Artimidor's Unforgettable Movie Moments

Ma la Vita Continua (Excerpt only) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozQDv5eTvus

With "Nights of Cabiria" Federico Fellini is at the height of his neo-realism phase: The last minutes of the film conclude what has happened before in a surprisingly unusual but tremendously heart-rendering way. At the center of the scene is Giulietta Masina with a breathtaking performance featuring that one famous, electrifying nod straight into the camera - and cinema would never be the same again...

The torture chamber http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC3IoY-gXzQ

While intended to be completely silent, Dreyer's "The Passion of Joan of Arc" offers an ample tapestry to go with powerful music. One of the prime examples is Richard Einhorn's orchestral choir supported "Voices of Light" soundtrack (1995). In this sublime scene it accompanies Dreyer's overwhelming flood of imagery consisting mainly of close-ups of characters. The torture chamber portion is one of the best Dreyer directed and the added music fits superbly to the images and themes. (Note: Richard Einhorn's score is available as a feature of the Criterion edition.)

Show us, Janos! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d5X2t_s9g8

Young paper boy Janos explains the universe to some drunks in the films opening scene, a single take which lasts nearly ten minutes. This powerful metaphysical exposition sets the film's theme. The sequence ends with a second shot showing Janos' walk home (starting at 9:36), a masterpiece of black and white composition, perfectly timed camera music and haunting music. First class cinema.

Encounter with the Whale http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb2lhFMpkDQ

Janós goes to see the big miracle that has arrived with the carnival - the monster, the beautiful, yet enormous, terrifying a creature of God nevertheless, the creature that now lies dead in front of him to be marvelled at by the spectators...

The Whale, once again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRnaC9GhdjA&t=3m53s

Bela Tarr's deep dive into the metaphysical issue of cosmological harmonies ends with a breathtaking one-shot scene where one of the characters sets out to a final meeting he had pushed away so far. Accompanied by Mihály Vig we become witness of what has become, of the eclipse and its consequences, but the last moment is bathed again in light...

I'm bailing out presently, I'm bailing out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH7DY4w3lcw

Powell and Pressburger's "A Matter of Life and Death" aka "Stairway to Heaven" starts with the last communication of a British wartime aviator with a young American woman working for the USAAF. Trapped in his burning plane without a parachute he decides to put an end to it by jumping out of the plane. He comforts his dialogue partner, who he has never met before: "Don't be upset about the parachute, I'll have my wings soon anyway, big white ones. I hope it hasn't gone all modern, I'd hate to have a prop instead of wings!"

Any dream will do http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w3sm9Xwc8o

A girl. A boy. A dream of a honeymoon in a drab, merciless world. Roy Andersson delivers a modern filmmaker's masterclass with this one scene alone, and also provides a definitive answer to the question: What's in a static shot?

Just a song, from the second floor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so5M8Mgf50c

Going home on the subway feeling all beaten up? Or to be more existentially precise: Going nowhere? In circles? Just standing there, in a cabin, only the cabin knows where? Maybe try for a change to get a glimpse of the sublime hidden somewhere amongst the trivial... Just listen for a bit, and maybe it will open your eyes and heart as well...

Feel the rhythm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJU4IwC3LjQ

There's someone painting a ceiling. And a couple having sex. A girl practising with her instrument. A woman beating carpets. A guy pumping air into his bicycle wheel. A metronome. A worker on a machine. And another one attuning a toy sound. Grandma's knitting. And Jeunet's direction, which adds the rhythm...

Bed problems http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJp9ecTjBGQ

And now after all that action we've got some serious troubles in bed. Guess an expert is needed to take a closer look, or more precisely: to listen really, really well... Fortunately with the proper music and company that's all not much of a problem and the culprit is easily found.

Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aip3836VtZ0

As it's difficult to pick the best scene from Amélie a well put together introduction has to suffice. Dive into that fabulous world of Amélie, which is audiovisual poetry from start to finish - just unmissable magical cinema.

