the ending?????

Thank you all for explaining the film. I too felt that the young man was attrated to Mrs Stone. He acted as if she was his long-lost mother or ?? There was quite a lot of emotions expressed from his eyes.

Does anyone know what it means when the young man took a pee in Mrs Stone's presence?

Reading the responses here and things written in the other sections about this movie, I like this last explanation best. My humble opinion the ending could have meant both death and giving into need with abandon. Need of being wanted that is.

While I was reading about the young man representing death and whatnot, I remembered the scene where gigilo walked past the young man and the young man spat -- If I were to try and derive meaning post-viewing, I /could/ say that possibly death felt threatend by Paolo because he knew he could stave it off?

Death chased, stalked, and haunted her at every turn, but he generally showed himself to her when she was down about herself. She was disgusted and horrified by him/it, which again could lend me to believe this slant on the character. I dunno, I can keep going --

Death watched her snatched from his grasp and thrown into a relationship that caused her to thrive and want to be alive -- Hence the puppydog eyes? Made him look beautiful, but ... I spent the entire film trying to figure out why the young man always seemed to be on the verge of tears. I suppose I could summon a "death wanting" analogy out of it, but it is starting to make me feel as if my trying to understand this character is really putting too much depth into it. I always crack up when people do that with songs. Maybe he was simply just a young man entranced by her and she simply gave herself to him in the end because she needed to be needed, and he adored and needed her more than anyone else. I mean, just look at what a good bath would do for him! (Sorry, I've seen this actor in two movies now where he was dirty through the whole thing. I wonder if that wears thin after a time?)

yup.... that was what I thought too. Anyway... with Rodrigo Santoro so hot ... that was what I hoped.

The ending confused me too.... If someone stalked me, pee'd on me, whipped out his d**k in front of me, I sure as hell would NOT throw him the keys to my apartment no matter how down and out I was. Yes, he has a cute face, but he was creepy and GROSS. The "death" analysis never occured to me, but now that I think about it, it does make sense. My question is.......Does he murder her like Paolo suggests in an earlier scene? that she dies in bed with her throat slit?

Did this film remind you of "Up at the Villa?" The socialite hooks up with a poor, dirty transient....

I adore Anne Bancroft and Helen Mirren. I enjoyed the film.

I have only seen this wonderful film once, but this is how I interpret the film and the ending:

I think that the ending represents that she has finally got rid of society's mores....represented by her old life, and has accepted a life of anarchy, which she feels is more truth to her innerself at this stage in her life. She is rebelling against her destiny.

Society had not understood her devastation and loneliness after her husband's death. Society had pigeonholed her as 'the rich widow'. She thought her life had been mapped out for her, a life of happiness with her husband, albeit a life with no sexual intimacy because of her husband's health/impotence.

Once in Rome, at first she is disgusted by the homeless man, not only at him physically, the state of him, but at his lack of decorum by peeing in front of her and insinuating himself to her. At this stage she feels she is superior to him... this lowlife. She discovers or rediscovers her sexuality thanks to the gigolo, Olivier Martinez's character...and his company diverts her from the reality of her 'widow' status. So far, society allows her to have fun with this man, it is even expected in her circles, but she wants more. She wants love too.....or at least to be assured that he will not leave her to face her loneliness again and the reality of her widow status.

Later on, once she realises the Olivier character has moved on to somebody else, and she is left to face an empty apartment, symbolising her empty existense, she realises that like the homeless man, she too has hit rock bottom because her life now truly does seem to be mapped out for her...the life of a widow ...unless of course she decides to go back into society and accept society's rules and maybe remarry some day, and live the hypocritical life she had led before coming to Rome after her husband's death, and learning what real physical passion and having a carefree existense on the fringes of society means. So far she had been just on the fringes, not totally outside society and it's mores and it's preconceived ideas of how and how she shouldn't behave.

She decides to fully ditch society, not to go down that known route again, and decides to live a life full of unexpected surprises, for better or for worse. Hence, she let's the homeless man into her home....the unexpected, the dangerous, something that she would have never done before. This man lusts after her, yet he also seems moved by her.

It is a risk she wants to take, he can kill her or he can love her...anything better than her whole life being mapped out for her, a lonely life leading to a lonely death (represented by the clock ticking).

Some people on this board seem to think he represents Death, and that he kills her...but I don't recall him killing her at all. To me he just represents freedom, and freedom can be dangerous and also liberating........