a baffling, startling scene

 

The American actor William Hurt passed away three days ago.

News stories highlight the movies he was most well-known for; online Commenters mention movies they personally have watched him in....

I remember William Hurt best from Body Heat, but he was also in The Big Chill, which I really loved -- I forget him in that film, though, because he was such a good actor, he would "disappear" into a role....

I looked back on this blog -- in a December 2013 post titled "I'm not tough; I'm weak" there is, reproduced in prose, a pivotal and shocking scene from Body Heat -- back in 2013, I didn't tell the end of the scene -- its ultimate "punch" -- but now, "spoiler alert," in memory of William Hurt as Ned Racine, I'm re-printing the earlier description and adding on what happens, so if you haven't seen Body Heat and you wish to be surprised, then don't read today's post, just come back tomorrow.

OK --

Matty Walker gets out of her car and goes toward the house; Ned Racine, concentrating, exits his own car, & follows her.

INT.  ENTRY HALL - NIGHT

Inside it's dark until Matty calmly, casually, in-control, presses an "on" button of a lamp on a table behind the door.  A small area is lighted; Ned glances around and says with low-key irony, "Just like my place."

She leads the way up a flight of stairs, across a hallway, up some more stairs, to a set of French doors opening to a porch, or deck, where the chimes are.  He follows her.  On the way, she turns on several lights -- no overheads, just lamps on tables (carefully chosen by interior decorators).

As she opens the French doors, commandingly, Racine asks, "No help?"

MATTY:  She goes home nights.

(Matty's voice is husky, sultry -- the voice itself is low, but the attitude it invariably conveys is "above it all"...)

RACINE
You're not nervous here alone?

She looks at him as though she barely understands the question.

MATTY
No.

EXT.  SECOND FLOOR PORCH - NIGHT

The TINKLING is distinct out here.  Matty and Racine come out onto the porch.  There are about thirty wind chimes of various, lovely designs -- crystal, metal, wood hanging at intervals from the rim of the wide porch awning, completely encircling Matty and Racine.

Halfway down the long lawn is a white gazebo.  Beyond it, the waterway is shimmering in the moonlight.  At the edge of the water is a small boat house.

Racine walks along under the chimes, looking up at them, touching them, pushing them so that they swing and make the tingling sounds.  A smile plays across his face.  He looks back at Matty.

RACINE
You do have chimes.

He looks out at the boat house.

RACINE
What's that?

-- A gazebo.

-- No, out there.

-- Boat house.

-- What's in it?

-- Boat.

Racine looks at her.  She looks out on the distant water.

MATTY
It's a mess, really.
(a little breathless)
There's a row boat, a lot of lounge chairs...things like that.

He's been making his way around the circle of wind chimes, around the edge of the porch, from the end of the porch where she isn't, towards the end of the porch where she is.  All the way 'round, his right hand is idly, gently tapping and pushing wind chimes.  

He approaches the area where Matty is standing.  His hand runs out of chimes...he slowly, hesitantly reaches his right hand toward the side of her face. 

She does not look at him.  His hand gets closer.  His hand is almost close enough to where he may be about to caress her face just ever-so-lightly, when she leans her face a little to the left, and her face sort of caresses his hand, for about two seconds, then she quickly turns away from him and walks toward the doors leading back inside.

MATTY
I think you should go now.

RACINE
(still standing where he was -- now there's a big space between them)
I just got here.

MATTY
(from the doorway)
You've seen them.  Please go.

He looks disappointed and starts walking in her direction.

The next shot is EXTERIOR at the front door where they originally came in.  She's standing outside with her back to the open door.  He comes out the door and stands looking down at her. 

MATTY
Thank you.  I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have let you come.

He looks at her a minute.

RACINE
You're not so tough after all, are you?

MATTY
No, I'm weak

----------------------- and she kisses him lightly yet deliberately on the lips and swoops herself back into the house, in one extended movement -- closes the door and -- click -- locks it, and looks at him through the window.  You just see her eyes.

[The first time I saw this movie, I was like, "Wwwwhhhhaat is this??"]

Ned walks to his car, his footsteps making scrunch-crunch sounds in the gravel.
At his car, he leans on it, and looks up at the chimes on that second-floor porch.
The tinkling-dinging of the chimes.
Breeze increases, and the chimes-sound goes up in volume.


Ned Racine changes his mind and goes back up to the front door, and looks through the window.  Matty is standing back from the door, over at the bottom of the stairs in the hall.  She is looking directly at the front door.  Frozen to the spot.

Racine tries the door.  It's locked. 

[She doesn't make a move to open the door for him.  She doesn't make a move to turn off the lights and go upstairs.  She doesn't make a move to call the police.  She just stands staring out at him, looking sort of -- I don't know -- proud, and very ready to place an order for something....]

Ned moves over to a window.  He tries that, it's locked, he looks in, she's in the same place, watching him, with the same look only more so.

Next window is also locked...

--------------------------- He looks around, as the John Barry music score billows and builds -- mysterious, ominous, exciting, unknowable.  The expression on his face tells us he is trying to think up a solution to a problem.

Suddenly, his upper body swings forward and down in a smooth, graceful motion -- he picks up a patio chair, pirouettes with it, gaining momentum on the way around, & smashes it through a window.

The background music swells.

As Matty gasps, standing there -- waiting -- Ned strides in past shimmering crashed glass, right up to Matty, takes her in his arms and starts kissing her.

She kisses him back -- they embrace....

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There are several videos of this scene on You Tube.

Underneath one of them, a guy had typed a Comment --

Do women want this?

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