Bizarrer And Bizarrer

No no NO! You have it all wrong! The unicorn symbolises her promiscuity & the old woman is the child she aborted. The war between the es is a sham because the men are diguised as women and the women as men. The lambs are Ozzy Osbourne and the children are N Synch. The snake crawling under her skirt represents her desire for a movie that isn't buried in pointless symbolism. Or something else.

I, too, just watched it. Felini on steroids! My loose interpretation is that the "war between the sexes" is primeval (so much "nature" in all the animals that interact with our characters), and that this villa is a semi-refuge from the war all around it. Naked children romp and play au nautrale, etc. Nonetheless, the conflict simmers between the women, who nurture one another, and Brother Lily, who eventually kills the eagle and Sister Lily. Lily is left to seek comfort, sexual awakening, and growth, in the bed of the "mother/child", who was the driving force for the existence of the villa.

As with Felini, Malle often departs from a plotline to give "images" that provide emotional clues to his message. Take a few: The innocence of naked children playing...the harmony with nature on the villa grounds...the brutality of Brother Lily as he kills the lamb, and subsequently, the eagle. The Unicorn, is a symbol of innocence, too (rather than just "virginity"). Lily, with provocative nudity for a 16-year old, finally offers her breast to the unicorn as the movie ends. She is now the nurturing "mother nature", which is the only true, pure, unspoiled by man, symbol in the flick.

Do I get an "A"?