Really powerful scene. Karl starts it off by trying to have a relationship with his dad, but quickly realizes how sad and pathetic he is. Karl truly is the bigger man.
When the camera fixes on the hole carved into the ground, you can feel the years of senseless neglect and cruelty. This entire scene is biblical in its spiritual weight.
That slow panning shot of the interior of the shed is heart shattering. After knowing how he was raised and how it affected him into adulthood, actually seeing it still there years later is so depressing. This dilapidated shack, probably in not much worse shape than when Carl was a child. Knowing he spent most of his developing years just sitting on that dirt floor. The music is perfect too. Its just so sad.
Thats a good way to describe the scene. I just noticed when I watched this scene again, the two support arches (or whatever you call them) for the train bridge look like wings. Thats the way I see it, at least
His response was horrible, but its possible hes correct, "aint no kin". Remember what he caught his mother doing. Was that the first time? Probably not.
Karl did what he thought he needed to by killing Doyle so frank can be free. Karol already seen this once before he is secretly smartest guy at things he is good at which that is very true for people with disabilities everything about his character what Billy Bob Thornton did is magnificent who knows how long it took him learn lawn Mowers but he is great at it
How could anyone ever forget this movie? It may have a simple story, but the deep themes are done so well. Every scene contributes to the story and the characters, not one bad scene. That's why this is a perfect movie.
I saw this at the movies when it came out. I was 25 and it blew me away. The huge sound of the music in the theater added to the intensity of the scenes.
This movie is so superb that Billy Bob Thornton need never direct another movie. Like Orson Welles, his place in cinema history is secure with this one masterpiece. For Robert Duvall, despite his long and brilliant career, "Tender Mercies" and "The Apostle" are the two movie classics that he will be best remembered for-----with "Lonesome Dove" making him a TV legend as well!
It's very difficult to limit this comment to a few sentences - or even sections. What an utterly electifying experience it was to watch this movie. Here in 2023, the world is busy going crazy, and while that's going on, important lessons about fatherhood, life, religion, people, culture, morals, predujice and purity that's all wrapped up into movies like this.. Gone.... Happy I was around to get the opportunity to watch it!
One of the most melancholic scenes from Hollywood, depicting the life in American South. I believe Carl's manners and ethics are far superior than an average person.
it just broke my heart and...eyes got teary, the moment he opened the door of that shack that he used to live in 25 years ago, with all that junk along with the torn apart bed spread and the spring box still around that hole he used to sleep in. The music of Daniel Lanoise was spot on such a sad scene with great facial and walking impressions of Billy Bob.
I finally figured out what his dad is mumbling to himself when Carl walks in: "Kick yer head in... bout 25 years ago yer dead I guess... wher'd you go to? But old brotha that's kinda sad, cuz I was drunk when I did it... Cuz I had to... hehe hehe..."
01:32 The appliance to his left is a washer from the 50's, probably a Maytag. The round drum washes the clothes as a normal upright washer, but is filled and drained manually.The bar across the top is a wringer. Two rollers are turned by motor and clothes are passed piece by piece between them, wringing out the water which falls back in the drum.
@@mikedoss9777Ive only seen one used once. In my grandmothers house. She had nearly all the same stuff in her house from the 50s-60s until she passed. I bet collectors were excited when they sold it all out. Gleaming, like new appliances from long ago. Fridge had as much chrome on it as an old Buick. And its worth noting... they worked that long too.
