Satantango ending explained

What happens

Irimiás talks the villagers into handing over their money and leaving for a promised new farm. But he is a police informant, and they are scattered to separate places. He reports to the authorities, and the doctor boards up his windows.

The last image

The doctor nails boards across his windows as the bells ring, shutting himself in, and the film closes where it began.

What it says

The ending shows how easily hope in despair is turned into obedience, and how the villagers' own wanting is used against them. The film ends where it began because nothing has changed, and the doctor, who watched it all, only hides.