MovieChat Forums > La frusta e il corpo (1965) Discussion > The ending (spoilers)

The ending (spoilers)

posted 12 years ago by PoppyTransfusion
2 replies | jump to latest

So at the end Christian's explanation, that Nevenka was possessed by Kurt and had killed his father and then herself, seems to be the plausible explanation for the happenings in the castle. However, during at least 2 of her visions (or hallucinations according to Christian) she has welts from being whipped, which would be quite hard to do to oneself though perhaps not impossible.

Near the end the director focuses the camera on Kurt's corpse burning in its coffin and the riding crop; suggesting he was buried with the whip. This introduced some doubt into my mind and makes it plausible that Kurt's ghost did return from the dead to terrorise the castle inhabitants and kill his father, and, that it was he who killed Nevenka at the end.

Anyway it's quite clever to leave an element of ambiguity allowing for interpretation either way.

my vessel is magnificent and large and huge-ish

[–] Trippetta10 10 years ago

I thought the other characters sometimes saw the same uncanny things Nevenka did--strange lights, mysterious footprints, etc....I suppose, however, the servant Losat who seemed to be everywhere could have been responsible for all this. I'm more inclined to think Kurt's ghost was real, but we are rather left guessing (not that this is a problem).

Christopher Lee and Daliah Lava were both outstanding, and I wish Lee had done more than two films with Mario Bava.

In heaven everything is fine.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 10 years ago

Christopher Lee was very good and I agree that it would have been good to see him in more Bava films.

I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.