Very good movie. To me the whole world in the asylum is one big metaphor for 'an'- not 'the' - outcome of the story, otherwise said your outcome.
Let me give you some examples:
To me: Alice Gould stands for a dual personality, kind of like Romulo and Remo. It's up to the viewer to decide if her more expressive/Romulo is her good side or bad side, and if her more introvert side/Remo is the other one. And when you have decided, it's Donadio who makes the final judgement.
And you can never be wrong. It's not about what is true in this story, but rather what's real for your. Therefor use the metaphors for your own true reality.
Let me give you some examples:
- Urquieta's waterphobia/illness and his declaration/lie in favour of Alice Gould stands for her husband, victim of food poisoning but on the other hand the liar, making a lie about her. Ever thought that the food poisoning might be real but the husband's fraudulent actions even so (it's not always either... or... but sometimes both... and...). The psychedelic scene after the shock therapy affirms this,
- Romulo en Remo is a metaphor for Alice's dual personality. It also reflects an ambiguity. Alice reflects a love towards Romulo and vice versa, whereas Remo is ignored by het throughout the whole story. This resembles the viewer's continous fight over who Alice really is. Is she Romelo and thus less sick or more sick, or is she Remu and thus more sick or less sick. Here you can equalize sickness with goodness, realness,... Wat the viewer should keep in mind: only romelu survives, so one side of het dual personality dies...
- the gnome and Elephant man (Alvar and Donadio): the latter one sets immediately her eye on the sick sister (Alice), whereas the first one is killed by Alice (compare the gnome's death with Alvar's trial), afterwards Donadio's entrance can be compared with Elephant man's revenge
- the group of doctors declaring her sane among a group full of doctors (the doctor are the patiëntes she creaties a band with, the trial is the ruckus Alice caused with the fire)
To me: Alice Gould stands for a dual personality, kind of like Romulo and Remo. It's up to the viewer to decide if her more expressive/Romulo is her good side or bad side, and if her more introvert side/Remo is the other one. And when you have decided, it's Donadio who makes the final judgement.
And you can never be wrong. It's not about what is true in this story, but rather what's real for your. Therefor use the metaphors for your own true reality.