very clever, just like peeling an onion, it gradually approaches the truth, and the process of approaching the truth is the process of Daniel's secret being uncovered. Sometimes, it is a person who hides his needs. When Daniel found that he couldn't keep a secret, death might be a better choice for him, so he wrote a suicide note and waited quietly for death in his friend's old house. Before he died, he was lying in bed. The final confession in the film is actually Daniel's inner monologue: "Our story is always waiting for someone to tell us, someone who knows and can express his feelings. We have never completely disappeared, which is very tiring, just like spying on others. In order to keep a secret, our memory must be accurate. Secrets are usually not out of malice, but the melody in our hearts, which makes us witnesses to other people's lives. I can't start writing without secrets. This is storytelling, just like a contract, a kind of magic, binding memories with an invisible line, making those people's things linger. When we were freed from magic, we finally wanted to tell the truth, and we became memories or illusions. "

Being out of the public eye is actually a way of life. When Daniel's new book was released, Daniel hid behind the crowd and felt like attending his own funeral. Just like in Days on the Clouds, the director wandered around with a notebook in his hand, peeking at the stories in the crowd, and the screenwriter told other people's stories with his own pen. It takes courage to escape from the public's sight, because not everyone can be indifferent to fame and fortune, Haruki Murakami is one. (transferred from douban)

Why did Daniel die? Because Daniel is Eva's father, there are two possibilities: first, after Daniel died 25 years ago, Paul adopted Daniel's name, and Eva is Paul; Second: Daniel is a prodigal son. It can be seen from the plot before the woman went to see him that Eva is Daniel's daughter.