The Fisher King (1991)
Robin Williams: Parry
Photos
Quotes
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Parry : Did you ever hear the story of the Fisher King?
Jack Lucas : No.
Parry : It begins with the King as a boy, having to spend the night alone in the forest to prove his courage so he can become King. Now while he's spending the night alone he's visited by a sacred vision. Out of the fire appears the Holy Grail, symbol of God's divine grace. And a voice said to the boy, "You shall be keeper of the Grail so that it may heal the hearts of men." But the boy was blinded by greater visions of a life filled with power and glory and beauty. And in this state of radical amazement he felt for a brief moment not like a boy, but invincible, like God, so he reached into the fire to take the Grail, and the Grail vanished, leaving him with his hand in the fire to be terribly wounded. Now as this boy grew older, his wound grew deeper. Until one day, life for him lost its reason. He had no faith in any man, not even himself. He couldn't love or feel loved. He was sick with experience. He began to die. One day a fool wandered into the castle and found the King alone. And being a fool, he was simple minded, he didn't see a King. He only saw a man alone and in pain. And he asked the King, "What ails you friend?" The King replied, "I'm thirsty. I need some water to cool my throat". So the fool took a cup from beside his bed, filled it with water and handed it to the King. As the King began to drink, he realized his wound was healed. He looked in his hands and there was the Holy Grail, that which he sought all of his life. And he turned to the fool and said with amazement, "How can you find that which my brightest and bravest could not?" And the fool replied, "I don't know. I only knew that you were thirsty."
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Parry : There's three things in this world that you need: Respect for all kinds of life, a nice bowel movement on a regular basis, and a navy blazer.
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Jack Lucas : I don't mean to be flippant or to enrage you or anything, but you're a psychotic man.
Parry : I know.
Jack Lucas : A very nice psychotic man.
Parry : Thank you.
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Jack Lucas : [Parry is dancing around naked in Central Park] The man talks to invisible people, he sees invisible horses, and he's lying naked in the middle of Central Park. I should be surprised? I'm not surprised, I'm out of my *fucking* mind to even be here!
Parry : Who are you talking to, Jack?
Jack Lucas : [having had enough] I'm talking to the little people!
Parry : Are they here?
Jack Lucas : They're saying, "Jack, go to the liquor store, findeth the Jack of Daniels, that ye may be shitfaced, doo-lang, doo-lang!"
Parry : They said that?
Jack Lucas : [shouting frustratedly] You're out of your fucking mind!
Parry : [happily] Bingo! Yeah! Come on, Jack. Free up the little guy. Let him flap in the breeze. Yo!
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Jack Lucas : Where would King Arthur be without Guinevere?
Parry : Happily married, probably.
Jack Lucas : Well, that's a bad... that's a bad example.
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Parry : What do you think of the death penalty?
John the bum : Death is definitely a penalty! It ain't no fuckin' gift!
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[after their first date, Lydia believes that Parry will leave her like all the other men in her life]
Lydia : I'm not feeling very well.
Parry : Well, no wonder. We just met, made love and broke up all in the space of 60 seconds. I don't remember the first kiss, which is the best part.
Lydia : It was very special to meet you...
Parry : [interrupting] It was for me too, but I think it's time you should shut up now. Shut up.
[politely]
Parry : Please? I'm not coming up to your apartment. That was never my intention.
Lydia : You don't want to.
Parry : Oh, no, I want to. I have a hard-on for you the size of Florida. But I don't want just one night. I have a confession I have to make to you.
Lydia : You're married? You're divorced? You have a disease?
Parry : No, please stop. I'm in love with you. And not just from tonight. I've known you for a long time. I know that when you come out from work and fight your way out that door. You get pushed back in, and then you come back out. I walk with you to lunch. It's a good day, if you stop and get that romance novel at that store. I know on Wednesdays, you go to that dim sum parlor. And I know that you get a jawbreaker before you go back into work. And I know you hate your job and you don't have many friends. Sometimes you feel uncoordinated and you don't feel as wonderful as everybody else. Feeling as alone and separate as you feel you are... I love you. I love you! I think you're the greatest thing since spice racks. I'd be knocked out if I could just have that first kiss. And I won't be distant. I'll come back in the morning. I'll call you, if you let me. But I still don't drink coffee.
[taking all of this in, Lydia caresses Parry's face]
Lydia : You're real... aren't you?
[Parry and Lydia kiss. She then goes up the stairs to her apartment building]
Lydia : Bye.
[She tries to open the door]
Lydia : It's the wrong door.
[She opens the correct one and enters]
Parry : [amused, chuckling to himself] She didn't even give me her number.
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First Punk : You a faggot, too?
Parry : Faggot? No, but I do believe in fairies!
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Parry : I'm surprised some man just doesn't come in here and snatch you up all for themselves.
Anne Napolitano : *You're* surprised?
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Parry : Jack, I may be going out on a limb here, but you don't seem like a happy camper.
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Parry : I'm a knight on a special quest. And I need help.
[Jack nods]
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[last lines]
Parry : Goodnight, Manhattan! Say goodnight, Jack.
Jack Lucas : Goodnight, Jack.
Parry : [laughs]
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Parry : I am deeply smitten.
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Parry : C'mon, Jack, what do you think the Crusades were? A Pope's publicity stunt?
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Parry : You have a great set of... dishes.
Anne Napolitano : Jack, he's trying to start a con-vuh-sation...
Jack Lucas : Then talk to him, he won't bite you.
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Parry : [singing] Holding my penis... what a wonderful way of saying how much you like me.
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Parry : Come back, we'll rummage.
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Parry : [as Jack is waking up] Hi, welcome back.
Jack Lucas : Have I died?
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Parry : Mendacity!
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[after his date with Lydia, Parry is confronted by a vision of the terrifying Red Knight]
Parry : Please, let me have this. LET ME HAVE THIS!
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Parry : You can't be in here.
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Parry : Jack, lend a hand.
Jack Lucas : He should sleep it off. Somebody'll take care of him.
Parry : Who? Mother Teresa? She's retired. It's just us.
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Parry : You have to be nude, though, Jack.
Jack Lucas : You can't do this!
Parry : You can't refuse the psychic energy.
Jack Lucas : This is New York. No one's allowed to be naked in a field in New York. It's too Midwestern.
Parry : Come on, Jack, it's wild! It's really freeing! I mean, the air on your body, your nipples are hard, little guy's dangling in the wind.
Jack Lucas : Hey, come on!
Parry : Come on, Jack. What are you afraid of?
Jack Lucas : You're pissing me off. Hey.
Parry : And we're bare-assed naked in the middle of it!
Jack Lucas : Hey, I'm not doing this. This is nuts! I'm leaving.
Parry : Come on, Jack. Free yourself! Free yourself!
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Parry : [singing] Oh Lydia, oh Lydia, Say, have you met Lydia? Lydia The Tattooed Lady, When her muscles start relaxin', up the hill comes Michael Jackson...
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Parry : I am your man, then! Let's do it - right here! Let's go to that place of "splendor in the grass"! Behold my magic wand and free your golden orbs right now!
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Parry : [knifed] Thank you!
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Parry : Ooh! Men with Men!
