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It's a brilliant film, but it really isn't open-ended to anyone who has read A Tale of Two Cities. In Dicken's book, the sacrificial death of scoundrel Sydney Carton "recalls to life" his aristocratic double Charles Darney. And then as Carton walks to the guillotine we share his vision of a post-revolutionary France that has moved past destructive class conflict and emerged "peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy." Ergo Carton's line that "it is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."
Resolving the ambiguity of the ending is the entire point of this extended allusion. We have the sacrifice of a negative character (Batman) redeeming his positive aristocratic double (Wayne), and then general images of social redemption (even down to the visuals of children returning to the garden) as Gotham moves beyond the political/economic oppression that the film claims has thematically resulted from Batman's vigilante behavior and his refusal to trust in the norms of democratic society.
A great movie and widely misunderstood! And very suitable for the HN crowd given that it operates as an extended critique of the American war on terror. Some more thoughts for anyone curious:
Nolan: "I left it open ended because anyone can be Batman."
Warners Exec: "Leave it open ended, Nolan, so we can make sequels, or you're never getting another dime from us."
Warner can/will make sequels anyways... I believe what he said in this interview.
They really drilled that idea about Batman being a symbol in the last two films. So after reading this explanation I have to say I was disappointed. I was hoping Nolan would explain why he allowed us to wonder if the very last scene where Alfred sees Bruce in the cafe was reality or not. Batman being a symbol was pounded into the audience so hard that I feel like you can't not get that and the answer Nolan gave leaves much to be desired at least for me.
Why is this on hacker news? I don't see the connection, is this reddit now?
tldr; he doesn't really explain why / if it is.
This movie sucked. Don't care.