Daily Dialogue — August 25, 2014

INT BAINES’ HUT DUSK

Inside he finds FLORA crouching in a corner, her face is white, tear stained and splattered with mud. Her angel wings are squashed behind her and blood stained. On seeing BAINES she cries with renewed pain and relief

BAINES: What has happened? Hush, hush, what is it?

FLORA thrusts the wrapped finger at BAINES. He takes the blood soaked object and unwraps it. The finger unravels into his hand, he reels back groaning, choking about to be sick.

FLORA: (yelling) He says you’re not to see her or he’ll chop her up!
BAINES: (angry, horrified) What happened?

But FLORA cannot speak. She bursts into loud sobs. BAINES kneels in front of her shaking her.

BAINES: TELL ME! TELL ME!

BAINES stops shaking her, she scrambles away and out the door. BAINES chases after her. FLORA screams as he catches her.

BAINES: Quiet down! Shhh! Where is she?
FLORA: (whimpering) He chopped it off
BAINES: Jesus! I’ll kill him! I’ll kill him. What did she tell him? (shaking her) What?
HIRA: Put her down, Peirn. She is liddle.

HIRA takes the quivering FLORA in her arms.

HIRA: There girl. There.

BAINES notices the blood on FLORA’S dress, he touches it, she shies away.

— The Piano (1993), written by Jane Campion

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Delivering Bad News. Today’s suggestion by Lois Bernard.

Trivia: The last movie Nirvana Frontman Kurt Cobain watched before he died.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Lois: “This scene is almost unbearable to watch. Anna Paquin won Oscar for this performance…” Indeed the brutality mixed with a child delivering the bad news is both painful to experience and compelling stuff.

If you have a suggestion for this week’s theme, please post in comments. Thanks!