Daily Dialogue — April 15, 2016

DARKNESS: Eat.
LILI: I’m not hungry.
DARKNESS: You lie. (Chuckles) Just to please me.
LILI: I do nothing for your pleasure.
DARKNESS: All I wish is for you to sit and talk with me.
LILI: Sit? Here?
DARKNESS: Yes. Please.
LILI: I prefer to stand.
DARKNESS: Sit! Or stand, as you wish. It is enough that we are alone together, just the two of us. Some, uh, simple conversation.
LILI: I have nothing to talk about. You’ve stolen my dreams away.
DARKNESS: All things change, lady. The dreams of youth are the regrets of maturity. Dreams are my speciality. Through dreams I influence mankind. My dream is of eternity with you. I offer you this rose, princess: my heart, my soul, my love.
LILI: Love?

— Legend (1985), written by William Hjortsberg

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Villain. Today’s suggestion by Will King.

Trivia: Ridley Scott wanted the film to have an original screenplay because he felt that “it was far easier to design a story to fit the medium of cinema than bend the medium for an established story”. By chance, he discovered several books written by William Hjortsberg) and found that the writer had already written several scripts for some unmade lower-budgeted films. Scott asked him if he was interested in writing a fairy tale. Fortunately, he was already writing some and agreed.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will: “It would seem that even evil can be overcome by emotions such as love, or perhaps it’s infatuation, or just plain lust. The Lord of Darkness is smitten by Lili and attempts to woo her, only to be rebuffed. As is so often the case, the villain believes that he can overpower his intended victim, either through force or seduction.”