I finally figured out what his dad is mumbling to himself when Carl walks in: "Kick yer head in... bout 25 years ago yer dead I guess... wher'd you go to? But old brotha that's kinda sad, cuz I was drunk when I did it... Cuz I had to... hehe hehe..." *Creepy*
The first time I watched this scene with captions on, I noticed that Robert Duvall’s incoherent rambling lines were actually captioned. I never cared much before, because it just sounds like nonsense. I feel like at a glance, it’s supposed to illustrate his dementia and feeble-mindedness in his old age. But when I read his actual lines, I can’t help but think it’s Carl’s head he’s talking about kicking in while drunk. The whole movie, we never actually know Carl’s diagnosis other than he’s mentally challenged in some way. It could have been that he was born that way. At least, that’s the most natural assumption. He even demonstrates great abilities in certain areas, similar to those with autism. But these few lines force you to consider the real possibility that Carl’s mental challenges are a result of brain injury sustained from a violent beating as a child. It makes this scene all the more saddening and heartbreaking. Maybe that was obvious to some, but I didn’t piece that together for a long time.
I think it’s a reference to Carl’s little brother that he beat to death n has been going insane (probably from dementia n whatnot too) for the last 25 years. That’s why he says later “that u shouldn’t have done that to my little brother-he would have had fun sometimes” but I could be wrong too
@@CriscDogs22 The brother that is referenced is the newborn baby that they threw out and made Carl bury while it was still alive, after they presumably aborted it somehow on their own. Any kind of beating is never referenced other than here though. It could have happened to Carl while he was only 2 or 3 years old, which would explain why he doesn't talk about it, because he doesn't remember.
@@rondorthecruel124 damn I totally forgot that!! Been too long since I watched this movie in full. Thanks for reminding me but can’t believe forgot that! Lol
I figured Carl's intellectual disability is from the years of neglect and abuse. Beatings, lack of stimulation, malnutrition. That explains why he's pretty capable in some ways.
The soundtrack for the film was written and played by the Canadian genius Daniel Lanois. His song "The Maker" plays during the closing credits of the film.
yeah, french fried taters funny and all that but this movie is pure genius near spiritual, the acting, directing, camera shots are on a level I can't properly explain
Despite A L L the years , and time passing , Carl still remembers where his little brother is buried , probably also abused . . Hard scene to stomach , knowing a A human was forced / made to sleep out in a shed , on the cold , hard ground , no warmth , no human caring , no nice words.
If you grew up outside of a large city in the SE, in a smaller town, you knew a “Carl” because every small town had one. Sometimes “Carl” had a little, poor family, and sometimes not. But he was always there, and everyone knew him. Remember that, even today, the rural SE is very different from larger cities in the South. Drive 45 minutes outside the city limits of a large, southern city like Atlanta, and you’re in another world.
Right you are. I grew up in Benton Arkansas, where this movie was filmed and not too far from where Billy Bob Thornton is from. Every small town in the south has a "Carl" of some form and plenty of "Doyles". It's like a completely different society and time when you're in major cities, even southern major cities.
That's true. In VA, NC, and SC, aside from the major cities, it's pretty much nothing but rural areas and it seems like you've gone through a time machine that took you back about 20 or 30 years when you're only an hour or so outside of the major areas.
The whole state of Arkansas is less than half the population of metro Atlanta. Biggest metro in Arkansas is about 750,000 and the largest city is 200,000 (Little Rock).
@@twiceonsundays Virginia is a blue state and North Carolina is almost there. Meanwhile Arkansas is the reddest of the red. And the three states you mention have significantly larger populations than Arkansas, which is barely three million. I ran into a lady from SC (in SC) who told me she lived in Arkansas for a time but left "because there was nothing to do" and I agreed with her. All these Californians fleeing east on I-40 only stop for food and gas in Arkansas and Mississippi on their way to Nashville or wherever they are moving to. They aren't moving to Arkansas and Mississippi. Not in droves anyway. Also let's not forget that Mississippi ranks dead last and Arkansas next to last in many measures like median household income. In fact, the state motto when I was growing up was "thank God for Mississippi."
"Weird bullets. And you, where you go to? Then you're here. What were you? I kicked your head in 25 years ago, you're dead, I guess. Where'd you go to? I know Mother, that's kinda sad. I was drunk when I did it. What was I up to? Hmm Hmm." His dad is either in a semi-drunken stupor, or he's showing early signs of being senile and he's having conversations with people who aren't there, and it kinda sounds like he is recounting killing someone in the past.
