The Giver (2014)
Brenton Thwaites: Jonas
Photos
Quotes
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Jonas : ...I had learned that knowing what something is is not the same as knowing how something feels.
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Jonas : It was like a memory, but Fiona was there.
The Giver : You had a dream.
Jonas : A what?
The Giver : A dream. A combination of reality, fantasy, emotions and what you had for dinner. You've stopped taking your injections, haven't you?
Jonas : The emotion was so strong. And at the wedding, everyone all together, laughing and dancing, the old with the young, the bride and the groom... There was something there, but different from what we have.
The Giver : Yes. We don't have that anymore.
Jonas : What do you mean by "that?"
The Giver : Well, I'm talking about what you feel for someone else. And the mind can't explain it, and you... you can't make it go away.
Jonas : What is it?
The Giver : Love. It's called love.
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Fiona : I don't have the words to describe it.
[Jonas kisses her]
Jonas : Fiona, there is more. So much more.
[kisses her]
Chief Elder's Assistant : What are they doing?
Jonas : Fiona, what do you feel?
Fiona : I don't have the words to describe it.
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[last lines]
Jonas : I wish I had been there when the memories returned. They were the truth. The Elders and their rules were the lie, so I do NOT apologize. I knew Fiona was safe, that I'd see her again, and that I held the future there in my arms.
[distant singing]
Jonas : The Giver had led us here, to this house. It was real. From far behind me, from the place I had left, I thought I heard music, too. Perhaps it was only an echo, but it was enough. It would lead us all home.
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The Giver : We are the only ones who understand it.
Jonas : Then it's our fault, you and me and all the Receivers, back and back and back and back and back. There has to be a way to show them, to give them the memories so they can understand.
The Giver : Yes.
Jonas : Because if you can't feel... what's the point?
The Giver : But what can you do?
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[first lines]
Title Card : From the ashes of The Ruin, the Communities were built. Protected by the Boundary. All memories of the past were erased.
Jonas : After The Ruin we started over, creating a new society, one of true equality. Rules were the building blocks of that equality. We learned them as Newchildren. Rules like: use precise language, wear your assigned clothing, take your morning medication, obey the curfew, never lie.
Jonas : My name is Jonas. I don't have a last name. None of us did. That day, the day before graduation, I admit it, I was scared. Tomorrow we'd be assigned our jobs, our purpose. It seemed everyone knew theirs already. Not me. I was lost. I always felt like I saw things--differently; saw things other people didn't. I never said anything. I didn't want to be different. Who would?
Asher : [bicycle bell dinging] Jonas!
Fiona : I apologize, we're late. I got Asher to come say goodbye to Teacher.
Jonas : I accept your apology.
Jonas : [narration continues] Asher and Fiona. We'd been friends our whole lives. Asher was the boy who made everyone laugh. Fiona, well, she was the girl who made everyone smile.
Asher : [standing on his bicycle pedals] ... Take that back! Whoever is listening, please, please, do not make me Vice Chancellor of Waste Management! Please!
Jonas : [narration continues] We lived in a world where differences weren't allowed. There was no "popular." No fame. No losers and no winners. Our Elders had eliminated all of that so there'd be no conflict between us. Fear, pain, envy, hate, they weren't words so much as sounds. Their echoes were gone to the other side of history. I'm asked if I should apologize for what I did. I'll let you decide.
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Chief Elder : Jonas, what do you and the Receiver actually do?
Jonas : My rules say I am not allowed to share.
Mother : She's the Chief Elder. Jonas, she only wants to help.
Jonas : You're right.
[to the Chief Elder]
Jonas : But you can't tell the Receiver I told you.
Chief Elder : You have my word.
Jonas : We sit in chairs and don't talk all day long, and then, when time is up, I come back here, and in the morning I do it all again.
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The Giver : Just like music, there's something else you can't see with your eyes, something... that lives deep inside you. Something these morning injections take away.
Jonas : I thought the injections are for our health.
The Giver : No. They remove something.
Jonas : What?
The Giver : Emotions.
Jonas : You mean like feelings?
The Giver : Feelings are just fleeting, on the surface, but emotions, they're very deep, primal. They linger. Now, Jonas, you might not understand where you are or what's happening, but don't think about what you're seeing. Listen. Listen to what's calling from inside.
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Jonas : I hadn't been wrong. THIS was wrong. They hadn't eliminated murder. They brought it home. They just called it by a different name.
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Jonas : Father, do you love me?
Mother : Jonas, precision of language. Please.
Lilly : What does "love" mean?
Father : [taking Gabriel] I got him, Lilly
Mother : [to Lilly] Jonas used a word so antiquated that it no longer has any application. Okay?
Father : [to Jonas] If you ask "Do you enjoy me?" the answer is certainly yes; or, do Mother and I take pride in your accomplishments? Well, of course we do. Do you understand?
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Jonas : [about The Giver's dwelling] Asher and I, we used to dare each other to get close to his place. It was built right on the Edge. We'd all heard of people getting Lost to the Edge, never to be seen again, and yet, here I was, being told that I'd have to get close to it every day, for the rest of my life.
