100 Best Quotes from Netflix’s Earthquake Bird
Delving into an individual’s path of confronting trauma and healing, Earthquake Bird (2019) is a Netflix original movie directed by Wash Westmoreland and produced by Ridley Scott, based on the novel, The Earthquake Bird by Susanna Jones. Following our protagonist, Lucy Fly, who is residing in Tokyo and working as a translator, Earthquake Bird explores what it means to face one’s inner demons that have been haunting one since a young age.
Through the perilous relationship between the characters, Lucy, Lily, and Teiji, Earthquake Bird brings their audience into its psychologically thrilling narrative.
Here’s the scoop on the best quotes from Earthquake Bird!
1. “Shouldn’t you ask for permission?” – Lucy
2. “I never ask.” – Teiji
3. “Why not?” – Lucy
4. “You lose the shot.” – Teiji
When Teiji photographs Lucy on the streets without her permission, this sparks conversation between the two, as Teiji explains his philosophy in photography.
5. “I don’t photograph people.” – Teiji
6. “What do you take pictures of then?” – Lucy
7. “Water. Buildings. Reflections. That kind of thing.” – Teiji
8. “But… you photographed me.” – Lucy
9. “My name is Teiji.” – Teiji
10. “Louisa Fly. But everyone calls me Lucy Fly.” – Lucy
Teiji and Lucy introduce themselves to each other after a fateful encounter in the streets.
11. “All day long, I watch people talk, saying all kinds of things without saying what they are really thinking. So… what are you really thinking?” – Teiji
12. “This is the strangest date I’ve ever been on if it’s even a date. I probably shouldn’t trust a stranger that I’ve just met, and I should probably leave.” – Lucy
13. “Why don’t you?” – Teiji
14. “Because I’m attracted to you. A little.” – Lucy
Lucy shows her attraction towards Teiji when Teiji dares her to tell him everything about what she is really thinking.
15. “I want to photograph you. That is all I’m thinking.” – Teiji
When Lucy queries back, Teiji simply explains his want to photograph Lucy even more.
16. “Where do you want me to stand?” – Lucy
17. “Anywhere.” – Teiji
18. “What do you want me to do?” – Lucy
19. “Anything.” – Teiji
20. “I’ve never had my pictures taken before. Not properly.” – Lucy
21. “Then I’m your first.” – Teiji
After their date at the noodle shop, the two head to Teiji’s secret place as Teiji resumes photographing Lucy.
22. “You hear that? Only after earthquakes… you hear it.” – Teiji
When a sudden earthquake interrupts their date, the two hide in Teiji’s cabinet. The two hear a soft whistling when the earthquake subsides.
23. “I mean, it’s been, like totally crazy. Like, everything is so different.” – Lily
24. “Yeah, I guess that’s why we’re all here.” – Lucy
Through her friend, Bob, Lucy meets Lily, an American newcomer in Tokyo.
25. “I’m going to kill you, Bob. We don’t have anything in common. I don’t wanna get stuck looking after her.” – Lucy
26. “Tokyo has tons of newcomers. If I took care of all of them, I wouldn’t have a life of my own.” – Lucy
27. “Does he have a soy sauce face or a ketchup face? That’s the way we talk about whether a Japanese person looks Eastern or Western.” – Natsuko
28. “More soy, I suppose.” – Lucy
29. “Have you ever thought of getting married?” – Lucy
30. “No. Because of my job. You know, I’m a magistrate. It’s a little intimidating for most men. And besides, I’m too old now.” – Mrs. Kato
31. “You’re still young.” – Lucy
32. “Not in the eyes of Japanese men. Maybe I could get a widower. Or an old one with medical problems.” – Mrs. Kato
33. “But I don’t know how I’d find the time. I have my job, my friends, and the string quartet. It’s a lot to give up to wash some old man’s diapers.” – Mrs. Kato
34. “Death follows me. It always has.” – Lucy
35. “You will tell me, in time. And I will tell you things about me.” – Teiji
36. “The first time we saw each other, I knew we could be truthful. I knew it.” – Teiji
37. “We live in the atmosphere of death. But we are alive.” – Teiji
Lucy tells her recent incident of witnessing Mrs. Matsumoto’s death to Teiji. Telling her that he understands, Teiji tenderly listens to her and assures her to take her time to open up about her inner demons and he will too.
38. “It’s weird how everyone stares at you in Japan. It’s like being famous.” – Lily
39. “Yeah, some people get addicted to that.” – Lucy
40. “The light, the shadow, everything exactly right.” – Teiji
41. “I read once that when… the Westerners arrived in 19th century Japan, they wanted to photograph the locals, but… they wouldn’t let them. They thought it would steal their soul.” – Lucy
42. “I understand that. The subject always gives something, some part of themselves, to the photographer.” – Teiji
43. “If every time I took a photo it took a piece of your soul… would you still let me?” – Teiji
44. “I think you know the answer to that question.” – Lucy
There is a strong sense of connection and trust between Teiji and Lucy via Teiji’s love for photography and Lucy’s willingness to be photographed.
45. “Well, I guess we’re both a bit odd, but we fit well together.” – Lucy
46. “Sounds kinky.” – Bob
Bob jokingly comments on Lucy and Teiji, and their official relationship as a couple.
47. “When I found you, I stopped thinking of Sachi.” – Teiji
48. “I’m sorry. Please forget I ever did this.” – Lucy
49. “I shouldn’t have done that. It’s just that I think about you all the time, every moment.” – Lucy
50. “I wanted to know more about you.” – Lucy
51. “That’s not the way to find out. You must trust me.” – Teiji
When Lucy sneaks into Teiji’s place and attempts to open his secret cabinet of photographs, some of the photographs involve Teiji’s supposed ex-lover, Sachi. Teiji catches her red-handed, as Lucy apologizes for her lack of trust in him.