Some people think there weren't many bad people in the "olden days." There were some. There was quite a bit of bad parenting and poverty. That's why we need social workers, so that children don't fall through the cracks.
There weren't. Compare the stuff kids are doing today, 13 year old girls stabbing their friend in the woods, the two 10 year old boys that abducted and killed and sodomized a 2 year old boy,just for the heck of it. The mother who cooked her infant in an oven...things like that didn't happen in the 50's and 60's. It would have been headline news. Now these are nearly weekly occurances.
@@Suddenlyits1960 What I said was, 'there were bad people back then.' It may be true that there were fewer wacky, depraved crimes back then. Even per capita (there are more people now). But there was also a strong "don't report/don't discuss" sentiment back then. Lots of bad things swept under the rug. Rural police departments with few good investigators. They would bow to pressure from community leaders who didn't want shame brought on "their town."
@@Suddenlyits1960 Brother, the past is no stranger to the wicked. Even in the 50s, serial killers captured the headlines, various injustices were aflame, and small acts of hatred held their silent grip, in dark corners of the country. And be mindful to separate your golden age from that before it, they endured enough poverty and war to sober a generation from crime and death.
It's 2024 and they make movies today that cost tens of millions ..and they don't come close to this classic..not sure what this budget was..but it just a simple movie with great acting
Anybody in the Benton, Arkansas area know where this house is located? In the commentary, Billy Bob said it was an empty house they found on the highway.
I don't know where that house is, but they are everywhere to this day in Arkansas. I have family in Benton and when we visited in the 80's my relatives lived in falling down shacks with a late model car out front and a gigantic satellite dish in the yard. One of my uncles would walk from Benton to Little Rock to pay the money to get put on the ballot for Governor every election.
It's a bit exaggerated. I live in the heart of the south (in a fairly small town) and I drive by mansions quite a lot. But, yes, there are definitely poor areas, just as there are in every U.S. state.
And yet people do anything they can to come live here? Get a clue. Poor people in America and Europe are still historically wealthy. You just have no idea what it was like in the past, or even large swaths of the world today.
@@hunterhunter106 Ding ding ding. People complain about being poor even as they have cars, phones, food, and can afford to door dash items to their house. Poor people in history were starving, diseased, and dying. Many places in the world are still like this. People in prosperous countries have zero context as to the cruel nature of actual poverty and deprivation.
@@Wowzersdude-k5cyou are way off. At the time this film was set, Arkansas ranked #49 in almost every ranking of US States, and when I was a kid the unofficial state motto was "Thank God for Mississippi" because they are almost always #50. Historically, the Mississippi Delta region is the most impoverished, crime ridden and uneducated region of the country, outpacing even Appalachia until perhaps recently. And the film is set in central Arkansas, just west of the Delta. I'm from Jefferson County which is just SE of Little Rock and it (Jefferson County) borders a Delta county...
I live in a rather small town in Indiana. There’s like maybe 5 or 6 street lights. Anyways, I love the town. Ppl are friendly, polite….everything big city’s aren’t but there are pockets of houses where there is obvious serious neglect. Ppl who when the mower stops running it’s just left right where it quit at. House n yard in complete disrepair…anything and everything by those who quit taking care of themselves or the place they call home. Sad
For a guy who doesn't know the difference between a large french fry portion or a small, he has an impeccable sense of direction since being locked up for the better part of 40 years with mind numbing medication
Arkansas is a tiny, tiny place. When he calls 911 he doesn't even give an address, he identifies the location by the name of the family the house is associated with.
I simply need this piece of music in my life. The film is literally perfect. Genius. Real. The music. Everything. “That like That Doyle, that’s some good shit. Alright! Haaaawwww!”
