Those final lines of Desirees (before the concluding scene with Frid and Petra, as you say) delighted me. There is the emotional need of Desiree to find stability that gets the audience on her side, much like the musical. We feel that satisfaction at the end with Desiree's victory, perhaps we are applauding inwardly!
I was waiting for the final "smile of death" but I don't think I missed it. I'd take the far witchier Madame Armfeldt of the film. She's seen first in bed with her cards spread out in front of her. Later, at the banquet scene, her guests are spread out in front of her on the opposite side of the table like the archetypes in a deck of tarot. She serves them a wine said to be composed of, essentially, semen and breast milk. It's an absolutely outrageous moment but by that time in the film we are so deeply enchanted that it feels completely natural. |
