MovieChat Forums > The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) Discussion > Ending Meaning *Spoiler Alert*

Ending Meaning Spoiler Alert

posted 12 years ago by josephturner1975
1 reply | jump to latest

If I can beg to differ with some other posters, I think the meaning of the ending is relatively straightforward. Mrs. Stone had fallen so far that she didn't care if her stalker was going to love her, or kill her.

She was indifferent at that point. So it (arguably) makes no difference to the viewer what he was (i.e. a lover or killer) because the point was really that she didn't care. That's a pretty heavy statement to end it on right there.

For what it's worth, there are a lot more lovers in this world than murderers, so I'd say the odds are in favor of him becoming a cheaper version of Paolo.

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what is the purpose of this really?

[–] maryannhwrd 11 years ago

I agree! If he was the latter, Paolo's suits would have probably fit him.

The only thing is that in the book, the stalker was more sinister. As he followed her, he scraped something metal along the walls (knife was implied).

But the movie guy was just pitiful. I thought that the male escorts were treated sympathetically in the movie (except for Paolo). It showed Franco coming out of the cab and looking around like he'd never been in a city before. It was probably his best chance for success.