SPOILER, obviously, though if someone is this down on the page it doesn't matter anyways...
First time I wasn't really sure who said what and because it happened kind of fast it was hard to really notice the expression on Ward's face. I suspected that Ward didn't say anything, it was Hillary who was talking but since it was mostly a whisper-like, oppressed talking it was hard to make out who's voice it was.
But since it bugged me after I finished the film I went back to that scene and watched it several times (not a happy thing to do...), concentrating on either only Hillary's face or Ward's. And now I'm sure:
Hillary got Ward's neck into his squeeze, he asked Ward if that was what he'd came for, then he cut his throat. (Meanwhile Ward could've tried something, his arms were totally free, he could've at least try and hold Hillary's arms but he didn't do anything. You can say he did it because he wanted to die, I'd say more like it was very fast, he was gotten out of his balance and he was out of breath. Maybe he needed a minute to move, but by then he was dead.)
Anyway, Hillary cut his throat and whispered, or more like just exhaled 'Yeah'. His mouth was hardly moving so you could say it could either be him or Ward, but if you really pay attention you can see that Ward was in a position where it was probably impossible for him to even whisper, even before his trouat was cut: Hillary's arm forced his jaw upwards, his arm was pressing hardly against his neck, almost surely making it impossible for him to take a breath, and Hillary's body/head didn't let his head to tilt back, so for Ward it was very hard to even open his mouth a bit, much less talk.
The moment his blood started to spill there was no smile on his face, it couldn't be even if he wanted or felt like smiling, because he's face was in agony, he was fighting for breath. It won't either support or defeat any theories about him having a death wish, but at that moment the only thing occupied his face was the pure instinct of a man being stangled, trying to get some air.
After the slicing was finished and his body released, it did seem like his last expression was a bit releaved, but you can attribute that either to the fact that he 'got what he wanted' or simply to the feeling that 'it's over', even if he'll die the fight is over.
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Mr-Dedlock
11 years ago
Ward had a death wish and Hillary was his harbringer.
"You were supposed to love me, werent you?", Nicole Kidman-Stoker 2013
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blockerjosh
11 years ago
I didn't hear the "yeah" when I initially watched it but on seeing this debate, I went back and watched the scene three times in a row. There is no debate, it was without a shadow of a doubt Ward saying it. In my opinion it doesn't make it less chilling but more so. First of all, there is an enormous difference between Cusack's backwoods accent and McCaunaghey's Texas drawl. The voice is all McConaugheys, doesn't sound like Cusack's at all. Secondly, his mouth does move, it's so slight, book and you'll miss it, but it is there, his teeth come into view for just a second and his mouth moves just a little bit, but it's in perfect time to the "yeah" while Hillary's mouth doesn't move at all. Add on to that, the closed captioning deciphers that it is Ward saying it as well. So there's a walth of proof that it is Ward saying it and no evidence at all that it is Hillary, nor would it make sense for Hillary to say it at that point. We know, based on the dialogue, that Ward hated himself, also that he was into being cut, remember jack screaming, "what is the plastic for?" He solicited those two guys in the bar and they were doing his bidding, he took it way too far because he was bombed and knew the story was going out all wrong. Wards whole arc led up to that moment, it was a release from the pain his life had become. No debate
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micirisi
11 years ago
Actually it's Hillary who asks Ward "Is this what you wanted?" and while slicing Ward's throat, Ward gasps "yeah" as he collapses.
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shannon_cockburn
10 years ago
@micirisi @mrhollywoodp - Yes! That is exactly what happens in the scene! I've been reading all the comments on this thread and wondering how is it that some people said that they saw Hillary say that after asking Ward "Is this what you wanted?" I don't think that they understood that Ward was into S&M, bondage and clearly had a pain fetish. He was probably also turned on by the sight of blood - hence the plastic laid down on the floor of his hotel room.
Anyway I'm going off point here. Wards mouth opens slightly and says "Yeah" before Hillary has sliced all the way across Ward's throat. I think that's where some people are getting confused, they think it's said when his throat is already fully cut, but it's said before that happens. I literally just got finished watching it again.
