I got two purposes for this thread. First, could anyone tell me why Paul wouldn't sleep with Maria? It's so unheard of for a male to have this massive aversion to sex. I didn't understand what his problem was.
Secondly and more importantly, I just wanted to sort of get away from the negatism of this film and say the Frenchman Sagamore Stevenin who played Paul is so damn sexy. Just gorgeous. And now I must see more of his work.. naked or otherwise ;)
I suspected that he was closeted/in-denial homosexual*; he'd make a big show of desiring women but doing nothing with them. It's a bit ambiguous, but after Paul finds out that Maria is pregnant, he then 'makes love' to her almost as if to have an excuse to have been the father of the child. Also, during the impregnation scene (it's certainly possible to have viable sperm in pre-cum), Paul is rather sensitive to being called "the woman" while Marie offers to *beep* him (and [at least in the English dub] implying that she would be happy to assume the 'traditional' male/dominant/active role).
*yes, even gay men can get erections and penetrate a woman