Yesterday, I read the Hollywood Reporter special roundtable conversation with directors David Lynch, Emilio Estevez, Nancy Meyers, Guillermo del Toro, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. I love the idea of David Lynch participating in a round-table discussion of ANYTHING, because he’s always inhabiting a very different reality from the rest of us.
Today, Jeffrey Wells has noted the same conversation in his blog. And in doing so, it occurred to me… why not blog about it, and pass along one of the interview’s most interesting questions?
At one point, the directors are asked to choose a moment from a movie… any movie… that they would “take with them into the afterlife.”
Lynch: “Oh, man. Okay. I guess, Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart discovering the mystery across the [courtyard] in Rear Window.”
Del Toro: The razor blade cutting the eye in Luis Bunuel’s Andalusian Dog.
Dayton: “Dustin Hoffman pounding on the glass in the church and Katharine Ross yelling “Ben!” in The Graduate.”
Estevez: “The last four minutes of Taxi Driver. It is so brutal;…so uncompromisingly violent and so shocking.”
Meyers: “There is this moment in Bringing Up Baby where Katharine Hepburn lands a butterfly net on Cary Grant’s head, and he gestures he wants to strangle her. That never fails to crack me up.”
Faris: “Abel Gance’s Napoleon. When I saw it and the end was projected on three scenes, that made me want to cry. It was all about the future of film and the past.”
So… how about it?
What Movie Moment is nearest and dearest to your head and heart?
From Godfather 3…
[***SPOILER ALERT***]
At the end of the film, the cry that Michael’s character lets out as he holds his daughter. It never fails to give me the chills.
From Gattaca…
The scene where the two brothers are swimming and the Ethan Hawke character, supposedly the “flawed” of the two brothers explains he is outswimming his brother because “I never saved anything for the trip back.”
From the Fisher King after Robin Williams kisses his brand new girlfriend, he is attacked by the Red Knight. That scene captures the struggle for happiness without facing the truths buried in our past.
Mine would be during the 30 seconds of weightlessness scene (and the moments bordering it in “Soljaris.”
JO,
I’m going to go light-hearted rather than dark.
The montage sequence in “Billy Elliot” when all the actors dance to T Rex’s “I Love to Boogie” is such a joyful scene.
Jason Kranzusch
Oh, this is one of my favorite questions – but I have so many answers!
If I had to pick one it would be Immortal Beloved when the boy runs from his father after being abused and jumps in the pond in the middle of the night and floats on his back. As the camera pulls out he begins to spin – surrounded by stars – all to the pounding music of Beethoven. Beautiful.
Here’s a weird one that still is planted deep in my mind – it’s from the movie “Addicted to Love” with Matthew Broderick and Meg Ryan. He’s set up some spy mechanism (kinda like Rear Window) except that somehow it projects the image onto a wall in his place. He’s watching her (Meg I think) and he begins to follow her on the wall with a paint roller – painting his dark wall white wherever she goes. I just love it.
I’m also a sucker for the floating penny into Demi Moore’s hands in “Ghost”.
And finally, how about that Rutger Hauer monologue near the end of Bladerunner.
Oh, I could go on…!!!
“All those moments will be lost… like tears in the rain. Time to die.”
… is as perfect a movie moment as there can be.
I didn’t expect someone else to be citing The Fisher King. That film has several special moments. But the outstanding movie moment is toward the end of the film when Lydia goes to the hospital to visit Parry and instead finds his bed empty. But as she continues searching, she finds him with Jack, leading a choir of asylum patients. Even though Parry is now healed of his emotional affliction, he still recognizes and knows Lydia, and greets her tenderly when he sees her in her distraught state. No other film scene has ever brought to life John 20:15-16 as well as this.
It’s interesting that the question included “you’ll take into the afterlife…” because I’ve finally figured out why I love this particular scene so much.
It’s the climax of The Two Towers. I can forgive Peter Jackson all the liberties he took in that movie for that one scene: Gandalf appearing on the ridge, Eomer joining him, and the charge down into the battle as the sun explodes over the ridge. It never fails to bring tears to my eyes and an incredible tightness to my chest.
So why? I’ve wondered. Is it just the “last-minute rescue” thing? The drama of it all? My lifelong love of all things LotR?
Or is it that I’m subconsciously longing for the Rider on the White Horse to sweep down out of the sky, followed by His army, to sweep away the evil forces? (Revelation 19)
Runners-up:
“Ben Hur” – As Jesus gives some water to Ben Hur, the way the Roman guard’s face changes as he begins to challenge Jesus then backs away.
“The Passion of the Christ” – Jesus leaves the garden and stomps on the head of the snake.
If I had to pick one, it would be in “Unbreakable”, when the son finds his mom and dad back together in the kitchen, just eating breakfast, yet he knows there’s been a change. The silent smile he gives, followed by Bruce Willis’ reaction to him gets me every time.
Wow. When I read the question, my first thought was ‘oh, that’ll be easy’ — but the more I thought about it, the harder it is to pick one.
One that keeps coming to mind, though, is the end of Cinema Paradiso, watching the collection of saved kissing scenes.
