The mask on the pillow?
SPOILERS*
Did the "party organization" break in and put that there? I can't recall if Bill forgot to return the mask to Mr.Millich, or maybe they rented it and planted it as a warning?
No. Alice found it in the dresser and put it there for Bill to see. It worked..
shareAh so he forgot to return it, what do you mean it worked?
shareShe wanted to "get him" busted by putting it there as a symbolic thing. It's something most women would do. He had some explaining to do and spilled his guts and tears.
Now, wheather she knew about the whole ritual party herself, I don't know.
There was a scene where he stashed the mask real quick in a dresser I believe.
shareThe mask is like the locked pantry door in the Shining - it's a symbol of a nexus point between two realities - in Kubrick films this is often a character's subjective world view being deconstructed or reconstructed (or anything in between). For Bill, this is the symbol of his fractured reality - of his 'dream' world and his 'real world' colliding - the worlds colliding theory if you are familiar with Seinfeld.
I don't think Alice put the mask there, but it's possible. It looks oddly weighted on the pillow, which seems to be sinking a little under the weight - an uncanny suggestion of an invisible body, which is a perfect metaphor for Bill's fear of his place in Alice's fantasy realm, his anxiety over his own desires and ego and what not.
Like a lot of things in the film, it's a symbol that challenges what we consider to be literal.
Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride
I`m not sure she wanted him busted, as she never had any notion to believe he was up to anything, other than the 2 models at Zieglers party which he already explained..
Yes I remember he stashed the mask and cloak in his cabinet, but I thought he returned both to Milliche?