Et bien, voilà le fabuleux destin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h8PYZ0Dlk0

And so it all ends: The marshmallow twisting maschine is twisting marshmallows. At the same time time, on a bench of the Villette Square, Félix Lerbier learns that the number of possible connections in a human brain exceeds the number of atoms in the universe. Meanwhile, at the foot of Sacré Coeur, the Benedectines are carefully practicing their backhand. The temperature is 24 degrees Celsius, the humidity level 70% and the atmospheric pressure 990 hectopascals. And...

Final shot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7Zxyzzlp8E

Not exactly the end of the film, but the key scene in the middle, this scene is proof of director Kalatozov's genius and his cinematographer's wizardry. In this poetic scene they capture a man's very last moments perfectly by condensing memories, hopes and dreams, by summing it up, transcending it and then let reality hit hard again.

Baraka... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNViNqHmnzM

"Baraka" is one and a half hours of pictures, sounds and music inviting to meditate on the world. Interestingly this trailer also tries to describe in words what needs to be seen... But it captures the gist of the film pretty well and thus serves as the perfect introduction. Take a look!

Loco Amor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWij9sTnAEc

A nightclub in Havana, setting the poetic tone of the movie: Style dominating the scenes - long takes, stark black and white contrast, unusual angles, heartfelt emotions, beauty in all its magic.

Up, up and away... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYFXv6bDIY8

The legendary funeral scene of Mikhail Kalatozov's "Soy Cuba", heart and soul of the film: One long, unbroken shot with a camera that seems to float above the events as if the spirit has left the tragic hero. With it Kalatozov achieves culmination of cinematic art and propaganda rarely seen in this intensity.

16 Reasons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71a4muF6Ak4

Before someone told every little star there were 16 reasons why I love you... Well, there's more here than meets the eyes of course. And ears. Superbly condensed in a scene we penetrate to the core of the matter at the very heart of Mullholland Drive, and yet, to speak with Lynch - the owls are not what they seem...

This is the girl! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHPKe8D01Kk

Undoubtedly this is the girl. Really. Who else could it be? Following Lynchian logic we dive deeper into the mystery of a little star whose on the rise... Once again Lynch proves that he knows which music to pick to make a scene resonate deeply in one's mind.

Remember, it's all recorded... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je6L2clZOGM

Another key moment in David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" - Rebecca del Rio sings "Llorando" in the Club "Silencio", which leads to a most disquieting awakening conjured by magical means...

The Odessa Steps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps-v-kZzfec

While in fact there was no such scene in reality that took place on the Odessa steps, it is a fact that officers of the czarist regime massacred civilians in Odessa. With the steps Legendary Russian director Eisenstein chose a location which he could exploit with the best possible effect to dramatize the horrors that were part of the uprising of the people against their oppressors. The result is one of the most celebrated sequences in movie history, quoted many times since. "Battleship Potemkin" might be just a Soviet propaganda movie, but its power resonates still today, and these scenes show why.

Do Re Mi Fa So http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgawkL3zhfE

While learning music with the radiating Julie Andrews we also get a glimpse of beautiful places in Austria, the mountainsides, lakes, and of course Salzburg with the the Feste Hohensalzburg, the old town and the Mirabell gardens. Difficult to beat if you need something to cheer you up.

My Favorite Things http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td8rLo-us3c

This song might turn into one of your favorite things, and like most of Rodgers and Hammerstein's music in "The Sound of Musics" this is for old and young alike. To be enjoyed when thunder is rolling outside or it's the brightest day you can imagine. Think positive.

Walking scene I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA2APi0cTYY

Béla Tarr's shows us what a director can do with people walking in his masterpiece "Sátántangó".

Walking scene II http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDqdB6k6BqY

The core scene of the seven hour long film: A young girl and a dead cat walk and walk and walk to a funeral...

