I just watched the movie on TV. A bit late maybe (as your post is more than two years old, so you may have found your answer elsewhere), but here is how I interpreted the ending.
The old woman (Mme. Blondeau, played by Suzanne Flon) is the old schoolteacher, whom we also saw at the beginning of the movie. She tells Jojo (Jacques Villeret, the lead character) that she and the rest of the town have taken care of his farm while he was in prison. The three girl names are the names of Jojo's goats. Mme. Blondeau tells Jojo that one of his goats has borne a baby goat, and they need a name for it. Jojo wants all of his goats to have a name starting with "M", so she suggests the name "Mireille", after some children's song that they used to sing in school when he was young.
As far as I could tell, there was no twist. Unless I have missed out on any subtle hints. Had Mme. Blondeau actually planned the whole crime and manipulated Jojo in order to take over the farm? I heavily doubt it, it seemed to me that she was sincerely mad at him in the court room, after he had "won" the trial. Not that she would wish him the guillotine, but I think it's clear that she didn't approve of Lulu's death and Jojo's lies. Moreover, she was actually the only person in town who was somewhat sympathetic to Lulu (Josiane Balasko, the killed wife) because she knew about her traumatic childhood. I think she was there in his house to keep him company and keep his spirits up, because she anticipated that he would feel lonely, depressed and lost when he returned to the empty house; even though Lulu was a pain-in-the-a**, he would still miss her and feel guilty about what he had done.
Two thoughts though. I don't remember what the name of Lulu's sister was (she died when she was still a child, and Lulu visits her grave), maybe there is a connection between her and the name "Mireille", but probably not. And it seems a bit odd though that one of the goats got pregnant, because all of Jojo's goats were female; which of the goats had impregnated the pregnant goat? But I didn't see any hints at a major twist.
______
Signature: currently unavailable
reply
share