There are small towns with houses like this all over the country, not just in Arkansas. I live in Arkansas and have been to almost every state in the US and I've come across several houses similar to this in small towns. West Virginia is one of many states that has Arkansas beat in that category.
"Weird bullet. Where'd you go to? Then you're here. What were you? I kicked your head in 25 years ago, you're dead, I guess. Where'd you go to? I know Mother, that's kinda sad. I was drunk when I did it. What was I up to? Hmm Hmm, Hmm Hmm."
Notice the framed painting of "The Last Supper" revealed once Carl moves to leave. From what I gather, Carl is a Christ-like figure, very pure and honest. Not an inkling of deception. Many around him surround themselves with the icons of Jesus begging for salvation yet constantly judge others. Carl is redeemed and beyond that mental prison. Plus, his name has parallels to Carl Jung, so he is also very adept at understanding the psychology of others. 🎉
This is one of the greatest movies ever made and by far one of the best acting performances I've ever seen. Only thing that pissed me off about it was Geoffrey Rush winning the Academy award over Thornton. His, (Thornton), acting and directing was absolutely amazing.
Film rarely captures nightmare worlds so effectively. Sometimes David Lynch gets it right, frequently at the risk of story or maybe narrative. This film goes right into the ID and let's us see evil and darkness, offering a strange kind of resolution if not transcendence. Like Ingmar Bergman transplanted into violent backwoods South.
I like to analyze the hell out of this entire scene, and one thing that sticks out: Karl goes into the house, he's heading down the hall, then he stops and looks in this one room and we hear the distorted voice of his father (I assume). Slow the video down to 0.25, it's creepy. Is there some significance about that particular area?
@@MattFNC No, because according to Karl, he saw it through the screened in porch, and in Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade, it was said to be in the kitchen.
Only just seen this film. Can tell it will stay with me. If any Americans are interested in some high quality evocative cinema/TV that they probably won't have seen before, the feeling this scene left me with reminded me of some of the works of an English director by the name of Shane Meadows, in particular Dead Man's Shoes, the final episode of the TV series sequel that followed his film This Is England, and the TV series The Virtues. Thematically any similarities are relatively small, Dead Man's Shoes is about a boy with an unspecified mental condition who falls in with a crowd of lowlives who bully him mercilessly and his brother's reaction to it - very funny in parts for a film on that subject, and does a great job at making the petpetrators human rather than caricatures - and The Virtues is about a struggling alcoholic who relapses when his young son moves to Australia and travels back from England to the town in Ireland he fled from as a child to track down his younger sister and piece together his past and what made him like he is. This is England has even less similarities but there is the relationship between a troubled grown man and a young boy who lost his father at the fore I suppose when a violent, racist individual comes home from prison and causes a divide in a previously happy group of young skinheads in a deprived town in 80's England, then the three series of the TV programme sequel follows the aftermath of the film. I'd encourage anybody who likes good film to try to find a way to watch his stuff. Don't look up scenes on RU-vid though as they'll likely give away big plot points and massively detract from the experience of watching them properly if you decide to.
This is set in central Arkansas, not too far west of the Mississippi Delta. Fun fact: the Mississippi Delta region is historically even more impoverished, backwards and uneducated than Appalachia...
"You'll be dead soon enough, and the world'll be shut of ya" My Dad said as much as of one of his relatives. An incredibly evil man. My Dad pissed on his grave for what he done.
Slingblade has some hilarious parts, like “It ain’t got no gas in it.” Yet for the most part, it just tears at my heart. What a great movie that should have gotten Oscar nods if not outright wins. So much better than $200 million dollar blockbusters that I forget after a few months. It’s been nearly two decades since I watched Slingblade and I still quote it, do Karl’s voice to make one of my doctor’s receptionist laugh.
@@bentonja668 Thank you! I missed that on the Slingblade page, but this is listed for him on his IMDB page. Probably on the movies page and I most likely overlooked it.
