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| “ | Now look what you've done. Now look what you've bloody f***ing done. | „ |
| ~ Edmond to himself after killing a woman. |
Edmond Burke is the titular villainous protagonist of David Mamet's 1982 play Edmond and its 2005 movie adaptation of the same name. Edmond Burke is a white-collar business worker in New York City until he stops off at a fortune-teller's for a Tarot reading: "You are not where you belong," she tells him. That evening he quits his marriage and walks the streets of New York, passing from a classy bar to a gentleman's club, to a high-class bordello, a mugging, a pawnshop, and a diner where someone does listen. He shares his insights with a waitress and later with others. But after brutally murdering a female bartender during a visit, he goes out of control.
He was portrayed by Kenneth Branagh (who also portrayed also portrayed Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Dr. Arliss Loveless in Wild Wild West, Viktor Cherevin in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Iago in Othello, A.O. Neville in Rabbit-Proof Fence, and Andrei Sator in Tenet) in the 2003 London theatre play adaptation, and William H. Macy (who also portrayed Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo, Jack Powell in Law & Order, Lefty Maginnis in Everyone's Hero, and Trevathan in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes) in the 2005 film adaptation.
Biography[]
Edmond Burke is a middle-aged New York City businessman who visits a tarot fortune teller on the way home from work. The fortune teller looks at the cards concerning Edmond with a shocked expression and, a little startled, she says to him: "you are not where you belong". He decides to make changes in his life, beginning by leaving his wife. He goes to a bar, While at the bar, Edmond tells a fellow patron that he has not had sex in a while and that marriage took away his masculinity. The man gives him the address to a strip club, where Edmond is kicked out by a bouncer for not paying for a stripper's drink. Now even more sexually frustrated, Edmond goes to a peep show; having never been to such a place before, he is disappointed when he realizes that he is not allowed to have actual sex with the performer. He goes to a white-collar bordello, but cannot afford a hooker. Edmond needs money, so he plays a three-card Monte game with a street dealer. When Edmond realizes the dealer was accused of cheating, the dealer and his shill beat him up and steal his money. Edmond becomes enraged by what he sees as the contempt, prejudice and greed of society. He pawns his wedding ring in exchange for a knife. He is approached by a African-American pimp who offers Edmond a "clean girl" and lures him to an alleyway, where the pimp attempts to mug him. In a wild rage, Edmond attacks the pimp with his knife while hurling racial slurs at him. He leaves him wounded and possibly dying in the alley.
Suddenly euphoric, Edmond enters a coffee shop and tells a young waitress, Glenna, his newfound worldview of instant gratification. They end up having sex at her apartment. Glenna likes him at first, but she is soon frightened by his increasingly erratic behavior and calls for help. An enraged Edmond slashes her to death, blaming her own insecurity for her murder. On a subway train, he has an angry confrontation with a female African-American passenger. Edmond comes across a church service where a minister preaches about respect and faith. Edmond feels the urge to preach about his own experiences, and as he stands in the doorway of the church, the woman from the subway recognizes him and calls into the street for the police. The responding officer pats Edmond down to find the knife in his front jacket pocket. Edmond is arrested. In jail, Edmond begins to appreciate the security of his old life, but it is too late; the police have reason to believe that the knife found in Edmond's pocket may be the weapon used in Glenna's murder. The interrogating officer bluntly asks Edmond why he killed Glenna, to Edmond's shock and disbelief. He is sent to prison for her murder. There, Edmond is paired with a black cellmate. He likes prison because it is simple. He speaks of how he has always feared black people, but now that he shares a room with one, he can finally feel a bond. The indifferent cellmate then forces Edmond to perform oral sex on him. Edmond tells a prison minister what happened, but goes off on a tangent, shouting that God has been unfair to him. When the minister asks why he murdered the waitress, he has no answer.
Years later. Edmond has cut connections with the outside world, refusing to see visitors. He talks to his cellmate, with whom he has developed a relationship, about the human ego and how life should not be taken for granted. He concludes that by conquering his fears, he might lead a better life. Both men ponder the afterlife. Edmond then goes to sleep comfortably alongside his cellmate. True to the tarot fortune teller's words, Edmond might well have found the place where he belongs.
Quotes[]
| “ | Interrogator: What was the knife for? Edmond: For protection. Interrogator: From whom? Edmond: From everyone. Interrogator: You know it's illegal? Edmond: No. Interrogator: It is. [Edmond pauses] Edmond: I'm sorry. Interrogator: Talking to that woman in the way you did is construed as assault. Edmond: I never spoke to her. Interrogator: She identified you as the man who accosted her last evening on the subway. Edmond: She is seriously mistaken. Interrogator: If she presses charges you'll be arraigned for assault. Edmond: For speaking to her? Interrogator: Then you admit to speaking to her? [Edmond pauses while being asked a question] Edmond: I want to ask you something. [The Interrgator pauses and puts down his cigarette] Interrogator: All right. Edmond: Did you ever kick a dog? [He pauses while during the talk] Well, that's what I did, man to man. That's what I did. I made a simple, harmless comment to her, and she responded like a f***ing b****. Interrogator: You trying to pick her up? Edmond: Why should I try to pick her up? Interrogator: She was an attractive woman. Edmond: She was not an attractive woman. Interrogator: You gay? Edmond: What business is that of yours? |
„ |
| ~ Edmond talking to the Interrogator during the most famous scene in the entire movie. |
Trivia[]
- When Edmond enters the peep show and Bai Ling greets him, she tells him to go into room number six three times: 666.
- In 2006, William H. Macy won the Best Actor Award for his performance as the title character of 'Edmond' in this film at the Mar del Plata Film Festival.
- Rebecca Pidgeon, who plays Edmond's wife, also starred opposite William H. Macy in the original stage version of 'Oleanna', also written by David Mamet.
- At one point, William H. Macy's character says "F*** you, f*** the lot of you, f*** you all!." David Mamet previously used this line in the film Glengarry Glen Ross (it was shouted by Ed Harris's character).
- In the commentary, the late director Stuart Gordon and producers tell a story of when filming the scene when Edmond was beating the African-American pimp and screaming various racial slurs, Jamie Foxx was filming a TV pilot nearby and walked over a bit upset at what he was hearing, and talked to the various black actors and crew standing around.
- The late director Stuart Gordon's August 3rd, 2005 official statement for the film reads: "'Every fear hides a wish'. So says David Mamet through his hapless protagonist Edmond. 'When we fear things I think we wish for them. Death or burglars.' Edmond's fears cause him to buy a survival knife, which he soon puts to use. Julia Stiles told me that the script for 'Edmond' reminded her of Michael Moore's brilliant documentary 'Bowling for Columbine' in which Moore suggests that the excessive violence on the streets of America is a result of racial fear."
- The philosophical dialog about consciousness and dogs between Edmond and his cellmate that takes place at the end in their prison cell is based on a science fiction theory about the origins of dogs and the canine star Sirius. The theory postulates that dogs came to earth from Sirius and that they were bipedal and were able to speak, but upon arriving here, humans enslaved them, forced them to walk on all fours and made them forget the power of speech.
- The number 115 comes up numerous times in the film: In the beginning as an appointment time of 1:15 for Edmond, 115 is the address of the tarot reader's shop Edmond goes into, 115 is the number of Edmond's cell when he goes to prison.