Buy:wilky61
08-08-08, 12:49 PM
Wow, I wish I could wrap my head around this film. :(
The way I see it, they're the same person, but divergent personalities. I think that's pretty straightforward, but the question is: Why? I think as a means of coping with guilt. The silent Elizabeth seems to feel guilty about the whole estranged son situation, does the young nurse feel guilty about the orgasm on the beach and the ensuing abortion? I think so, but does the line "It had never been that good before or since" refer to the fling on the beach or when the sex she had when she returned to her fiance? Do the Vietnam/Holocaust scenes have any psychological significance? I don't think so...
What happens at the end? First there's the double-dialogue sequence in which they wear the exact same costume followed by the melding of their faces. I think this just establishes that they're the same person. But then... we see the nurse tidying up preparing to leave, she brushes her hair in front of a mirror and there's a ghasty image of Elizabeth fondling her hair, then she walks outside and the camera focuses on this statue head (what is this?) and then there's a brief shot of Elizabeth performing Electra (why?).
These scenes, coupled with the scene where the husband recognizes the nurse, seem to indicate that she's the real one, no? She leaves and it's almost as if she's been cured of her internal struggle. What, then, of Elizabeth's character? I had always thought that the boy at the beginning/end of the movie was the estranged son, looking on longingly, but I don't know how to reconcile this if Elizabeth's not real. Perhaps they represent different stages in the same being's life?
I haven't seen this with commentary yet, perhaps that elucidates some of the movie's questions?
The way I see it, they're the same person, but divergent personalities. I think that's pretty straightforward, but the question is: Why? I think as a means of coping with guilt. The silent Elizabeth seems to feel guilty about the whole estranged son situation, does the young nurse feel guilty about the orgasm on the beach and the ensuing abortion? I think so, but does the line "It had never been that good before or since" refer to the fling on the beach or when the sex she had when she returned to her fiance? Do the Vietnam/Holocaust scenes have any psychological significance? I don't think so...
What happens at the end? First there's the double-dialogue sequence in which they wear the exact same costume followed by the melding of their faces. I think this just establishes that they're the same person. But then... we see the nurse tidying up preparing to leave, she brushes her hair in front of a mirror and there's a ghasty image of Elizabeth fondling her hair, then she walks outside and the camera focuses on this statue head (what is this?) and then there's a brief shot of Elizabeth performing Electra (why?).
These scenes, coupled with the scene where the husband recognizes the nurse, seem to indicate that she's the real one, no? She leaves and it's almost as if she's been cured of her internal struggle. What, then, of Elizabeth's character? I had always thought that the boy at the beginning/end of the movie was the estranged son, looking on longingly, but I don't know how to reconcile this if Elizabeth's not real. Perhaps they represent different stages in the same being's life?
I haven't seen this with commentary yet, perhaps that elucidates some of the movie's questions?