The Ending of "Kiss Me Deadly"

[Kenneth]

I just finished the DVD of Kiss Me Deadly which had been in my backlog for awhile. I am curious about one thing though. I will put my question in spoilers:
Spoilerid they still not understand nuclear material that well in 1955 or was the ending an artistic statement on the apocalyptic aspects of nuclear fission? I am pretty sure that nuclear material doesn't just spontaneously combust like they showed.
I am curious what others think. Thanks.
Kenneth

 

[Andy Sheets]

It's an artistic statement. Classic Pandora's Box kind of thing. I love this movie, much much more than the novel, mainly for the more downbeat take on Mike Hammer and those characters

 

[Darren H]

Robert Aldrich, who directed Kiss Me Deadly, said in several interviews that he was attracted to the material because it allowed him an opportunity to skewer the conservative hysteria of the McCarthy-era. He saw Mike Hammer as an amoral, fascistic, any means necessary anti-hero. Aldrich made some really interesting films in the mid-50s, all of which were financed independently and distributed through United Artists. It allowed him some freedom to be considerably left of the the Hollywood center.
The nuclear element of the film is a MacGuffin (and is rumored to have been the inspiration for Jules' briefcase in Pulp Fiction).
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"I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity." -- g.W.b.

 

[Kenneth]

Cool. Thanks for the explanation. Yeah, I thought of both Pulp Fiction and RepoMan when they started "peeking" in the box. A great movie.
Kenneth