The Wicker Man (1973)

Diane Cilento: Miss Rose

Photos 

Quotes 

• Miss Rose : Here, we do not use the word...

  [mouthing the word "dead"] 

  Miss Rose : We believe that when the human life is over, the soul returns to trees, to air, to fire, to water, to animals. So that Rowan Morrison has simply returned to the life forces in another form.

  Sergeant Howie : Do you mean to say that you... you teach the children this stuff?

  Miss Rose : Yes. I told you, it it what we believe.

  Sergeant Howie : They never learn anything of Christianity?

  Miss Rose : Only as a comparative religion. The children find it far easier to picture reincarnation than resurrection. Those rotting bodies are a great stumbling block for the childish imagination.

  Sergeant Howie : Why, aye. Of course. And may I ask, where is the rotting body of Rowan Morrison?

  Miss Rose : Why, it's where you'd expect it to be; in the earth.

  Sergeant Howie : You mean in the churchyard?

  Miss Rose : In a manner of speaking.

  Sergeant Howie : No. In plain speaking.

• Miss Rose : You are the fool, Mr. Howie. Punch, one of the great fool-victims of history. For you have accepted the role of king for a day. And who but a fool would do that? But you will be revered and anointed as a king. You will undergo death and rebirth. Resurrection, if you like. The rebirth, sadly, will not be yours, but that of our crops.

  Sergeant Howie : I am a Christian. And as a Christian, I hope for resurrection. And even if you kill me now, it is I who will live again, not your damned apples.

• Miss Rose : The building attached to the ground in which the body lies is no longer used for CHRISTIAN worship, so whether it is still a CHURCHYARD is debatable.

• Miss Rose : I told you plainly, if Rowan Morrison existed, we would know of her.

  Sergeant Howie : You mean she doesn't exist? She's dead?

  Miss Rose : You would say so.

  Sergeant Howie : Oh, come on, come on. She's either dead or she's not dead.