fiction.wikisort.org - Movie

Sling Blade is a 1996 American drama film written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton, who also stars in the lead role. Set in Arkansas, it is the story of intellectually disabled Karl Childers, and the friendship he develops with a boy and his mother. Karl was released from a psychiatric hospital, where he had grown up due to having killed his mother and her lover when he was 12 years old. It also stars Dwight Yoakam, J. T. Walsh, John Ritter, Lucas Black, Natalie Canerday, James Hampton, and Robert Duvall.

Sling Blade
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Billy Bob Thornton
Screenplay by	Billy Bob Thornton
Based on	Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade by Billy Bob Thornton
Produced by	Larry Meistrich David L. Bushell Brandon Rosser
Starring	Billy Bob Thornton Dwight Yoakam J. T. Walsh John Ritter Lucas Black Natalie Canerday Robert Duvall
Cinematography	Barry Markowitz
Edited by	Hughes Winborne
Music by	Daniel Lanois
Production company	TSG Pictures
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release date	November 27, 1996 (1996-11-27)
Running time	135 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.2 million[1]
Box office	$34.1 million[2]

The film was adapted by Thornton from his previous one-man show Swine Before Pearls,[3] from which he also developed a screenplay for the 1994 short film Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade, directed by George Hickenlooper. Sling Blade became a sleeper hit, launching Thornton into stardom. It won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay,[4] and Thornton was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. The music for the soundtrack was provided by French Canadian artist/producer Daniel Lanois.

Sling Blade was filmed in 24 days,[5] on location in Benton, Arkansas,[6] produced by David L. Bushell and Brandon Rosser.[7]

Plot

Karl Childers is an intellectually disabled Arkansas man whose parents physically abused when he was young. He has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 after having murdered his mother and her lover with a sling blade. As a passive person, Karl is often forced by serial rapist Charles to listen to stories of his criminal history as a convicted sexual predator. In the mid-1990s, the state determines Karl is no longer dangerous and releases him to his small home town, where he finds work at a small engine repair shop.

Karl befriends 12-year-old Frank Wheatley and shares details of his past, including the killings. Frank introduces Karl to his mother, Linda, and her friend and boss, Vaughan. Vaughan is concerned about Karl's history, but Linda asks him to move into her garage, angering her abusive and alcoholic boyfriend, Doyle. Vaughan tells Karl that he fears Doyle could hurt or kill Linda and Frank one day.

Karl becomes a role model to Frank, who misses his real father who died, and despises Doyle. As they grow closer, Karl tells Frank that he is haunted by an incident that happened when he was six or eight years old. His parents performed an abortion of his unwanted baby brother and gave him the body to dispose of. Karl found the infant still moving and buried him alive. Karl later visits his father, who has become a sickly and spiteful hermit. Karl scolds him for his cruelty, and tells him that he had thought about killing him. But now that he sees him, Karl thinks it is better to let him live in his squalor, and that he will be dead soon enough.

During Doyle's latest drunken outburst, refusing to leave Linda's house, Frank fights back. Linda later reconciles with Doyle, who announces that he will move in. He tells Karl that he is no longer welcome. When Frank protests, Doyle grabs him, but Karl intervenes and warns him never to touch Frank again.

Realizing that an unhappy childhood or worse awaits Frank, Karl persuades him and Linda to spend the night at Vaughan's house. Later that evening, he returns to the Wheatley home carrying a lawn mower blade, and finds Doyle drunk and alone in the living room. Doyle asks Karl what he is doing with the lawn mower blade, and Karl says he intends to kill Doyle with it. Karl then asks Doyle how to telephone the police, and Doyle tells him to dial 9-1-1 and ask for the police, or a hearse. Karl then kills Doyle with the lawn mower blade. He dials 911, and then sits down at the kitchen table, eating biscuits and mustard as he waits for the authorities.

Returned to the state hospital, Karl is more assertive. Charles tells him more stories about his sex crimes, and then questions Karl about his relationship with Frank. This angers Karl, and he tells Charles to never speak to him again. As Charles walks away, Karl turns and looks out of a window toward an open field.

