Paulo
Did Paulo care about Mrs. Stone? I couldn't tell. I thought that he did and that's why he felt like such crap. And what the hell was with the young man? I was so confused by this movie. It certainly wasn't what I thought it would be.
shareMy personal opinoin is that the relationship between Paolo and Mrs. Stone was very complex.
He didn't love her in a pure sense, but I do think he cared about her, and loved her in spots. In the barber shop, you could see how happy he was about his prize "meal ticket". He didn't just treat her badly for money....he genuinely seemed prepared to give up his youthful carnal happiness for a nice life.
He also lied a lot to impress her. Mrs. Stone didn't seem to mind, even though she was much more experienced and knew he was lying.
At the same time, he was quite rude and cruel to her. He was constantly taking jabs at her to make her feel bad. I think when he saw girls laughing, he thought/assumed they were laughing at him being with an older lady...so he forced himself to not love her.
So basically, I do think he love/cared for her...but his life was on another path...the gigalo/Contessa path...and he wouldn't deviate from that.