Rivetteisrelativelypreciseinhisdealingswithmeaning.HeisthemostatavisticallyceremoniousoftheVague,inthesensethathisabstractionasajourneyleadinginwardsisalwaysattendedbysignsandcodasthataffirmourpassage.Thetranscendentriteofpassage,inmorewaysthanone,isaboutthesymbolicenactmentthatpavestheway.Thetranscendenceitselfislefttooursphereofexperience,butwereatleastbroughttothedoorstep.Oh,therestheimprovisationalflowthatseemstothrowpeopleoff,thatthingsseemtoberandomlybubblingupfromnothingwithoutsignificantplanorsubstance.Thechanceencountersinaworldthatwemayrecognize,thegeographyvaguelyfamiliarwhosenatureisyetultimatelyinsoluble.Theresalotofthathere.AsinCeline,itisthebreathingspacethatconductsourpreparationtostepbeyondthemechanismsofreason.Wedontreasonwithit,rathertrustitsintuitiveflow.Likethedreamworld,itisonlythefigmentoftheknownworldspontaneouslyarisenasastageorblankslatefortheatavisticportentsanddivinationsofthesubconsciousmindtobewrit.Buttheriteofpassagematters,inspiteoftheseeminglyaimlesswandering.Hereitisabouthumanefforttobypassthewallofparadiseconstitutedbythecoincidenceofapparentopposites(goodandevil,lightanddark,beingandnon-being).Abarrierthatobscuresvisionandtrapsinaworldofnamesandformsthatisonlyanapparentreality.Renderedinthefilmastwingoddessesofsunandmoon,vyingforapreciousstonethatenablestheirdescendintothehumanworld.Thehumancharactersaremerepawnstotheirschemes;tobeseduced,tricked,threatened,orultimatelydestroyed.Twinfemmefatales,weavingspellsinaninversenoiruniversemagnifiedintoamacrocosmicstruggle.Theill-preparedmanwhochancestostealaglimpseofthemintheirtrueform,likeinthemythofActaionwhostealsupontheGreekgoddessArtemisbathingnakedinapool,hashisconsciousnessshatteredbytherevelation.Hismirroredimage(thesoul,thereflectedhalf)iscracked.Thewomanwhofinallyshatterstheillusionarydualitythatquarantineshumanconsciousnessintomeaninglessdilemmas,doessobyasacrificeofblood.Andthisistheproblemofthefilm.Somuchofitisastridentlysymbolicenactment,amatterofceremony.Thesacrificeis,quiteliterally,amatterofspillingblooduponthesymbolicstoneanddoesnotflowfromanything-itissimplytheschematicendofthespiritualmyth.Althoughvaluableasinsight,themeaningofthefilmistrappedinsidetheritualsperformedtosignifyit.Havingcrackedtheoutershelltoabsorbit,thefilmseizestoresonate.