what the hell about the bathroom scene?? (spoilers!!!)
-
toomanytones — 16 years ago(March 04, 2010 05:42 PM)
yeah good point. Its always really easy to get carried away and over analyse Haneke films, when I think they're usually much more simple. Definately that scene has nothing to do with her hymen or her labia it is simply a scene depicting self harm. As to why she would do that there's no linear explanation in this film because it doesn't work like that. The film is the narrative of the most recent events leading up to the suicide of a mentally unstable and derranged musician. The fact that she self harms needs no explanation; it just fits into her personality.
-
eLeM_k — 16 years ago(March 16, 2010 06:00 PM)
This has to be compared with Bergman's "Cries and Whispers" (
http://www.imdb.com/board/10069467/
), in my humble opinion. Genitalia self-harm, and "nothing" more. -
-
just_an_oli — 15 years ago(May 30, 2010 10:48 PM)
How is this a mystery to so many people? She is a masochist and deeply sexually frustrated. She gets off on pain. She cut herself for the sexual release, similar to that she desired in a safe, S&M relationstip. Sadly, she was unable to find that safety and experience.
-
GabrielleP — 14 years ago(July 04, 2011 02:00 PM)
The way she acts so masochistically and, in a way, sadistically, I think she cuts her labium not only to get pleasure out of the cutting itself. When she watched the couple in the car (or the student getting hurt) she rapidly started peeing and with ulcered labium she must have felt a GREAT pain. Thus, knowing she was a masochist, I think urinating was a way to satisfy sexually.
P.S. It's impossible to lose virginity with a razor blade. If she attempted such an action, she would have bleeded to death, not just lost a drop of blood. Imagine a razor blade "travelling" into this internal organ quite deeply and cutting all the sides -
bite_me_loser_86 — 14 years ago(August 28, 2011 07:12 PM)
P.S. It's impossible to lose virginity with a razor blade. If she attempted such an action, she would have bleeded to death, not just lost a drop of blood. Imagine a razor blade "travelling" into this internal organ quite deeply and cutting all the sides
Sometimes I wonder if the some of the people behing the posts in this thread are idiots. How anyone could think it would be possible to penetrate yourself with a razor blade a and cut the inside ( and then later just go about one's day like you didn't just inflict trauma that should have caused you major blood loss I don't know why so many people seem to be so clueless when it comes to female body parts. Imagine if it had been a dude, cutting his balls off. Would anyone believe that to be possible for ANYONE to self-harm in such a horrific way and NOT end up at the ER? -
tinasparklesau — 14 years ago(December 08, 2011 03:43 PM)
I can see the confusion with this scene. It could be due to a goof maybe? Re-watched it last night (with upgraded high def screen) and when she sits on the edge of the bath, you can see she is wearing underwear, yet when she gets up, she makes a motion like she is pulling her underwear back up. Before i noticed that, i always assumed it was just regular self harming near the top of her leg where it wouldn't be noticed by anyone. The movie seems to make it seem ambiguous as to what exactly she was doing. After she was done she grabbed a pad (correct me if i'm wrong but it looked like one to me) to stop the bleeding, but we can't really see where she put it other than between her legs. If she didn't put it in her underwear, then how was she able to walk naturally over to the sink while holding something between her thighs - it would have looked more like an awkward shuffle.
Also, when her mother points out the blood to her, there is a quick shot of the blood and she is really bleeding profusely! Her thigh looks totally covered in blood. -
Helena727 — 10 years ago(April 20, 2015 10:23 AM)
tinasparklesau
, the movie is on YT, so I just re-watched that scene, twice to make sure. When she sits on the edge of the tub, she's sans underwear. She initially wipes away the blood with a small wad of tissue (toilet tissue or facial tissue), then she takes a pad, pulls off the adhesive strip, puts it between her legs (I think she's clenching it between her vulva, which isn't difficult to do) with the adhesive side down so it will adhere to her undies, and then puts on her undies, which are on the seat of the closed toilet. -
nnenok — 13 years ago(September 24, 2012 11:54 AM)
Some of the responses here suprised me big time. Seriously, shaving? Nobody shaves with a razorblade with such a danger of it slipping. It's obvious she was cutting herself. You can see it first doing it on a right leg, then on the left leg. It was probably a good location for her because nobody could see the scars and because it was close enough to her genitals to give her some sexual pleasure (since she was a masochist).
Also, it was obvious she had a routine because she didn't panic at the sight of blood (which I assume you do when you cut yourself for the first time) or when her mother called. She cleaned everything in order and put the razor back in her purse, all of that implying she is doing this quite regularly. -
greganto — 12 years ago(April 08, 2013 08:12 AM)
I believe she cut herself in order to fool her mother (and maybe herself) into thinking that she is still menstruating even though she's past her menopause by now. It's something she's been doing regularly obviously in the last few years. Why she did it? This has clearly to do with the psychological dynamics betweeen her and her mother. Maybe it indicates a denial to acknowledge the grown up woman inside her, as this should lead her to break up with the suffocating ties with her mother.
-
ichbinsisyphos — 12 years ago(July 26, 2013 07:03 PM)
You know, this is something I find interesting. If she simply wanted to cut herself, I doubt she would go about it as surgically as she did. She was aiming for a very specific spot, she had something very particular in mind, that's what I get from the execution of the scene.
Of course this theory has as much problems as any other, I don't think she was supposed to be past her menopause.
I will now end this debate with you. -
Helena727 — 10 years ago(April 20, 2015 09:01 AM)
greganto
, she's engaging in self-mutilation, not trying to simulate menstruation.
Also, she probably
isn't
past menopause; the average age of menopause for white women in industrialized nations is 51, and the "movie" Erika is in her 40s (Erika in the novel is in her 30s).
"All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people."