WHY? (BIG SPOILER BELOW)
Why wasn't Marcel at Leo's funeral?
My guess is that he didn't want to go because he was angry. But I think it's a mistake to take this movie too literally and try to explain everything that happened. It's obviously a fantasy.
shareI was having problems with the ending, too, and tried to get all symbolic about it as jm10701 suggests. But while that interpretation makes sense on a surface level, it nevertheless does not explain, even from a purely allegorical point of view, how someone from such a loving family could/would just give up and allow a disease to kill him. It made no sense. There was obviously a huge amount of fear for Leo as he was not able to discuss it with his ex- (perhaps he didn't get it from the ex- because Leo cheated or something?), but again, he had total support from his family. If someone from a family like that gives up, how is anyone ever going to make it?
But then I just chalked it up to the fact that it was post-WW1 French.
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