Daily Dialogue — February 25, 2014

Elliot: Don’t do this to me, Bev.
Beverly: But I’m only doing it to me, Elli. Don’t you have a will of your own? Why don’t you just go on with your very own life?
Elliot: Do you remember the original Siamese twins?
Beverly: Chang and Eng they were joined at the chest.
Elliot: Remember how they died?
Beverly: Chang died of a stroke in the middle of the night. He was always the sickly one. He was always the one who drank too much. When Eng woke up beside him and found that his brother was dead… he died of fright. Right there in the bed.
Elliot: Does that answer your question?
Beverly: Poor Elli.
Elliot: Poor Bev.

— Dead Ringers (1988), written by David Cronenberg and Norman Snider, based on the book “Twins” by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is agony, suggested by Illimani. Today’s suggestion by Daniel Cossu.

Trivia: The movie is based on two real life twins, Stewart and Cyril Marcus. The two were found dead in their apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Their deaths were due to withdrawal from barbiturate addiction. The story is told in the novel “Twins” by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland (published 1977).

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Daniel: “Psychological agony on display in this scene (and the entire movie) with some nice subtext in the dialogue giving us a glimpse into the minds of these inseparable characters.”

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