After Shumacher kills Jurier, the boot shine domestic comes back to the chateau and tells Octave that Jurier is dead. Octave seems almost nonplussed and I thought/wondered whether he planned the whole thing, giving Jurier his coat so that he would be killed since he had "defied" the rules of the game in trying to take Christine away. I don't think, though, this was Renoir's intent; did anyone else think this?
shareWow, THAT'S a new reading! But nope, Octave could not have known about Schumacher…remember that Christine and he pass by Schumacher earlier in their stroll and don't even notice him. Andre Jureau could be said to have died for everyone's sins, but that puts too much of a metaphorical burden on him. He's just a simple pilot in over his head.
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I also thought he might have planned the whole thing,but I didn't really interpret it the way you did.Anyway,I think the cocnclusion of the film with Octave leaving for Paris proves our suspicions wrong...
THE WORLD IS YOURS
Octave was extremely upset at the time: there had been the scene on the steps conducting the imaginary orchestra only to break down in despair, then the realization he loved Christine and she loved him, then Lisette accidentally making him realize he was a failure and couldn't make Christine happy. In other words, at that particular moment he was in no condition to plan anything or fool anyone.
In the severely cut 81 minute version, most of the scenes of Octave's upset are missing, so the interpretation of purposeful subterfuge is more likely. In the longer current version that interpretation may arise briefly, but IMHO is almost immediately discarded.