As she finds in the mural's stylized, interwoven figures analogies germane to her own situation, we in turn get a convenient, if stagy, portal into her backstory.
The films were partially improvised by the actors, and their prolonged running times allowed auds to wander around freely in their deliberately stagy worlds.
Although shortcomings were noted by critics generally focusing on clichd dialogue and slow, stagy scenes, however, the overall impression by the public was nearly universally favorable.