I'm saddened by the many negative reviews I've read here. But I can see why the film's a cult favorite...and why it's not for everyone. I loved it.
Bearing in mind that what the message the audience takes from a film is never necessarily the message that the makers themselves intend, here's my take:
What if Willett and his "brother" Coigne are really the same person...and this is all an ALLEGORY--not to be understood in a literal sense? What if Willett and Billy Spear are the same person? During the journey, when Willett smashes Spear's hand with a rock he's actually smashing his own hand in a (vain) effort to keep this entire scenario from happening again and again. (Notably, Willett has a bandaged hand at the start of the film, when we see him leaving a trail of flour for the woman ("Death") to follow--thereby literally sowing the seeds of his own destruction). Thus, it was Willett who killed the "woman and child" in town; it's also Willett (in the form of the flip side of the...Coigne) who killed Leland (through his other persona of Billy). In the end Death shoots Willett/Coigne...and the circular process begins anew, as Billy/Willett/Coigne endlessly wanders the desert--a pawn in the meaningless game we call Life. ;)
Bearing in mind that what the message the audience takes from a film is never necessarily the message that the makers themselves intend, here's my take:
What if Willett and his "brother" Coigne are really the same person...and this is all an ALLEGORY--not to be understood in a literal sense? What if Willett and Billy Spear are the same person? During the journey, when Willett smashes Spear's hand with a rock he's actually smashing his own hand in a (vain) effort to keep this entire scenario from happening again and again. (Notably, Willett has a bandaged hand at the start of the film, when we see him leaving a trail of flour for the woman ("Death") to follow--thereby literally sowing the seeds of his own destruction). Thus, it was Willett who killed the "woman and child" in town; it's also Willett (in the form of the flip side of the...Coigne) who killed Leland (through his other persona of Billy). In the end Death shoots Willett/Coigne...and the circular process begins anew, as Billy/Willett/Coigne endlessly wanders the desert--a pawn in the meaningless game we call Life. ;)