Colet's Plot Summary

This juxtaposition of sound and image displays the irony of Mme. Colet’s envisioned future with Gaston, exposing that the romance is no more concrete than reflections and illusions, as we know Gaston plans to rob her and fleet. Gaston and Mme.Colet are seen at the same angle throughout the sequence and the camera never leaves the room. The couple is also contained in double frames, the screen and the mirror or the shadow on bed. These restrictions further pronounce the limitations on the life Gaston would have with Mme. Colet if he were to stay with her, foreshadowing Gaston’s final decision to run away with Lily rather than stay with Mme. Colet and her money. The underlying care for reality in romantic scenes is also emphasized by Lubitsch’s …show more content…
Lubitsch re-accentuates his embrace of economic reality over fragile romance by letting Lily and Gaston’s relationship which is based on their mutual understanding of reality win over Mme. Colet and Gaston’s irrational romance. After Mme. Colet finds out Gaston’s true identity and Gaston admits that he has robbed her, she asks Gaston “Why did you take the money?” Gaston remains silent. He has realized that she has no idea about the outside world which he has long been struggling in, and his connection with Mme. Colet is only an illusion after all. On the contrary, Lily shares Gaston’s view of the real world, as we know in the film that she is also a crook. Additionally, in the final scene, we see Gaston and Lily pickpocketing each other in the car ride. Different from Mme. Colet’s lack of understanding of Gaston’s need to steal, we see a mutual understanding between Lily and Gaston vis-à-vis their trickeries. Lubitsch also shows Lily and Gaston in a moving car, contrasting the contained bedroom scene of Gaston and Mme. Colet earlier. This contrast makes the final screen more dynamic, suggesting to us a promising future between Gaston and Lily and reveals Lubitsch’s emphasis on reality over