Zelig (1983)

Patrick Horgan: The Narrator

Quotes 

• The Narrator : To the Ku Klux Klan, Zelig, a Jew who was able to transform himself into a Negro or Indian, was a triple threat.

• The Narrator : Who was this Leonard Zelig that seemed to create such diverse impressions everywhere? All that was known of him was that he was the son of a Yiddish actor named Morris Zelig, whose performance as Puck in the Orthodox version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was coolly received. The Elder Zelig's second marriage is marked by constant violent quarreling. So much so that although the family lives over a bowling alley, it is the bowling alley that complains of noise. As a boy, Leonard is frequently bullied by anti-Semites. His parents, who never take his part and blame him for everything, side with the anti-Semites. They punish him often by locking him in a dark closet. When they are really angry, they get into the closet with him. On his deathbed, Morris Zelig tells his son that life is a meaningless nightmare of suffering and the only advice he gives him is to save string.

• The Narrator : That Zelig could be responsible for the behavior of each of the personalities he assumed means dozens of lawsuits. He is sued for bigamy, adultery, automobile accidents, plagiarism, household damages, negligence, property damages, and performing unnecessary dental extractions.

• The Narrator : Chicago, Illinois, that same year. There is a private party at a speakeasy on the South Side. People from the most respectable walks of life dance and drink bathtub gin.

• The Narrator : The year is 1928. America, enjoying a decade of unequalled prosperity, has gone wild. The Jazz Age, it is called. The rhythms are syncopated, the morals are looser, the liquor is cheaper, when you can get it.

• The Narrator : Fresh stories roll off the press every day about Zelig and his puzzling condition. Although the doctors claim to have the situation in hand, no two can agree on a diagnosis.

  Glandular Diagnosis Doctor : I'm convinced that it's glandular in nature and although there's no evidence now of any misfunction, I'm sure that further tests will show a problem in the secretions.

  Mexican Food Doctor : I'm certain it's something he picked up from eating Mexican food.

• The Narrator : A closed meeting of doctors listens as Dr. Fletcher describes Zelig as "a human chameleon." Like the lizard that is endowed by nature with a marvelous protective device that enables it to change color and blend in with its immediate surrounding, Zelig, too, protects himself by becoming whoever he is around.

• The Narrator : In an orgy of jealous violence, Leonard Zelig's life is turned upside down.

• The Narrator : In the trance state, the personality will be deeply probed.