52. “I find it better not to call. I like being cut off. It’s great.” – Lucy
In a conversation about Lily losing touch with her hometown family and friends, Lucy dryly replies about her stance on families and keeping in touch.
53. “Oh, my God. He’s so cute!” – Lily
54. “Cute? He’s not cute. Kittens are cute.” – Lucy
55. “I thought Japanese guys are supposed to be short.” – Lily
56. “That’s bullshit. That’s just a stereotype.” – Lucy
When Lily first meets Teiji, she makes highly ignorant remarks about Teiji, reflecting her identity as a white woman from America.
57. “What star sign are you?” – Lily
58. “I don’t believe in all of that.” – Lucy
59. “My personality is a combination of my genes, my upbringing, my parents, my school. Nothing to do with the stars.” – Lucy
60. “Hm… Taurus?” – Lily
61. “In the past, there’s like a… emptiness or, like, a… silence. And then you have these three breaks in the line. There’s one early on, then another, and then a third.” – Lily
62. “What do they mean?” – Lucy
63. “Abrupt change. Accidents. Death.” – Lily
When reading Lucy’s palm, Lily reveals a bit of Lucy’s past and her relationship with tragedies in her life.
64. “It’s the earthquake bird. It’s what Teiji calls it. Always sings after an earthquake.” – Lucy
65. “When she’s interested in you, you’re the only one who exists. Then she moves on to someone else, and it’s like you were never even there.” – Bob
66. “Were you jealous?” – Teiji
67. “No, not at all. Why?” – Lucy
68. “I wanted you to be. You are my girlfriend, after all.” – Teiji
Teiji asks Lucy after their visit to the bar with Bob and Lily. Referring to the moment of Teiji dancing with Lily, Teiji asks if Lucy felt jealous.
69. “At least now you’re not around death every day.” – Lucy
70. “Well, I’d say that there were three times that I saved somebody’s life, so I like to think about that rather than… death.” – Lily
Lucy and Lily talk about Lily’s job as a nurse and her encounter with death multiple times.
71. “This is a traditional Japanese breakfast.” – Teiji
72. “I think I’d prefer some traditional Japanese cornflakes.” – Lily
During Teiji, Lucy, and Lily’s trip to Sado Island, Lily ignorantly disregards the traditional Japanese breakfast the hotel offers her, wanting cornflakes instead.
73. “Yeah, maybe. Maybe we’re all just gonna blow away off the edge of the world.” – Lucy
74. “I know what I’m feeling. And what I’m feeling isn’t right. It’s not right at all.” – Lucy
When Lucy realizes that Lily and Teiji left her alone and went off to look at the mines in the area, she suspects something growing between Lily and Teiji. Upon confronting the two, she angrily storms away.
75. “I really like you.” – Lucy
76. “My Lucy.” – Teiji
Teiji chases Lucy o help her calm down. He takes photographs of her and reassures her that she is the only one in his eyes.
77. “I did it. I killed Lily Bridges.” – Lucy
78. “All you need to know is I am guilty.” – Lucy
79. “I know you’re angry, and this isn’t an excuse, but maybe there’s a bigger reason for all of this that… that we don’t understand.” – Lily
80. “Well, did you see it in my palm? Did you dream it was meant to be?” – Lucy
81. “He was the only person who ever really saw who I was!” – Lucy
Lucy ignores Lily after their trip to Sado Island. He continuously takes pictures of Lily, not Lucy. Lily apologizes for her actions and pleads to Lucy to let her in in front of her house, which Lily coldly glares at.
82. “I’m sorry! But can I please come in? I feel like something really bad is gonna happen.” – Lily
83. “It already has.” – Lucy
Despite Lily’s plea, Lucy closes her front door.
84. “Did you murder Lily Bridges?” – Oguchi
85. “No.” – Lucy
86. “Then why did you say you did?” – Oguchi
87. “Because I wanted to kill her.” – Lucy
88. “At this point, we are reclassifying this as a missing person case.” – Detective Kameyama
89. “I think I may have preferred it when she was dead.” – Lucy
Contrary to Lucy’s confession to killing Lily, the reality was that Lucy didn’t. Though her animosity towards Lily is more than evident.
90. “Well… we all live in our own reality. Maybe, in some way, you thought you did kill Lily Bridges. But I never felt so. You have guilt, but it is from a deeper source.” – Detective Kameyama
91. “The nurse said to me, ‘It’s not your fault.’ I didn’t know what she meant. So I just said… ‘Okay. Yeah.’” – Lucy
92. “It’s easy to ignore people when they are silent. So that’s what my family did.” – Lucy
Lucy reveals her past of accidentally murdering one of her brothers. Though she was told that it wasn’t her fault that her brother was killed, it transformed into a deep trauma inside her.
93. “Hello Lucy.” – Teiji
94. “Come with me. Please. You must.” – Teiji
95. “It’s over.” – Lucy
96. “Don’t mourn him.” – Mrs. Kato
97. “She came to my… door that night, Lily. She asked me if she could come in. I didn’t let her in.” – Lucy
98. “No. It wasn’t your fault.” – Mrs. Karo
99. “It was. Believe me. It was.” – Lucy
100. “Perhaps. But… perhaps in a way… she saved your life.” – Mrs. Kato
Mrs. Kato assuaged Lucy’s guilt, saying that it wasn’t her fault, that Lily saved her life.
Hope you enjoyed these quotes from Earthquake Bird on Netflix!
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