MovieChat Forums > September (1987) Discussion > '...haphazard, morally neutral, and unim...

'...haphazard, morally neutral, and unimaginably violent.'

posted 15 years ago by emerpus01
5 replies | jump to latest

Great dialogue from this movie:

Sam Waterson: Right. Is there anything more terrifying than the destruction of the world?

Jack Warden: Yes. The knowledge that it doesn’t matter one way or the other. It’s all random, resonating aimlessly out of nothing and eventually vanishing forever. I’m not talking about the world, I’m talking about the universe, all space, all time, just temporary convulsion. And I got paid to prove it.

Sam Waterson: You feel so sure of that when you look out on a clear night like tonight and see all those millions of stars, that none of it matters?

Jack Warden: I think it’s just as beautiful as you do, and vaguely evocative of some deep truth that always just keeps slipping away, but then my professional perspective overcomes me; I just wish for a more penetrating view of it, and I understand it for what it truly is. Haphazard. Morally neutral, and unimaginably violent.

[–] jfis11 15 years ago

indeed. i actually just paused the movie i was so taken aback. i immediately came here to see if i could find anything more about it. amazing.

[–] pacwarbuff 13 years ago

It's the kind of great dialogue I expect from a Woody Allen script. I love how he always manages to bring philosophy into his movies. It also doesn't hurt that he gets an actor like the great Jack Warden to deliver those lines.

"Thank God the French exist."

[–] xxpo 13 years ago

Thanks for posting this dialogue!

Like the rest of you I also had to rewind and listen to what he'd said again.

Great lines!

Wonderful insight into the entire situation ...

[–] Fleur_de_lis 7 years ago

This is one of my favorite Woody passages.

He conveys this sentiment repeatedly in his scripts, but this one is sparse perfection.

[–] 7 years ago

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