I think that's brilliantly insightful and I love the Pygmalion parallel. Indeed, this felt like an infatuation that had a lot more to do with her physical attributes than her personality or her soul. No matter how heartless she appeared to be th him, it made no difference to his feelings for her. You're so right. Very little seemed to distinguish the plaster figurine from the real life woman. And your observation was spot on regarding Karol's brother and Mikolaj too. He didn't seem to want to get to know them deeply either. He was a superficial man albeit with grand ideas and romantic feelings, but not someone much rooted in reality.Even in the end, I was not certain the final bell had been rung - I felt Dominique still either unsure of her own mind or heart...or duplicitous. Of course, her freedom relied on this man. Since the film was from Karol's perspective, the depth of Dominique was not explored to the extent we can truly place blame or understand this marriage, though she was seemingly incredibly cruel to Karol at the time of divorce. However, much like the love for Dominique's doppelganger statue head perhaps his love of her was limiting and, while deeply embedded in him, his brand of adoration served to diminish her following wedded bliss. Perhaps this type of love had little or nothing to do with the soul inside Dominique, but more his molded perception of Dominique as pertained to him and him only.
That Joni Mitchell song. Wow. What a sad sad song, the lyrics are just awesome. How this impossible and unrequited love will turn her into a statue too...
Thank you so much for sharing this song, and your thoughts, Lori, and deepening my understanding and appreciation for this film.
