Set Fire to the Stars (2014)
Elijah Wood: John Malcolm Brinnin
Photos
Quotes
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John Malcolm Brinnin : So, you write for yourself?
Dylan Thomas : For everyone.
John Malcolm Brinnin : That's a big ask.
Dylan Thomas : Nobody asked.
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Dylan Thomas : [coughing violently]
John Malcolm Brinnin : Are you okay? What's wrong?
Dylan Thomas : It's just my froth corrupted lungs.
John Malcolm Brinnin : That doesn't sound good.
Dylan Thomas : Death isn't meant to.
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John Malcolm Brinnin : We only have three days until Yale. I need to make sure you're ready.
Dylan Thomas : You make me sound like a prize bull.
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John Malcolm Brinnin : New York wasn't compatible.
Dylan Thomas : With what?
John Malcolm Brinnin : With you.
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Dylan Thomas : We could be in Moiphy's right now, sharing a glass and a song with international spies and girls with names like candy bars.
John Malcolm Brinnin : And I'd be peeling you off the floor and carrying you home.
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Dylan Thomas : May I borrow your wife, Stanley? She's lightning in a bottle.
John Malcolm Brinnin : Haven't you already got a wife?
Shirley : Well, you know what they say. One is company, two's a crowd and three's a party.
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John Malcolm Brinnin : Where does it all come from? The words... from which spring do they pour?
Dylan Thomas : Don't.
John Malcolm Brinnin : No one's that mysterious.
Dylan Thomas : We're having fun, John. Don't take it away.
John Malcolm Brinnin : I'm not taking it away.
Dylan Thomas : [yells] Why do you have to ruin it? Label it?
John Malcolm Brinnin : I'm sorry.
Dylan Thomas : No, I'm sorry. I'm a horrible little imp who can't hold his friends or answer his liquor. Forgive me.
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Stanley : Shirley likes to cut loose once in a while. Like Mount Vesuvius. I indulge!
John Malcolm Brinnin : How very Catholic of you.
Stanley : Not really. We all have our vices. Don't you?
John Malcolm Brinnin : I don't have time for vices. Dylan makes sure of that. Up until four days ago, I thought I was a professor of poetry in New York. Now? I'm not so sure. Benefactor, babysitter, nursemaid...
Stanley : Jesus, you make it sound like a marriage.
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Rosie : The name is Rosie.
John Malcolm Brinnin : Oh, right, yes. Well hello, Rosie.
Rosie : Whatever. What's your story?
John Malcolm Brinnin : I'm a poet... poetry professor. Manhattan. This is my friend's first trip to America. I'm his Boswell. His amanuensis.
Rosie : You must be a poet. You talk funny.
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John Malcolm Brinnin : [drunk] You wanna see a versatile poet? First, I'm gonna drink this bottle of Scotch, then I'm gonna look for a bottle of vodka.
Jack : [laughs]
John Malcolm Brinnin : It's not that funny.
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John Malcolm Brinnin : Sometimes I don't understand you, and that's hard for me to admit. You lose me in a haze of language and imagery that often don't belong together.
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John Malcolm Brinnin : How much trouble can one poet be?
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John Malcolm Brinnin : [drunk] To Jack. Good ol' Jack. There's just one thing I wanted to know. What's your angle? It's been bugging me. Professional jealousy? Proving inadequacy on my part? Did you want the sponsorship money for yourself? What is it? Or, or... another paternity suit? Damn, those cheerleaders.
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John Malcolm Brinnin : What did that woman say?
Dylan Thomas : My wife John, is none of your business.
John Malcolm Brinnin : What did she say that awoke you from your dream? I need to know. What is it she can scribble down...
Dylan Thomas : Stop it, John.
John Malcolm Brinnin : ...in her violent cheap-hand that eclipses my entire being.
Dylan Thomas : Stop it!
John Malcolm Brinnin : That... bitch!
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John Malcolm Brinnin : You can't play chess? Why didn't you say?
Dylan Thomas : You never asked.
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Dylan Thomas : I can't waste any more time.
John Malcolm Brinnin : Waste?
Dylan Thomas : The Boston train's tomorrow... early. Mustn't be late. Prepared, be prepared. I'll pack now. Come on, John!
John Malcolm Brinnin : Waste your time? There's nothing left you can take from me, is there? I'm empty. You've gorged on my heart and mind and left me nothing.
Dylan Thomas : Take it easy, John.
John Malcolm Brinnin : You selfish vampire!
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John Malcolm Brinnin : Let's get you to the station so you can terrorize somebody else.
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Dylan Thomas : There are times I prefer the human race when it sleeps. When we dream.
John Malcolm Brinnin : That's quite a romantic notion for a dollar-mad nightingale. Perhaps you should write about it.
Dylan Thomas : Perhaps I will... John Malcolm Brinnin. Perhaps I bloody will.
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John Malcolm Brinnin : You know, flippancy is the most hopeless form of intellectual vice.
Dylan Thomas : Well, if that's a vice, to hell with virtue.
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John Malcolm Brinnin : That's the King.
Dylan Thomas : He must have some clout.
John Malcolm Brinnin : Not as much as the Queen. The most powerful piece on the board. She has the goods to capture every opposing piece in play.
Dylan Thomas : The female of the species.