QWhat happens after the young man enters Karen's apartment?
AThat is a matter of how a viewer interprets the movie. Some viewers, remembering Paolo's comment about how most women her age are found killed by their lovers and Karen's reply about needing only four years whereupon, after that, a cut throat would be convenient, conclude that he did just that...killed her...and that she knew he would. Others see him as the Angel of Death who has been stalking her for some time and just waiting for her to invite him in. On the other hand, some viewers, including Jill St John in an interview on the DVD, think that he became her new lover, albeit certainly a less spectacular version of Paolo without the fancy trappings of a gigolo or a lady pimp in tow. Whatever the interpretation, the message is clear that most, if not all viewers, see the ending as dark, a statement of how depressed and debased Karen had become after her experience with Paolo.
QWhy did the Contessa ask Karen for $1,000?
AThe Contessa was obviously tired of waiting for her commission from Paolo, but viewers have suggested a some more subtle reasons why she might have asked Karen directly for money. One such suggestion is that she wanted to test Paolo's story that Karen had not given him any money and that he was in it for love. Another is that she wanted to let Karen know that it was she, the Contessa, who set up their meeting and to determine whether or not Karen was gratified enough with the stud service that she would be willing to recompense the Contessa for her time. A third reason is that the Contessa wanted to humiliate Karen and to rub it in that her affair with Paolo was not a 'relationhip of the heart'.
QIs 'The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone' based on a book?
AThe Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone is based on a short 1950 novel of the same name by American writer and playwright Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III [1911-1983]. It is rumored that Williams based the story on his own relationship with a young man named Paul (to whom the novel is dedicated) during his years in Rome. The novel was adapted for the screen by British screenwriters Gavin Lambert and Jan Read. A TV remake, also titled The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, was released in 2003.
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