“The razor blade cutting the eye in Luis Bunuel’s Andalusian Dog.”
That was a cat, BTW. Not PC but very effective.
Here are the first few that came to my mind.
Almost any one scene in Rules of the Game.
Crocker-Harris’ “thank you” at the end of the 1951 The Browning Version. Redgrave gives such a brilliant & deft performance in that film but the final scene is the culmination of all the little acting choices he’s made over the last 2 hours. And it’s a stunner!
The scene between Gandalf & Pippin in the White City just before the Mordor army attacks when Gandalf tells Pip not to fear what’s on the other side of the door to the afterlife. Straight from Tolkien (though in a different part of the book, the very end) & a very moving & lovely moment.
That quirky freeze-frame from Spider-Man 2 when Peter gives up being SM & literally jumps for what he thinks is joy but, really, is indicative of the odd disconnection we feel when we abandon what we know to be our responsibility. That moment gets a laugh. Because it’s so very real.
The scene in The Ice Storm when Sigourney Weaver’s character can’t tell her daughter why it’s wrong to play “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” with the neighbor boy because she herself is neck deep in justifying her adultery. Brilliant.
OK. I’ll stop now.
Any of numerous Tarkovsky moments such as the ride on the rail cart or the rain in the room in Stalker, the wind in the slow dream sequences or the bird in the man’s hand in Mirror, Andrei carrying the candle in Nostalghia, little man hauling water at the end of The Sacrifice. I could go on, but these moments need the whole film just as much as the rest of the film needs each moment.
The last chapter in “Through a Screen Darkly” is packed full of the moments I love best. (And I had to cut quite a few just because it was running too long.)
But you’ve already pegged a few that I mention there… including the wind across the field in “The Mirror.”
I also love that Weaver moment in “The Ice Storm,” Ryan.
In “The Fisher King,” wow… so many moments. But I especially love the double-date at the Chinese food restaurant, when Perry and Lydia chase the renegade broccoli sprig.
I love the moment in “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me” when David Bowie appears on the security camera.
I love the moment in “Mulholland Drive” when the singer collapses.
I love so many moments in “Wings of Desire,” but my favorite TODAY is probably the moment when Damiel has his hand on the dying man’s head at the motorcycle accident. Or Homer’s ascent of the stairs at the library. Or Damiel spreading his arms to grasp the rail on that stairway and listen in on so many vivid thoughts.
“The New World” … don’t even get me started. Well, okay… just one… the moment when Pocahontas wades out into the water, and lightning strikes the horizon behind her. The weather is changing, and so is her life, and so is history, and she’s in a painfully vulnerable and beautiful place.
The sugar cube in the coffee in “Blue,” and the long shot of light shifting the shadows of the coffee cup and spoon on the saucer.
The ray of sunlight reflecting off the desktop in the judge’s study during “Red.”
“The Double Life of Veronique,” when the young singer smiles up into the sudden rainfall, or when a mysterious shard of light jitters around her room.
Gonzo singing “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday” while he stares up into the stars.
The Iron Giant sighing, “Superman.”
“Watership Down,” when the black rabbit comes for Hazel. Or when Bigwig faces Woundwort and declares, “My chief’s told me to defend this run.”
Oh, I’m swooning with the collective beauty of it all…
When Jimmy Stewart first glimpses Kim Novak at Ernie’s Restaurant in VERTIGO accompanied by the swelling beauty of Bernard Hermann’s immortal score.
Also, since I’ve been immersing myself in the Criterion DVD…the moment when Weronika sees Veronique in the Krakow square in DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE.
I wouldn’t say I loved it — not by any stretch — but if we’re looking for a single shot that “changed my life”, then The Crying Game (1992) immediately comes to mind, for reasons I elucidated here.
Thinking of moments I “love” … well, watching my daughter (11 months and 1 day old) crawl around the floor next to my work station here, I am reminded of how deeply moved I was by the final shot in Monsters, Inc. (2001), and how it spoke to my hope that one day, I too would have a child. Praise God, I now have two!
Call me a sap, but the climactic scene in “Babe”, from absolute silence to ecstatic joy in the crowds–that just totally wrecks me.
For me, there are two runners-up:
– The final shot of The Shawshank Redemption.
– The final shot of Heat.
Like my single top choice, they are scenes that depend on all that’s come before and are made all the more potent by watching the entire film in one focused, uninterrupted sitting.
My top choice is this:
– The resolution of the love triangle in Moulin Rouge, Christian standing in the back of the theater, finally responding to Satine’s desperate plea for reconciliation.
“Come… what… may…”
I’m getting choked up even now just remembering it.
Yeah, The New World . . . (sigh) There are just too many in that one. So I didn’t even try!
But here’s another one that just occurred to me:
When the papers are flying all around Solly Perel in Europa, Europa. I’m not gonna give the moment away by explaining it. It’s priceless! If you haven’t seen that film, run. Now.
And how can I forget the fade in Monsters, Inc? Thanks for the reminder, Peter. And for personalizing it so simply & beautifully!
That is the magic of movies.
