I was relieved to hear that this was Buñuel's most obscure film, because I wasn't the only one confused.
The main reason for the confusion is that there is no guiding ideology for the actions of the characters. Until the little girl was murdered, the maid's behavior was quite normal, but it was only seen that she did not completely reject the seduction of the old and young male masters, and even enjoyed it during this period. The only people she hates are "hunters". She likes little girls, kindness to say the least. After that, the plot took a sharp turn and began to be puzzling.
She stayed because of the little girl's death. But sleeping with the murderer later, or even marrying the murderer, is very inexplicable. The director explicitly denied that it was because the murder made the woman "sexual"... and finally married an old soldier. It doesn't work to explain Buñuel's consistent denial of the bourgeoisie. Surrealism doesn't work, and realism doesn't work...
This is a complicated and secret inner world. There are fears, longings, hypocrisy, lies, kindness... Jeanne Moreau is simply the number one female number one in literary films, the number one literary beauty before Monica Vitti.
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