His greatest torture was lack of human contact. Julia Roberts' character would not talk to him because she knew it would drive him mad. He was completely mad when Ray finally saw him in that homemade jail. All he desired was human interaction. That's why he begged Ray to make her talk to him. It was much more touching in the original version.
"This life's hard, man, but it's harder if you're stupid!"
That he said he only stayed at the picnic for ten minutes, doesn't mean that's true. In fact, he said that when being interrogated by the police about the murder, when he was putting on the innocent act. He was lying.
My interpretation of that comment is that he has been in captivity for 13 years and every day she brings him food. But she has never spoken to him and he doesn't even know she was the mother of the girl he murded.
he doesn't even know she was the mother of the girl he murded.
WHOA! I didn't even realize that 'til your post. Carolyn and her mother really don't look that much like each other, other than both being slim, so he probably never truly knew it.
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Marzin's not knowing the reason behind his kidnap and torture for 13 years would have given the movie an extra layer of horror, but you make an excellent point.
He must have realized that she was Carolyn's mother at the picnic.
Was Julia in the photo? Remember, Marzin said he only stayed for 10 minutes so he may not have known. Also, it shows Julia shooting him in the back and you thought he died. Then you see him in the jail cell she had. Was the fact that she shot him something that didn't happen? Or did she shoot him without killing him, and then put him in the jail cell? It shows the guy cop digging a hole, you hear a gunshot without seeing anything (indicating Julia killed Marzin), and then the story ends. I thought it made the ending very weak. Marzin was such a prick; it was dissatisfying not to see him get blown to bits. Just showing it would have been enough; it didn't have to be a horribly bloody mess.
Julia is her best when she's in something scary, and she is damn good in this movie. It looked like she was wearing very dark brown contact lenses, but I could be wrong. I realize her natural eye color is brown, but it was a darker brown than usual.