Hungarian tango? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_hUe4hl1rY

Welcome to the middle of the film, where a cheery, hypnotic dance defies the cold dark night outside - or is it?

Life is full of music http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC96_vph-oI

In one powerful scene P.T. Anderson lets his inter-connected characters, who lead very different lives however, come closer together by singing the same song at the same time in the different places they're in. What looks like a video-clip for Aimee Mann's "Wise Up" is actually a central piece of the puzzle and a wonderful example how to lay the tapestry of a film.

It's raining cats and frogs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7As_q6PSKSM

The most famous, hilarious, weird, disputed and generally back and forth discussed scene of the film shows something quite unlikely happening. Looks like umbrellas aren't particularly helping in this kind of weather.

Save Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdajEccNZSM

Another exquisite song by Aimee Mann completes the film and delivers the final message. Oh, and someone must have watched Fellini's "Night of Cabiria" methinks...

Christ be with you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo84caBoToQ

The beginning of the movie has a Christ statue being flown over Rome. It is followed by journalist Marcello, who waves to some jet-set girls, but they cannot understand him. Paired with the final scene, the essence of the film is revealed.

Something fishy, and dead http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT6sfsWQMHw

Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" culminates in a mirror scene: The giant fish as a Christian symbol, found dead on the beach and someone comments: "It must have been dead for days already!" Like those people who just continue their life-long parties, again and again and again. A simple waitress the protagonist has met briefly a while before recognizes him, but Marcello, who leads a dead life beyond redemption fails to understand. Or doesn't want to anymore. Another crucial character recorded nature sounds like the wind and the sea - elements which now prevent communication and bring this character's fate into play.

Driven Up the Wall? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0GgQKEQchA

One could say that Fred Astaire was driven up the wall in this one, of course by a lady - what else? Being driven up the wall however gets an entirely different meaning when you're a dancer and are the actor in front of the camera where a technical breakthrough happens...

The art of holding a shot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pV6zRGeeGM

A final film-noir scene that deserves it's name, along with Anton Karas' perfect music and a waiting Joseph Cotten.

The third man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeJVNQ4ngfo

Orson Welles makes his surprising appearance in a dark Viennese alley.

Ride of the Valkyries http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKaYOW9zMoY

Francis Ford Coppola's helicopters have received the command: "We're going in..."

Tracking a war... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPtVNDvwGMo

Kirk Douglas' walks through the trenches full of soldiers, where the war can be really felt: artillery left and right, explosions, the anxious wait, death and despair hanging in the air. Then the sign to attack, and we witness a relentless tracking shot of those who try the impossible right on their way to their doom.

A little pearl washed ashore by the tide of war... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0yVoxUQ7Q8

Stanley Kubrick's later wife sings in the ending scene of his anti-war masterpiece "Paths of Glory" and leaves no eye dry. An extreme counterpoint to the movie, the scene is an incredibly powerful finish.

Also sprach Zarathustra http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-QFj59PON4

Richard Strauss opens Kubrick's space opera "2001: A Space Odyssey".

Blue Danube in space http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Q3X5Gw5I4

The docking sequence makes perfectly clear how a space opera is supposed to look and sound. In camera special effects of 1968!

Hal sings "Daisy" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TakqPZu4dEw

HAL 9000 has to die. But he goes with a nice song on his "lips" in one of the greatest death scenes...

Traveling into what lies beyond http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou6JNQwPWE0

The famous nearly ten minutes long stargate sequence which leads the lone space traveller to, well... you be the judge of that!

Space Baby http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXS8P0HksQo

Kubrick's space odyssey ends how it all began: With Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra" and the alignment of stars.

Showdown http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8UGNBJULxE (sorry, wrong aspect ratio)

The both outstanding Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsan in this supposedly lightweight movie (sorry, trailer making guys, you got that one all wrong!) deliver the goods in this key scene. A whole film with the cheerful, carefree Poppy and her anger laden driving instructor leads up to the showdown. The inevitable clash between these two entirely different characters finally happens, and its intensity blows the viewer away as it unearths deep, painful truths lingering in seemingly superficial relationships...

