Why does the grown up Thomas leave Evelyne? I didn't understand: the scene suggests a kind of coincidence: she arrives somewhat late, running with her suitcase just as Thomas drives away from the entrance of the music school where he's been waiting for her. he must have thought she changed her plans at the last moment.
But nut much later, Thomas visits Alexander who tells him, that his wife is leaving him (after all). Why doesn't Thomas look for her?
I remember that he didn't know Evelyne was Alex's wife until he saw a picture of hers in Alex's house. I think if he thinks Alex is living his (Thomas's) life already, then, he doesn't have any more reason to take Evelyne away.
The irony of life (or life has been playing tricks with him all this time)totally blew him away, he couldn't handle the shock and it led to his breakdown.
This is my favorite movie of all time, and i am so glad someone is still talking about it.
He saw the hand-made rose in Alexander's house, exactly the same rose he asked his sister Alice to give him when they were kids, which later was actually given to little Alexander when invited to their house. And the red candies. Perhaps he just couldn't decide who's who? Alice his sister or Evelyne Alexander's wife? It's all illusion, so finally he chose to slip away.
shareWhat happens is that up until that point, Thomas is living under the delusion that Evelyne is so much like Alice that she is a substitute for Alice... when she sees the photos she realises that Alfred has been trying to 'recreate' Alice out of Evelyne (like James Stewart does in 'Vertigo' with Kim Novak). At that point, Thomas realises he's doing the same thing - trying to make Evelyne into Alice - and it freaks him out. It's almost like at that point he finally accepts that Alice died in the fire, and it suddenly hits him.
shareOn the sleeve text it said that in later life he very much regretted having been too scared to run of with her.
shareI think it comes all up again, when he saw the rose and the candy in Alfred´s house.
He maybe remembered the death of Alice. He was jealous about Alice and Alfred ( she give him the dried flower, the candy ). In order to proof Thomas her love and faith, she wanted to burn down the house of Alfred´s parents, as she sweared in the church after their father died in a plane crash, while he was transporting jam and marmelade for Alfred´s father ( but she didn´t, another sign in Thomas jealousy, that Alice was in love with Alfred ). Accidently the fuel exploded an Alice died.
So it might be, that he was afraid, same destiny could happen to Evelyne and him.
"Es ist ein langer Weg ins Paradies, also reg Dich nicht ueber Kleinigkeiten auf!SK"