Sondra's red dress?

Harrison and Betty travelled with more than two suitcases. You can see them when the bellboy brings them at the beginning. Betty's not out of clothes.

Anyone that travels often knows you put a days clothing, dress for woman, new shirt for guy, just in case your luggage gets lost. It goes into a carry on.

Or, it could have been in the one suitcase that was theres. They checked 2 bags. 1 got through, one got switched.

In fact, when the 2 bags are on the bed, you can see the red dress, right on top....as she's staring at the locked bag trying to intuit why it won't open.

The red dress is intriguing and it is probably no accident.

The real question is; why red? We know it is significant because in the last sequence of the film, when the exchange is taking place, both Sondra and Michelle wore a red dress.

I suppose it stands for fiery passion/will. This is counteracted by the lady in green; the lady of liberty.

Now we know that red and green are each other's opposite. And the device that was responsible was hidden inside lady liberty. So by breaking liberty one ends up with a device that is capable of incredible destruction.


I think Richard developed feelings for Michelle even though he will always be commited to honour the loyalty he feels for his wife. But Michelle in red was a temptation to Richard; fiery passion. And she only appeared in red after liberty was broken. As a matter of fact, she broke liberty.. wether it was her intention or not, remains a mystery.

But there's an interesting dynamic here..

I'm really not sure if Richard developed feelings for Michelle.. but I think deep down he did.

And in some way after the moment with the cops in his hotel room, he was all set up: his wife left with another man and Michelle made clear that she wanted to be around him. It was the perfect way out yet Richard chose to remain faithful to his wife. Which is a beautiful thing of him. But on a more personal level this must have been a very difficult choice. That's why he was crying at the phone. Because he felt guilty I think.

On the other hand.. Michelle could have used his help as well.. so choosing her would have beautiful as well..

I think the point of the story is that in the end Richard chose to remain in his comfort zone and get his wife back.

But IMO this really was a story of life sometimes throwing very difficult choices at you.. the way in which fiery passion can really stir up our lives.

I mean, c'mon.. every time Richard encounterd his peers, it looked as if he had ran off with Michelle or decided to hook up with an escort or whatever. And he didn't care about what it looked like to them or whatever they thought. He even lied to the cops! I think maybe after the call with his daughter he realized he had to get his wife back at all costs.. for them.. even though his kids could have been at an age to understand things like that.

In the last scene when he tells his wife "I love you so much baby" it just felt like a lie. It felt horrible!

When he decided to get his wife back, he unconsciously killed his passion. And the rest of his life he will just live with the burdon of not having chased his passion.. What if he had ran off with Michelle? Or what if he just stayed with Michelle and let the cops deal with the situation?

We all saw the effect Michelle was having on him. He was brought back to life in a way.

Ah well difficult things to contemplate.. not an easy choice.. In the end he sacrificed his own passion to do good for others.. that's a beautiful thing of him.. but in some way it could also have been an opportunity lost. Difficult ending.. kinda sad, really.

Very good work from Polanski, yet again.