Some movies you’re aren’t emotionally interested in until something grabs that part of you. It could be a scene that’s very well done, or just seems to hit you in a way that it might not for someone else. Just a scene or section of a film that hits you. A scene or section that you KNOW is, in your eyes (maybe even exclusively), profound in a certain way.
I know what I like; and though I can’t always pinpoint what exactly it is I like, I feel it.
:::Some of my choices:::
I just watched The Royal Tenenbaubs, and there was a scene in the movie that totally hooked and reeled my emotions. The part where Gwyneth Paltrow’s character meets up with Luke Wilson’s for the first time. It’s done in slow-motion, with a panning close up of Luke’s face while Paltrow is walking tward him. They play the song These Days by Nico, (I think it’s a remake). It was just a perfect way to show how much the two cared for each other, and both the relief and pain that came with them seeing each other again. Relief because they were together, and pain because there was little they could do about their love. It was just sweet.
One of my favorite movies The Truman Show had a scene that drew me in to the emotional side of the film where Truman was sitting on the beach with a nearby lighthouse light circling the beach and open sea. Truman then has a flashback of his fathers death, which wasn’t all that effective because it was very mild (probably due to PG rating). However, after the flashback you see his backside while sitting all alone on the beach and a lightning bolt down in the distance. The tail end of one of Philip Glass’ tunes aided that short scene. That scene, (it wasn’t the best scene in the movie by any means), stuck in my head because it was the first time I really realized that I was watching a movie that was as much, or more dramatic than cometic. I also love after Truman’s radio transmission goes on the fritz (the radio DJ was taped that skipped ala Milli Vanilli, then he picked up feed that only actors and crew were suposed to hear), he steps out of his car and is starting to realize things aren’t right in his word (once again greatly aided by the movies score). Or the moon searchlight, or when the actors take their “first possessions”… great movie for this type of topic!
In American Beauty, the scene where Carolyn doesn’t sell the house she so desperately needs to for her emotional well-being, sticks in my head. She starts crying but then rapidly disciplines herself for getting upset and showing weakness, even though no one is around to see it.
So what do you guys and gals think? Don’t limit it to dramatic content. It can be comedic too.
