Jonathan Livingston Seagull (film)

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a 1973 American film directed by Hall Bartlett, adapted from the novella of the same name by Richard Bach. The film tells the story of a young seabird who, after being cast out by his stern flock, goes on an odyssey to discover how to break the limits of his own flying speed. The film was produced by filming actual seagulls, then superimposing human dialogue over it. The film's voice actors included James Franciscus in the title role, and Philip Ahn as his mentor, Chang.

Everyone's Book Is Now Everyone's Motion Picture.(taglines)

Jonathan

• You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now - and nothing can stand in your way!
• Listen, everybody! There's no limit to how high we can fly! We can dive for fish and never have to live on garbage again!
• I only wish to share what I've learned - the very simple fact that it is right for a gull to fly!
• Does my life end here? I can't believe that. I wasn't born to drown in this ocean. I can die here, or I can force myself to fly. It's in me. It's... in me! I've got to try. I've got to get back home.
• At last I can stop thinking for once in my life. Just stop thinking and fly towards the lights in the dark.

Chang

• To fly as fast as thought to anywhere that is now - you begin by knowing that you have already arrived...
• Perfect speed isn't moving fast at all; perfect speed is being there.
• I am a perfect expression of freedom, here and now.

The Elder

• [banishing Jonathan from the flock] Jonathan Seagull, the brotherhood is broken. Never again will you see any of your flock. Never again will you have the protection of your flock. You are henceforth and forever outcast!
• [after Jonathan revives Fletcher] I TELL YOU HE IS THE DEVIL!! HE CAN DESTROY US ALL!!! HE CAN DESTROY THE FLOCK!!!! KILL HIM!!

Dialogue

Mother: Son, we looked everywhere for you the last few days.

Father: The elders in the flock are talking about you.

Mother: They know you fly off on your own, where we never fly. They don't understand it. They will not allow it.

Jonathan: Not allow me to learn? Why?

Mother: Oh, I can understand your dreams, Jonathan. We all dream of better things when we're young. I'm afraid... for you. I'm afraid of what you're doing.

Father: Maybe this isn't the best life, but it's all we know. Winter's coming. The flock must stay together to survive. We were meant to live the way we live, accept it. Take your place. Will you try, son?

Mother: If you don't, we will have all lived for nothing.

Jonathan: We weren't meant to live this way. I know you're wrong. But... I'll try.

---

Jonathan: The elders. The whole flock. They believe me now. They finally understand.

The Elder: Jonathan Livingston Seagull, you have been called here to be judged in the sight of your flock. Jonathan Gull, for your reckless flying, for refusing to join the flock to which you were born, for turning your back upon the traditions of your flock, assembled here.

Jonathan: I haven't turned my back. I want to share what I've found with all of you.

The Elder: Jonathan Livingston Seagull, you do not live as we live! You do not fly as we fly! You do not believe as we believe! You will learn that life is the unknown and the unknowable. We are put into this world to survive any way we can, as long as we can.

Jonathan: I don't believe that.

The Elder: Jonathan Seagull, the brotherhood is broken. Never again will you see any of your flock. Never again will you have the protection of your flock. You are henceforth and forever outcast!

Jonathan: Outcast...?

---

The Elder: Fletcher Lynd Seagull, you were born to us, but you are not part of us. You cry against the flock and against the law. You ask questions, answered a thousand years ago. You do not wish the protection of the flock. And you shall not have it. You are henceforth and forever outcast.

Fletcher: [angrily] I don't want your protection. You're gonna wish you never-- All your henceforth and forever. It's not gonna be me who needs protection. It's not gonna be me! I don't care what they say. There's one hell of a lot more to flying than just flapping around from A to B. A mosquito can do that. One little barrel roll around the elder to show him what's possible, and I'm outcast. Can't they see? Can't they think of the glory it'll be when we really find out how to fly? Damn the flock. I'll be outlaw alright. Outlaw like they never saw before. I'll make them so sorry.

---

Jonathan: Fletcher, it's time to go.

Fletcher: Time to go where, Jonathan?

Jonathan: Back to the flock. We have a gift to give.

Fletcher: But we're not ready. We're not welcome. Jonathan, we're outcasts. We can't force ourselves where we're not welcome, can we? And it's the law of the flock!

Jonathan: We're free to go where we wish and to be what we are.

Fletcher: Why should we bother with the flock? Seagulls are the laziest, dirtiest, most vicious--

Jonathan: Suspicious, clumsiest. A seagull hardly knows how to walk. But don't you see, Fletcher? A seagull wasn't made to walk. He was made to fly, and when he learns to fly, he's the purest, loveliest, most graceful creature alive. True for you, true for me, true for all the flock. We can soar free across the sky, but how often we don't want to. That's the gift we can give, to help those who want to learn find what they love to do.

---

The Elder: It is the law of the flock that an outcast never returns. Anyone who follows them, anyone who listens to them, anyone who turns his back on the flock will be outcast too.

Jonathan: I only wish to share what I've learned. The very simple fact that it is right for a gull to fly because freedom is the very nature of his being. Whatever stands against that freedom must be set aside. We don't need ritual and superstitions to live.

The Elder: THE LAW OF THE FLOCK DECIDES!

Jonathan: Do you speak of law? Is it the law which decrees we must fight among ourselves just to feed on garbage? It can't be. The only true law is that which sets us free. There can be no other.

---

[Jonathan and Fletcher escape being killed by an angry mob of seagulls]

Fletcher: They wanted to kill us! How did we get away?

Jonathan: Like everything else, Fletcher, practice.

Fletcher: I don't understand. The flock was gonna kill us. Our own flock! Why? Remember what you said about loving the flock enough to return to them and help them live? They wanted us dead! They're a mob! They're killers! How can you love them?

Jonathan: You don't love hatred and evil, of course. You have to practice and see the good in every one of them and help them see it in themselves. That's what we mean by love. It's fun... when you get the idea of it. I remember a fierce young bird, for instance. Fletcher Lynd Seagull, his name. Just been made outcast, ready to fight the flock to the death, getting a start on building his own bitter hell out on the far cliffs. And here he is today, building his own heaven instead and leading the whole flock in that direction.

Fletcher: Me? Leading? You're the instructor here. You can't leave us.

Jonathan: Don't you think there might be other flocks, other Fletchers that need an instructor now more than this one?

Fletcher: But me, Jon? I'm just a plain seagull, and you're...

Jonathan: Oh, yes, yes, yes, I know. The only Son of the Great Gull, I suppose. Fletcher, you don't need me anymore. All the younger ones in the flock and some of the others too are ready to follow you now. All you need is to keep finding the real, unlimited Fletcher Seagull. He's your instructor. And don't let them spread silly rumors about me or try to make me some sort of a god, will you, Fletcher? I'm a seagull. I like to fly, maybe.

Fletcher: Jonathan.

Jonathan: We both have learned what we were meant to learn in our time together, Fletcher. That the way to find perfection and love is within us. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know. Use it, Fletcher. Teach it, show it forth. And you'll know the way to fly.

Taglines

• Everyone's Book Is Now Everyone's Motion Picture.
• It's a lifestyle. It's the beauty of love, the joy of freedom. It's the best-selling book. It's Neil Diamond. It's a motion picture.