Which part of the ending? It was somewhat different from the book, and I'm blurring them both. I read the book just before the movie came out, and kept checking with the casting. As a result, I can't always tell what imagery I created in my head, and what was onscreen.

I couldn't tell exactly what was happening at the very end, ita, but Ralph Fiennes was at some place holding a gun, and he weirdly sounded like he was going to kill himself, and then some natives or evil conspiracy people were coming after him, and fade to credits.

IIRC, and I may not, the movie provided more repercussions for the villains, but still kept a lot of the futility. I was pleasantly surprised (er...) they stayed true to the book in killing him off because I was sure they wouldn't and it was key. I found the book was much bleaker, in any case.

I'm with sarameg--bleak CITY.

Ralph's character knows he's committing suicide by doing what he's doing, whether or not he pulls the trigger himself.

PC, in the book, he's killed by the same force (and maybe even person, I'm fuzzy) who killed his wife. He knows it's coming.

I'm with sarameg--bleak CITY.

And yet I love both the book and the movie.

I read the book on holiday in Kenya. I kept pausing to read bits out to my sister, just to share Le Carre's turns of phrase. It was really good. I almost said enjoyable, but not so much.

I like bleak (hey, I may be bleak's poster boy, at least in these parts), but the way CG handled it: they didn't sell any particular reason why he HAD to die, let alone how he thought the baddies would find him in the same place they killed her in the middle of nowhere at any particular time. Don't get me wrong; I'm ok with him dying, but the filmmakers didn't make it clear that he was suicidal up to that point, let alone that the pharma companies had Sauron's magic 8-ball that let them know where he was. Wouldn't have taken much narrative to make it work, but the filmmakers, for whatever reason, didn't do so.

I can't be sure how much the book told me, but at least in that he'd blown his cover big time by that point. He was just running to keep ahead. Also, there was no way to shut them down and keep himself safe. He had no insurance, no leverage, and might continue to be a threat.

So the murderous thugs killed him too.

And in a way, it's the only end to his journey. What kept him going was the pursuit of the truth and in a way, a pursuit of his wife. By the very end, he's achieved the first, blown his stable quiet bureaucratic life all too hell, and all that's left is to finally catch his wife. Who is dead, so... And yet, at least in the way the last scene was shot, he's not going to actively commit suicide, which is what they want him to do.

Which doesn't really address Corwood's point, but anywho. Having read the book may have filled in any gaps.