singedsun

Okay so. I will link this article at indiewire which has a conversation with Charlie Kaufman to talk about a few aspects of the film that would spoil some of the more abstracts.

I think the biggest thing it affirmed for me, because I'd already guessed this was the case early in the movie, is that as you mentioned this is Jake's story. I also sussed out that he was the Janitor early on, but then as we went through the house and her names and professions started to change, and we saw her discover the poem she supposedly "wrote" in a book in his bedroom that I realized I didn't think Lucy was real. In the car after the farmstead I realized that neither young!Jake or any version of Lucy are real -- during the kiss scene at the high school when Jake can hear thoughts in that kiss and perceives the old man watching them. NONE of it is real.

We see the old man is fond of stories, with the pretend movie ending. And we see him at the beginning watching this women, Lucy, down on the street. And we hear their thoughts co-mingled for a few moments. And then again later during that kiss scene. I realized that neither this Jake nor this Lucy really exist. This is all in the Janitor's head and all the inconsistencies we see with his parents, with Lucy's clothes and profession, even her mannerisms, it's all old!Jake trying essentially to imagine the life a younger him might've had with a girl like that. But he can't quite figure it out - at what age he might've introduced her to his parents, for example. Or what kind of person she might've been, taken from the various books and studies he'd done in his own life.

If you want more things - there were things I spotted that had to be references to things (like the speech/movie review) Lucy gives on the return drive - that I didn't understand where they were coming from other than they were obviously referencing something. Same for the speech at the end.

The conversation about "Baby It's Cold Outside" I think too is like the two clashing opinions about that song we have in a modern age. Whether it's a woman who wants to be there and is coming up with excuses that might make her stay, or whether it's a predatory man who isn't letting her leave. Their both valid interpretations of the song but up to that point on that return trip, you see him ceding several points to Lucy. As if she's taken on a life of her own even within the confines of the relationship he's trying to force in his own mind. Like his own creation is getting the upper hand on him. Which I really liked.

I really liked how much could be up to interpretation though. You could think he's remembering old dates and dressing her up as 'the one that got away'. You could think there's a darker presence to what's happening (like with all the brrrrs in the dumpster at the school) like some kind of Groundhog's Day time loop of a date gone horribly wrong. And I love all those ideas too.