Daily Dialogue — May 14, 2013
“It begins with the king as a boy, having to spend the night alone in the forest to prove his courage so he can become king. Now while he is spending the night alone he’s visited by a sacred vision. Out of the fire appears the holy grail, symbol of God’s divine grace. And a voice said to the boy, “You shall be keeper of the grail so that it may heal the hearts of men.” But the boy was blinded by greater visions of a life filled with power and glory and beauty. And in this state of radical amazement he felt for a brief moment not like a boy, but invincible, like God, so he reached into the fire to take the grail, and the grail vanished, leaving him with his hand in the fire to be terribly wounded. Now as this boy grew older, his wound grew deeper. Until one day, life for him lost its reason. He had no faith in any man, not even himself. He couldn’t love or feel loved. He was sick with experience. He began to die. One day a fool wandered into the castle and found the king alone. And being a fool, he was simple minded, he didn’t see a king. He only saw a man alone and in pain. And he asked the king, “What ails you friend?” The king replied, “I’m thirsty. I need some water to cool my throat”. So the fool took a cup from beside his bed, filled it with water and handed it to the king. As the king began to drink, he realized his wound was healed. He looked in his hands and there was the holy grail, that which he sought all of his life. And he turned to the fool and said with amazement, ‘How can you find that which my brightest and bravest could not?” And the fool replied, “I don’t know. I only knew that you were thirsty.’”
— The Fisher King (1991), written by Richard LaGravenese
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is recounting a legend, courtesy of alexmatu. Today’s suggestion by Andrew Orillion.
Trivia: While it is not mentioned in the film, Parry’s name is short for Parsifal, the “pure fool” and legendary knight of the Holy Grail. Parry brings redemption to Jack Lucas just as Parsifal brings redemption to the Fisher King Amfortas. Also, like Parsifal, Parry does battle with a Red Knight. In still another parallel, Parry experiences a cosmic awakening after kissing Lydia, just as Parsifal experiences a cosmic awakening after kissing the beautiful Kundry.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary from Andrew: “Jeff Bridges play Jack Lucas, a disgraced former shock jock whose ravings to an unstable listener led to a mass shooting. Robin Williams is Parry, a mentally disturbed homeless man who saves Jack from two thugs. The two strike up an unlikely friendship and one night Parry tells Jack the story of the Fisher King.
What’s great about this is that the legend Parry tells is the story of the movie. Jack is the Fisher King whose quest for glory and power leaves him wounded and alone and Parry is the simple minded fool who saves him.
It’s everything you need to know about the movie and it’s two main characters in one scene. Plus, Williams tells the story without doing a single funny voice.”