An act of self-sacrifice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh9quT-m7Sk

Kenji Mizoguchi's "Sansho the Bailiff", the story about the enslavement of two children who are separated from their mother, has several poetical moments where the director's visual mise en scène by far surpasses Ogai Mori's description in the narration. One of these is an act of self-sacrifice, done with ghostly voices on the soundtrack, painfully beautiful imagery and an otherwise calm and silent walk towards destiny. A master class on how to photograph that which cannot be photographed.

Zushia, how I long for you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqzJaAYRfHM

The film ends with a highly emotional conclusion, once again a beautifully shot scene, which devastates and touches when the main thread of the film draws to a close.

The power of darkness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_cbDR1hwpQ

The credits sequence of Jack Clayton's "The Innocents", especially the introduction before the actual names are displayed is among the most memorable ones you might ever experience. Actually it's because you don't see a thing for a while, and for a change the 20th Century Fox logo becomes part of the eerie creepiness of an unfolding ghost story. Now imagine yourself sitting in a cinema when the movie starts and the screen gets dark...

Dance at the end of the universe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXj9dOF_vb4

Johann Sebastian Bach's "Ich ruf' zu Dir, Herr Jesus Christus" accompanies that one moment of levitation on the space station, which weaves images into memories, which sink deep into the ocean that is Solaris.

Final encounter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_0UPh5FELg

In the film's final scene we are plunged into the heart of the mystery and become part of a transcendent, spiritual experience. On the soundtrack we hear a mix of organ music and sci-fi sounds that lead into the heart of the mystery. While the technical brilliance of this final shot is not perfect, the philosophical impact is staggering and not to be missed.

Let's do the locomotion! http://vimeo.com/12043461

David Lynch always knew how to effectively use music in his films. And silence. And sometimes both.

Death http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJqUZFunBsk

Kieslowski puts two scenes against each other in "The Double Life of Veronique", which mirror each other in a strange goosebumps rising kind of way. The earlier one is a death scene. This however, is only a beginning.

... and life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEVlDb43v-4

Scene number two shows a puppeteer doing his job, taking a puppet out of his box to literally give her wings. One needs to have seen the movie, though, to get the real impact of this scene.

There was me... That is Alex, and my three droogs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI-mDTdeKR8

One shot, one stare. Malcolm McDowell shocks in the first scene of "A Clockwork Orange".

The Dance of Christ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xdQNrk9lcI

Stanley Kubrick, the old Ludwig van and Christ himself in a dance of vice. One of the great examples of what a director can do with editing, how a key idea of the film is condensed and expressed with images, music and pace in a single scene.

The one task... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT_li-WHcII

When Nostalghia comes to its denouement the poet from Russia decides to perform that one task a madman has asked him to do and which he held off so far. In typical Tarkovsky manner it's a more than 9 minute long sequence where the same thing is tried again and again, offering enough time for contemplation. In the film's context it's a brilliant climax, only surpassed by the film's very final shot.

One last image http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_X9BefjHU4

The final image is the breathtaking conclusion, which strongly reminds of another work of Tarkovsky, "Solaris". Once again we see just one simply image and the camera just slowly pulls back and back and back to deliver the full spiritual impact towards which the whole film has steered.

I hope you find your mom, sweetheart... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNmJNjJkOpg

Just dialogue - of a black woman searching her mother: Brenda Blethyn and Marianne Jean-Baptiste in a tour de force acting lesson for anyone even remotely interested in great character portrayal. It's all there in one single eight minute shot, uncut, just non-scripted improvisation, natural, but full with emotions that have been suppressed for years. The dialogue also represents the centerpiece of this throughout brilliant film, which is all about people and how they deal with each other - part of it is to keep secrets and to lie...