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daddie0
11 years ago
You're close. It's a great analysis, but missing some another major story line: truth. That's what Hillary had that Ward wanted. Remember? The shower scene? "Better to be last and right that first and wrong." Ward had issues, for sure, but he went back for Hillary to find the truth.
Interestingly, Hillary provided both: an end to Ward's self-loathing and the truth he so desperately wanted. Ward "told his story." Hillary died in the electric chair just as he should have the first time. I wonder how Yardly's career went after that? Not well I'm guessing.
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daddie0
11 years ago
One other thought about this whole "death wish" thing: Ward did try to stick an axe in Hillary...and I don't get the feeling he was trying to miss. So I really think he went for the truth, and found what he was looking for.
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mesaydayo
11 years ago
Okay is that why he says "What is the plastic for"? Are you sure? I didn't get it at the time. Thanks.
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blockerjosh
11 years ago
Yeah, he was definitely trying to kill Hillary, if only to save his brother, perhaps some primal survival instinct on his own part as well. He didn't go there consciously deciding that he was going to let Hilary kill him, not sure there was a plan at all. When Hilary came at the trying to kill them, Ward of course defended himself and his little brother. However, in that last second, knowing he was going to die and knowing it was going to come in the form matching his own self degradation, and yes, also knowing that the truth was going to get out there through his an death, that "yeah" was acceptance, relief, and satisfaction all rolled into one. A very complex emotion that can't be simply or easily described biti think if it had to be summed up into one word that describes all he was feeling, the word would be relief.
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Authoring
10 years ago
Fascinating insight, block, and the rest of you guys discussing this too. I missed the "yeah." I was just so annoyed with the way so many things had gone at that point. I was so mad they were going to this madman's secluded swamp land with no protection. Did they think Hilary would just hand Nicole Kidman's character over, I thought? And I didn't realize she was dead either until I saw her body in the boat laid out like Ward's. I thought she was just high on something Hilary'd given her in her last scene before the boat one. Are we to presume he strangled her?
PLOT HOLE: Aspect of a film that is misunderstood, ignored, or missed while using your smart phone.
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vanillainflux
10 years ago
an interesting thread to read. a question mesaydayo, isn't it Jack who says "what is the plastic for" when he finds his brother tied up in the motel room? i havent quite understood what he was doing there in the first place; i assumed; he flirted with a man and the 3 men beat him up for it. was he trying to find some men to kill Hilary and they beat him up instead because they were paid to?
it's a dirty world Reich, say what you want
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linus-hirschi
10 years ago
h̶a̶r̶b̶r̶i̶n̶g̶e̶r̶
harbinger
Middle English herbergere, from Anglo-French, host, from herberge camp, lodgings, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German heriberga
First Known Use: 14th century
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I feel a bit like you're all doing poor Mr. Ward injustice. After all he had only one eye left and didn't want to fight in the first place. Yeah, did you all miss that? This guy came all the way through the swamp (why should I ask - or better who made him go?) to perfectly analyze the situation: one -the poor woman is dead, two -the maniac killer has a machete and he wields it with some experience, three -if it's gonna be man on man, it will be a duel. I found this made for an original ending in a way: the boy (Jack) sends his brother to die by maneuvering him into a fight he clearly could not win with one eye and using a slow weapon like an axe so badly (he clearly wasn't fit though). Then Jack acts surprisingly smart and outwits the monster in a somewhat meditative scene. you could go as far as to say: he emptied Hillary's pool by getting out of that limbo with everybody he could get out, warm or cold.
So the man sharing the first name of a well known - female - US war criminal gets the death sentence, which is irrelevant. Jack finally has something to write about though and - more importantly - he's a man now (is he?). After his problems with sexual (self-)repression he might now finally get kinky - which is what life is about (in the swamp especially, that shlthoIe)
PS: I always get a suspicious feeling about plots with writers and journalists, when I hear about such a film I get high and sit comfortable. Fear and Loathing, Rum Diary, maybe, but this one was more fetish-themed. A Zip a'booze, mighty fine against the quiver.
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