I have seen "The End" three times and this was the first time it
really hit me.

Fred's point about the "collective suicide of the human race" is
interesting but that is not what I felt at all watching the film. In
my opinion, the main theme of the film is rejoicing in the moment
through love and art. The narrator asks something like this to Walter
(character #1) who runs away from people "Would he be running if he
knew that the world would come to an end soon? No, he would lie down,
and dreeeam..."

The film is also very much aware of the impossibility of that mission.
Art and love are too complicated. John (character #3) is a poet but he
feels like he has nothing to add to poetry, which is a very common
problem for many artists. Maclaine is not sure if he has anything new
to say. Similarly, Paul (character #4) decides to love a leper hoping
that the leper will return his love, knowing that the chances are very
slim. Love hurts... most of the time.

There is no answer to these questions but there should be rejoicing,
and art has to go on. The only option that's left is
art-as-question-mark. That seems to be the reason why he asks "what is
happening?" Doesn't any moment of any artwork ask the same question
anytime? The only difference is that Maclaine makes it literal.
Actually, the way the whole film is shot and edited makes sure we
constantly ask ourselves "what is happening" from the very beginning
of "The End", as opposed to some other works (such as "Vertigo") that
do not force those questions. The constant search of the camera, and
the disruptive editing make sure we are aware of every moment of the
film and that we constantly try to understand "what is happening".

The sixth section is a summary of all this. A guy lights candles that
are sure to burn out a few seconds later. What is the purpose? None
but rejoicing for the brief moment it is lit. A girl looks at the
pipes but they change colors; The second pipe turns to gold. Our eyes
see different things at any two moments that follow each other. Like
Fred wrote a while ago, "you can never step into the same river twice"
(even if you step twice in the same second). World is an unstable
place and our brain is no different.

Two lovers, the same guy and the same girl, run towards each other but
instead of hugging they both roll in the sand, in happiness,
individually. That is what love is, because however much we love, and
however much we try, we are still in our own world. The premise of
love is being united as one being but it is an impossible quest. So
the girl keeps on riding the horse, moving ahead despite everything
while images of random moments from daily life are shown. That is what
life is, moments.. That would be what we would all concentrate on if
we knew that "the end" of everything is near.

Yoel