my views on Marion/Alice, Ermine cloak, Mandy's death

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 2004)

Spoiler alert I have recently watched EWS and was captivated by it, I found it intriguing and thought provoking. So much so that the following couple of days I spent pondering the plot and trying to make sense of it all. I came across this site which clarified a few things for me but some uncertainty remains.
Bills journey started when he got the late night call from Marion who was grieving over her deceased father. I found it interesting that Marion's overwhelming feelings for Bill mirrored Alice's confessed feelings for the naval officer. Marion was willing to throw her life with Carl away for a chance at Bill. This was the beginning of the journey because his realisation of such intense desire (as descried by ALice) was amplified by his experience with Marion.
The relevance of Domino contracting HIV reflected his first lucky escape - it would have cost him his life if Alice didn't call when she did. Like his dogged determination to turn up to the forbidden event - also could have cost him his life. HE ALSO WAS WILLING TO THROW AWAY HIS LIFE FOR THESE FLEETING SEXUAL EXPERIENCES. or was he trying to experience an overwhelming desire to revenge Alice - (he kept imagining her with the sailor).
Also how did the masked Mandy at the orgy recognise an intruder when no-one had spoken to her about the receipt found in Bill's coat pocket or the taxi. She was busy with the ceremony, then walked directly to Bill warning him he was in danger and doesn't belong there. How did she know? Maybe because his cloak gave him away - perhaps he should have worn an ermine-lined cloak. This may be showing us a connection between Milich, his daughter at Rainbow costumes and the orgy. Remember they were acting strangely when Bill returned the costume - were they involved in the orgy? In costuming the members?
For a secret society 'orgy' there was a huge attendance don't you think? It seems unlikely that that many people could keep it a secret without leaks being a regular occurrence and why wouldn't they want any new members - they must get new members otherwise how would they have such a huge following. There must have been 200 people there! Wouldn't they discuss if he wanted to be a member rather than go to the extreme of having him followed etc. and threatening death!
Bill would have gone ahead with having sex with the 2 girls at the Xmas party with the significant line "we'll take you to the end of the rainbow". He was pulled away from that encounter significantly by the near death of Mandy - I believe this was his first warning. The next time he refused to be pulled away resulted in Mandy's death.
It is a very clever movie. I welcome any comments on my comments.