Daily Dialogue — January 25, 2016
SILVA: You’re smaller than I remember.
M: Whereas I barely remember you at all.
SILVA: Strange. For me, it feels just like yesterday. Are you surprised?
M: Not particularly, but then you always were a slippery one.
SILVA: Maybe that’s why you liked me so much.
M: You flatter yourself.
SILVA: Oh! No remorse. (Sighs) Just as I had imagined.
M: Regret is unprofessional.
SILVA: (Laughs) Regret is unprofessional. They kept me for five months in a room with no air. They tortured me. And I protected your secrets. I protected you. But they made me suffer…and suffer…and suffer…until I realized it was you who betrayed me. You betrayed me. So, I had only one thing left. My cyanide capsule in my back left molar. You remember, right? So, I broke the tooth and bit into the capsule. It…burned all my insides. But I didn’t die. Life clung to me like a disease. And then I understood why I had survived. I needed to look in your eyes one last time.
M: Well, I hope it was worth it. Mr. Silva, you’re going to be transferred to Belmarsh Prison where you’ll be remanded in custody until the Crown Prosecution Service deem you fit to stand trial for —
SILVA: Say my name. Say it. My real name. I know you remember it.
M: Your name is on the memorial wall of the very building you attacked. I will have it struck off. Soon your past will be as nonexistent as your future. I’ll never see you again.
SILVA: Do you know what it does to you? Hydrogen cyanide? (He removes his dental plate) Look upon your work, Mother.
— Skyfall (2012), screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan; based on the characters created by Ian Fleming
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Accused. Today’s suggestion by Will King.
Trivia: Hashima Island, the site of Silva’s lair, is a tiny deserted industrialized island situated off the south west coast of Japan, 15 km from Nagasaki, and running just 480 meters long and 160 meters wide. The small isle is one of 505 uninhabited islands in the Nagasaki Prefecture. The isle is also known as “Ghost Island” as well as “Gunkanjima” which translates as “Battleship Island”. The island was last significantly inhabited in 1974 and was once a thriving coal mining community. The island is notable for its character due to its sea wall and its untouched abandoned and derelict concrete buildings.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will King: “Accusations aren’t always plainly stated. Silva never says “you did this to me.” In this exchange we get some backstory about the relationship between M and Silva, enough to understand his hatred of M. But then the course of the exchange changes as Silva mocks M through an indirect accusation, implying she is both responsible for his condition and irresponsible when she should have acted as a protective parent. It says a great deal about how he views M.”