Hi Guys,
I've read alot of these comments and tried my best to understand the perceptions that different viewers have. However nobody seems to have shared my view of the film and hence the reason for this comment.
I thought without question that the moment just after Caleb slips for the second time. Loomis grabs the rope and authentically tries to save him. Caleb gives him a look and see's the effort on Loomis face and how hard he is trying to save him and the care that is genuinely there from this kind man, even though he had just teased him by calling him jelous and suggesting he would stay around as there may not be anything to find further south.
Even after Caleb had tried his best to irritate John, John still cared enough to save the man that could potentially take away the woman he loved. Going back to the point at the waterfall, there is a good 5 second clip where Caleb is looking at John as he is holding the rope and saving his life. I believe at this moment Caleb realized that he was intruding and ruining a genuine love and healthy relationship between two kind people trying to find their way in this new world. I genuinely think Caleb took the suit and left for the south, in hope of finding what he was searching for originally.
My main reasons for this looking back over, and as I said I didn't even believe anything other at the time, was:
John was a kind and honest man, He admitted the potential murder of Anne's brother and showed deep regret, I don't think he would be able to kill him, as he already had the chance the first time Caleb slipped and he saved him twice without a seconds hesitation.
Caleb never originally planned to stay and originally was only going to camped out on their land for one night. He seemed like a lost soul and wandered towards an endless goal, I don't believe he was evil or a scoundrel but simply a less emotional person than John. He essentially helped Anne and John and the majority of the work could not have been completed without him.
If we were to look into both John and Caleb the movie shows how they both have Vices, Calebs is Anne, a short term 'fast' relationship, and John's was alcohol, he was violent and very different when he had been drinking.
I think the difference between John and Caleb was that they simply wanted different things but from the same woman. I don't however believe that John killed Caleb, I mean would he really fall from that spot and not damage the wheel at all? Are we supposed to believe that John re-entered the radioactive water to retrieve his body and then bury it? This just doesn't seem realistic to me.
My only explanation for the Loomis contemplating suicide would be his doubt that he could get Anne back from Caleb, we've all felt like giving up in our life and I think this was just a representation of that feeling.
I think the fact that this filmed has provoked my mind enough into writing this and delving so deep into human emotion and the whole hidden plot in this movie translates to a suggestion that this film was a true testament to the fact that sometimes 'less is more' - Although the majority of audience wanted a set in stone ending, it's nice to write your own in your mind some times.
I'd love to see if anyone aggrees!