The final shot in “L’Enfant,” where Bruno and Sonia are crying and embracing over everything that’s happened between them.
Robin Williams leading a Gershwin mental patient choir in “The Fisher King.” And Jeff Bridges saying, “Perry would be so proud of me,” when he’s breaking into the mansion.
Gene Hackman riding on back of the car with Ben Stiller at the end of “The Royal Tenenbaums.”
The scene where the inmates watch a cartoon in “Sullivan’s Travels.”
The quiz show kid telling his dad he needs to be nicer to him in “Magnolia.”
The Incredibles
Just before the whole family battles the big robot, Mr. Incredible is arguing with Mrs. Incredible and he admits in defeat, “I’m not strong enough!”
** BIG SPOILER **
Children of Men
I’m surprised this movie hasn’t been mentioned yet, especially with all of the excitement on this blog about it.
When Theo and Kee walk out of the building under siege by the British troops, everyone stops in stunned silence at the child in their arms.
When I saw this part, I wept. When I described it to my wife afterwards, I wept. I’ve never done that because of a movie before.
OK, this thread is probably dead by now, but two more I have to mention.
One is all the students climbing onto their desks in Dead Poets Society,
and the other is the end of Cloak and Dagger, where the sillouetted figure emerging from the flames transforms from one sort of hero into another.
Two movies that are (mostly) all about young boys relating to their dads (or other older male authority figures). I’ll bet most of you reading this have seen Dead Poets, but if you haven’t seen Cloak and Dagger, give it a try.
–sdc
The Pinto in freefall, Blues Brothers. Only a movie could deliver that moment. If I can take that with me into the afterlife then it’s going to be ok.
Honorable mentions…
The climactic moment in Ordet.
At the end of New World, close up of a stream, the music swells, the music cuts and then just the sound of the running water.
The ones that come to my mind first are mostly scenery-related:
1.The fight scene in Hero where it is raining red flower petals.
2. The other one in a secluded, placid lake.
3. The flyover shot of Rohan in The Two Towers. The lone figure of Eowyn is blown by the breeze.
I’ve also been a sucker for any “one man against many” fight scene. But I have since come to believe that this kind of scene can feed an unhealthy desire for invulnerability.
Really, most of my favorite moments come from classical music. There is no movie moment for me that compares with the climactic “Hell, where is thy victory?” in the sixth movement of Brahms’ German Requiem. But I realize that is off-topic.
From To Kill A Mockingbird
The scene in the court room after the trial has been completed. Rev. Sykes says, “Jean Louise. Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passing.”
Also, the scene toward the end where Scout has just explained what happened to her and Jem…
Scout: Why there he is, Mr. Tate. He can tell you his name…
[Looks at the man]
Scout: Hey, Boo.
Atticus Finch: [making introductions] Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley. I believe he already knows you.
The Pinto in freefall, Blues Brothers. Only a movie could deliver that moment. If I can take that with me into the afterlife then it’s going to be ok.
Honorable mentions…
The climactic moment in Ordet.
At the end of New World, close up of a stream, the music swells, the music cuts and then just the sound of the running water.
From Godfather 3…
[***SPOILER ALERT***]
At the end of the film, the cry that Michael’s character lets out as he holds his daughter. It never fails to give me the chills.
This is a great thread.
One film that has more moments than nearly any for me is Jean-Luc Godard’s Band of Outsiders.
The Madison Scene, especially
The minute of silence
The voiceover that for late arrivals
As Tyler mentioned earlier, the final scene in L’Enfant left me absolutely speechless and sobbing.
And there are tons of great Kieslowski scenes, but one that hasn’t been mentioned yet from White the running, sliding on the ice scene.
Yes. The show started to lose some momentum for several weeks there, but they’ve made up for it the past two weeks. And Terry O’Quinn is the best. I love him and his character. The trio (Mitchell, Emerson, and O’Quinn) stole the show from Evangeline Lilly and Matthew Fox a long time ago.
Oh how I do miss Firefly.
Michael Emerson astounds me. Possibily the greatest actor on television, in my opinion. O’Quinn definitely isn’t far behind. Plus, Elizabeth Mitchell is just gorgeous.
The writers on Lost are some of the best in television. I loved the Abraham/Isaac Desmond/Charlie paralell last night. Great, intelligent stuff that the TV wasteland needs more of!
Having a bad work schedule, I can only watch Lost on dvd. Good to hear season 3 is doing well.
As for Nathon Fillion…we need to get a petition to send him back to sci-fi in some form. I’m thinking Battlestar Galattica.
Lost stumbled big time with the stupid Thailand episode. Utterly pointless and despised on every message board, that one ep almost derailed the entire series.
Fortunately, it’s gotten back into its groove now. That and Heroes are the only things my wife and I watch on TV anymore.
Nathan F: Aaaaagh! This guy deserves an intelligent, fascinating, challenging show and many, many films. There are a handful of actors out there who are riding the wave, and I would cheerfully replace them with him in a heartbeat. He should be the neew Harrison Ford, IMO.
Um. I must be in the minority here. I liked DRIVE.