Cast

• Billy Bob Thornton as Karl Childers[7]
• Dwight Yoakam as Doyle Hargraves[7]
• J. T. Walsh as Charles Bushman[7]
• John Ritter as Vaughan Cunningham[7]
• Lucas Black as Frank Wheatley[7]
• Natalie Canerday as Linda Wheatley
• James Hampton as Jerry Woolridge
• Robert Duvall as Frank Childers
• Jim Jarmusch as Deke, the Frostee Cream employee
• Rick Dial as Bill Cox
• Vic Chesnutt as Terence
• Brent Briscoe as Scooter Hodges
• Mickey Jones as Johnson
• Col. Bruce Hampton as Morris

Production

Thornton conceived the character of Karl while working on the film The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains. He developed the idea into a monologue, which became a one man show to fund the film.[8][1] He expanded the monologue into a short film, Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade, directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Thornton, Molly Ringwald, and J.T. Walsh.

The film was made with a production budget of $1 million financed by The Shooting Gallery, and was sold to Miramax for $10 million, which at the time was a record price for an independent film.[9]

Release

The film grossed $24,444,121 in the United States against a $1 million production budget.[10] It grossed a further $9.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $34 million.[2]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a "Certified Fresh" rating of 97% based on reviews from 58 critics with an average rating of 8.40/10. The site's consensus states "You will see what's coming, but the masterful performances, especially Thornton's, will leave you riveted."[11] On Metacritic it has a score of 84% based on reviews from 26 critics.[12]

The Washington Post called it a "masterpiece of Southern storytelling".[13] Kevin Thomas wrote in the Los Angeles Times that the film is "a mesmerizing parable of good and evil and a splendid example of Southern storytelling at its most poetic and imaginative".[14] The New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised the performances but said that "it drifts gradually toward climactic events that seem convenient and contrived".[15]

Accolades

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
20/20 Awards	Best Picture		Nominated
	Best Actor	Billy Bob Thornton	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	John Ritter	Nominated
	Best Adapted Screenplay	Billy Bob Thornton	Nominated
Academy Awards[16][7]	Best Actor		Nominated
	Best Screenplay – Based on Material Previously Produced or Published		Won
Awards Circuit Community Awards	Honorable Mentions		Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards[17]	Best New Filmmaker		Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards[18]	Best Actor		Won
Chicago International Film Festival	Special Jury Award		Won
Chlotrudis Awards	Best Picture		Won
	Best Director	Billy Bob Thornton	Nominated
	Best Actor		Won
	Best Supporting Actor	Lucas Black	Nominated
		John Ritter	Nominated
Edgar Allan Poe Awards[19]	Best Motion Picture	Billy Bob Thornton	Won
Independent Spirit Awards[20]	Best First Feature		Won
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards[21]	Best Actor	Billy Bob Thornton	Won
National Board of Review Awards[22]	Top Ten Films		7th Place
	Special Achievement in Filmmaking	Billy Bob Thornton	Won
Satellite Awards[23]	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama		Nominated
	Best Screenplay – Adapted		Nominated
	Best Original Score	Daniel Lanois	Nominated
Saturn Awards	Best Performance by a Younger Actor	Lucas Black	Won
Screen Actors Guild Awards[24]	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	Lucas Black, Natalie Canerday, Robert Duvall, James Hampton, John Ritter, Billy Bob Thornton, J. T. Walsh, and Dwight Yoakam	Nominated
	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role	Billy Bob Thornton	Nominated
Writers Guild of America Awards[25]	Best Screenplay – Based on Material Previously Produced or Published		Won
Young Artist Awards[26]	Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film	Lucas Black	Won
YoungStar Awards[27]	Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama Film		Won

References

External links

• Quotations related to Sling Blade at Wikiquote
• Official website

На других языках

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[de] Sling Blade – Auf Messers Schneide

Sling Blade – Auf Messers Schneide ist ein US-amerikanisches Filmdrama von Billy Bob Thornton aus dem Jahr 1996. Es basiert auf einem Ein-Mann-Theaterstück von Thornton, welches er bereits 1985 spielte und 1988 in George Hickenloopers Kurzfilm Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade adaptiert wurde. Am 18. September 1997 startete der Film in Deutschland.[1]

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- [en] Sling Blade

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[ru] Отточенное лезвие

«Отточенное лезвие» (англ. Sling Blade) — американский драматический фильм 1996 года. Дебютная полнометражная режиссёрская работа Билли Боба Торнтона, также исполнителя главной роли и автора сценария фильма, за который он был удостоен премии «Оскар» в соответствующей категории.

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