Artimidor's Unforgettable Movie Moments
The following - constantly expanding - list contains links to scenes of films, which represent purest cinematic magic and will stay in your mind for the one or the other reason. This is the crème de la crème, this is what films were made for - at least in my humble point of view. In a few rare instances I've chosen montages, trailers or slightly altered version whenever I felt that they did justice to the material. Whenever I do this, this is specified of course.
Please note that the mentioned scenes are often also key scenes in those movies, so don't watch unless you have seen the films already - the short descriptions I provide to introduce them are kept spoiler free, though. Otherwise just sit back and savour these unforgettable movie moments - and if you have a suggestion or know where to find better versions of the clips posted here feel free to share it with me!
As an appetizer I recommend to take a look at Flavorwire's 135 Shots That Will Restore Your Faith in Cinema: http://www.miramax.com/subscript/135-shots-that-will-restore-your-faith-in-cinema-video - enjoy and see how many films you can recognize. Or to put it in another way: How much catching up do you still have to do?
Latest additions:
2014/11/01 - #59 - Landscape in the Mist (Angelopoulos, 1988)
2014/11/01 - #40 - The Dead (Huston, 1987)
2014/02/18 - #23 - Happy-Go-Lucky (Leigh, 2008)
2013/12/27 - #30 - Secrets & Lies (Leigh, 1996)
2013/11/17 - #35 - Ben-Hur (Wyler, 1959)
2013/10/26 - #11 - I am Cuba [2 New] (Kalatozov, 1965)
2013/10/25 - #06 - Songs from the Second Floor (Andersson, 2000)
2013/10/25 - #05 - You, the Living (Andersson, 2006)
2013/04/11 - #07 - The Cranes are Flying (Kalatozov, 1957)
2013/03/13 - #02 - The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1928)
Artimidor
Webmaster of the Santharian Dream
http://www.santharia.com
P.S.: Feel free to make suggestions and recommendations or check out my other lists:
* