If you think that's sad, try watching the sequel 'The Evening Star'. It's nowhere near as brilliant as the original, but this scene had me in pieces:
Aurora goes to the prison where Tommy has been for the past couple of years. (not surprising to learn he ended up in prison.) He has never expressed any interest in her previous visits or felt any emotion whatsoever when she talked about his mother. One day she goes in and she gives him a box of brownies with a file inside. He throws them to his cell mate, who takes the brownies and throws back the file. Tommy sits on his bed and looks through the file, which has pictures of when he was a child. He comes across a picture of his mother, smiling, and breaks down in tears. It's heartbreaking to watch. I cried my heart out.
'Wendy, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just gonna bash your brains in!'
-Jack Torrance, The Shining
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mathmaniac
16 years ago
That scene 'Evening Star' is wonderful - the one where Aurora visits Tommy in prison. He always blows her off. He's always rude to her and she has so much emotionally invested in him but she takes whatever he gives her. She shows up at the prison regularly even though he sits there in sullen silence.
He's her beloved grandson and she can just show up time after time - it reminds me of the way she always called her daughter even though they locked horns over every little thing.
When she gives Tommy the box of brownies, he's used to that and just acts like he will automatically throw it away, as usual.
He is walking away and she says, 'There's a file inside...' with her head turned away from him. As if it's a wry joke. Even the audience thinks it's a joke. Until he throws the box of brownies at the guy in the bed next door and the guy opens the box and finds the file. A cardboard file for papers. Inside are the sweet pictures of Tommy when he was a little kid with his mom. When he starts crying, it makes me tear up too... also to think that he might never have gotten the file (passing the trash, you can almost see him restrain himself from throwing the brownies directly in the can).
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