I saw this for the first time yesterday. I started watching it only because Joan Crawford is in it, but I became involved with it when I saw the authentic methods being used to educate Esther at the special school she attended. (I am a retired speech-language pathologist, so I'm familiar with many of the methods shown.)
Where the film started to disgust me was when it became obvious that Rossano Brazzi's character was sexually interested in Esther, yet Joan Crawford's character remained oblivious to it. Wait - let me put this another way -- Joan is aware that Rossano had cheated on her in the past. She is aware that there is an attractive (non-related) teenager in the house. She has begun to have suspicions about Rossano's manipulations of the whole charity/money- skimming situation (which should have been a red flag, all by itself, about the man's moral deficiencies.) Most especially, Joan has apparently never explained to her the need to make sure that when she undresses, she needs to be behind closed doors/curtains. (Just because Esther can't see, doesn't mean that she can't BE seen.)
To me, the worst betrayal of all is that when Joan realizes that Esther has been raped, and she doesn't IMMEDIATELY call the police!
Okay - I realize that I might be laying 21st-century sensibilities onto mid-20th century ones, when the film was made, an age when NO ONE publicly discussed issues of sexual abuse, incest, or abuse. But it still bothers me that Joan not only failed to protect Esther (since she was, in effect, her adoptive mother), but failed to get justice for what happened to her. (Unless you think it's justice for both her and her husband to have been killed.)
As to the very end of the story, I think it's fine that the details are slightly ambiguous. The important thing for us to know is that Esther is going to try to make things right, as best she can, by telling the truth as she knows it. We can only hope that the audience doesn't throw rotten food at her, or rip her apart...
Where the film started to disgust me was when it became obvious that Rossano Brazzi's character was sexually interested in Esther, yet Joan Crawford's character remained oblivious to it. Wait - let me put this another way -- Joan is aware that Rossano had cheated on her in the past. She is aware that there is an attractive (non-related) teenager in the house. She has begun to have suspicions about Rossano's manipulations of the whole charity/money- skimming situation (which should have been a red flag, all by itself, about the man's moral deficiencies.) Most especially, Joan has apparently never explained to her the need to make sure that when she undresses, she needs to be behind closed doors/curtains. (Just because Esther can't see, doesn't mean that she can't BE seen.)
To me, the worst betrayal of all is that when Joan realizes that Esther has been raped, and she doesn't IMMEDIATELY call the police!
Okay - I realize that I might be laying 21st-century sensibilities onto mid-20th century ones, when the film was made, an age when NO ONE publicly discussed issues of sexual abuse, incest, or abuse. But it still bothers me that Joan not only failed to protect Esther (since she was, in effect, her adoptive mother), but failed to get justice for what happened to her. (Unless you think it's justice for both her and her husband to have been killed.)
As to the very end of the story, I think it's fine that the details are slightly ambiguous. The important thing for us to know is that Esther is going to try to make things right, as best she can, by telling the truth as she knows it. We can only hope that the audience doesn't throw rotten food at her, or rip her apart...