#tmwaf

[ah-kill-es]

duskwood characters as random images i have saved on my phone

hannah:

thomas:

lilly:

jessy:

dan:

richy:

cleo:

jake:

tmwaf:

phil:

[incorrectduskwood]

Hannah: *exists*

The kidnapper: and I took that personally

[dreamilyhauntedmentality]

“The moment of truth”

SPOILERS

Charles confronts McLeod about his past and the rumors surrounding him. Love this scene, so well done!

Fun fact: McLeod’s parting words are meant to be sequere deum, a Latin phrase meaning “follow God” (this echoes book McLeod’s final words to Charles: vaya con dios). 

Gibson’s pronunciation in the scene is a bit skewed, which resulted in my thinking for many years that McLeod said secare deum (why tell your student to cut up God? Did not compute). Luckily the folks over on the WordReference language boards finally set that straight.

[incorrectduskwood]

The Man without a Face: I scared them, didn’t I?

Kidnapper: they’re terrified of you

The Man without a Face: that makes me so happy!

[dreamilyhauntedmentality]

Deleted scene - 2 of ?

Scene 59. INT. CHUCK’S ROOM -- NIGHT

Chuck is already getting down to studying when his Mother appears at his door. She waits at the door watching.

MOTHER: We hardly ever see you these days?

CHUCK: I’m down at the library.

She moves behind him to look at what he’s studying. He looks back at her. We see her disbelief. And so...

MOTHER: If you’re smoking “mary jane” I can handle it. You can tell me.

CHUCK: I’m just studying.

His Mother nods, accepting it, but not really accepting it.

MOTHER: I used to be pretty good at Latin, you know? (picks up a piece of paper) Futue te... Which verb’s that?

Chuck is embarrassed, but he recovers.

CHUCK: It means... “to twist.”

Mother nods. She picks up some more papers. Detailed Latin homework and geometry. She is surprised at his diligence.

MOTHER: You did all this?

Chuck nods. Afraid to hope that she might praise him. But wanting her to. But finally she says...

MOTHER: Don’t you think you’re taking this exam a bit too seriously? It’s the summer, Charles... You should be enjoying yourself.

It’s absolutely the wrong thing to say. Charles responds coldly.

CHUCK: I got the red hair. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.

He stares flatly at her. She can see he’s tuning her out.

MOTHER: You can be a real cold one.

Chuck can’t respond. She exits. Chuck looking after.

______________________________________________________________

The above deleted scene was transcribed from a draft of the the script to The Man Without a Face (1993) (screenplay by Malcolm MacRury, based on Isabelle Holland’s 1972 YA novella of the same name).

The scene would have occurred directly after the “waxing poetic” scene from the film where Charles comes home and happily questions his Mother about her knowledge of Shakespeare but before the scene where McLeod acts out Portia’s “quality of mercy” monologue from The Merchant of Venice.

The actors involved would have been Nick Stahl and Margaret Whitton.

Contextual note 1: The Latin phrase Chuck’s Mother finds is a reference to a dropped extended scene from the script. Charles believes he has found the closest Latin equivalent to “fuck you” -- he uses it to insult his older sister, Gloria.

Contextual note 2: Chuck’s comment about “the red hair” is a reference back to an alternate bit of dialogue that didn’t make the film. In the beginning of the film, when Gloria laughs about Charles needing more time than others his age to study their Mother says “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s like having red hair.”

[dreamilyhauntedmentality]

The Man Without a Face was released 28 years ago today. Happy anniversary. 

[dreamilyhauntedmentality]

1993 Mel Gibson interview with Jimmy Carter for The Man Without a Face.

[dreamilyhauntedmentality]

1993 Mel Gibson interview with Bobbie Wygant on The Man Without a Face.

Headphone users alert: video starts with long, high-pitched whine