Ideas that were purposely buried within The Innocents (spoilers)

This film was designed as an intricate puzzle. Some pieces just don't fit, however.

If Mary Jessel did really drown herself in the lake as only Mrs. Grose reveals (important point here that I'll mention later) then why is she buried in the churchyard with others? Did she really die from suicide? Then how can her gravestone possibly be in the church? Maybe she didn't kill herself, which would facilitate her being buried there. Suppose that Mrs. Grose could be lying - she said she can't read, and she says "It doesn't do to speak ill of the dead." She seems a woman scared out of her wits who just sweeps what happens under the carpet. She doesn't face anything, but just labels it as "stuff and nonsense!" Perhaps she has with her own eyes seen the ghosts of Miss Jessel and Quint herself, even before Miss Giddens arrives?

Then who killed Miss Jessel so she could be buried at the church? Suicide? Doesn't that go against the strict codes of burial in the Victorian era?

I do believe Miss Jessel could have killed Quint. He seems like the type of scoundrel who would go to town, get drunk, and then sow his wild oats anywhere he pleased. Perhaps she found out about it - and took him out on a night when few witnesses would even be outside - and - late at night - after all were asleep. Then in her grief over the murder and her loss of her lover, she kills herself. It isn't very far from the witnessed sordid sexual dalliances the two shared on a regular basis, and everybody in the house knew about, as well.

This film is a tale of repressed Victorian sexuality. The "turning screw" of the title alone suggests the act of sex becoming mechanical. Unemotional. Void of pleasure. And from what I've gleaned about Henry James' life, he was a closeted gay man who was an "aberration" trapped in Victorian era mores and societal values. He simply could not be happy in his life - society condemned who he actually was. So he wrote a story that condemns sexuality as evil, and found a way to make it even more reprehensible to his audience - by involving young, innocent children which are now, as a result, either psychologically damaged for life, or don't even make it to the end of the narrative. The children are no longer virginal, "innocent" - they are ruined for life, or lose their life.

It's exactly what Stanley Kubrick started to add into his films - lots of subliminally written (and filmed) clues, that the viewer has to work out on their own. They ARE there - but only if you are willing to search for them.

Lastly, Quint (meaning five) holds up his five fingers towards Miles, at the climax. It looks like an incantation of sorts, and in essence he is stealing Miles' existence away from him. "Quint! Where, you devil?!!" He is metaphysically "branding" Miles with his hand AND his name (Quint), while simultaneously stealing his soul.

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