The Film's Title


Does anyone know the significance of the title "The Red Lily"? Is it simply an allusion to Enid Bennett's character - pure but not compleltely, or perhaps the fact that she is a rare woman -- do red lilies exist?

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I'm answering you six years later, sorry, but well... I think it's the meaning of the flower itself, lilies itself mean purity, in some paintings/representations you can see Virgin Mary holding some lilies on her hand (for example in some of the depictions of Virgin Mary Annunciation, as the one realized by Paolo de Matteis, or the one by Giovanni Lanfranco), you can remember that at the beginning of the film he tells to his father that she is "pure as an angel".

And yes, red lilies do exist.

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Karl, thank you for your reply and insight. I can't believe that six years have passed since I watched the movie. I started a journal of movies that I watch and am always surprised when I realize that a number of years have passed since I've seen a particular film, especially if it is a favorite.

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I had to wonder that myself given "red lily" is never referred to in the story. I read up a bit on the film in a few movie books and apparently this was the girl's hooker nickname (from the book it's based on?) but it's definitely not in the film otherwise.

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That makes sense. Thanks.

"It's too late... too late. There's no bringing her back."

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I agree, due to her struggle to survive, her life was tainted by heartbreak and having to sell her body to eat and pay rent. I'm glad at the end of the movie, the nuns hired her as a seamstress.

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