I saw the Italian version in Bologna in 2006, and have just seen the American DVD. The latter seems to be missing some footage at the end, does anyone know? I seemed to remember a more elegant ending, when Anna Magnani steps back on stage.
The genius of this moment is that it is in fact the stage that is the real world, and all that she has been participating in with the three men she has dallied with is the illusion. I take this as a metaphor for the play of creation as described in the Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 2, when Krishna says to Arjuna, "Be without the three gunas." So Camilla has come to understand this, has given up her attachment to material things, symbolized by the coach, and even to the whole rigmarole of worldly life, and goes back to her true essence, which is to be the witness to all this churning activity. By stepping out onto the proscenium, leaving all the muddle of the gunas behind, she becomes enlightened and can continue as she chooses, playing other roles if she likes, but with the knowledge she has gained in this past existence.
The genius of this moment is that it is in fact the stage that is the real world, and all that she has been participating in with the three men she has dallied with is the illusion. I take this as a metaphor for the play of creation as described in the Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 2, when Krishna says to Arjuna, "Be without the three gunas." So Camilla has come to understand this, has given up her attachment to material things, symbolized by the coach, and even to the whole rigmarole of worldly life, and goes back to her true essence, which is to be the witness to all this churning activity. By stepping out onto the proscenium, leaving all the muddle of the gunas behind, she becomes enlightened and can continue as she chooses, playing other roles if she likes, but with the knowledge she has gained in this past existence.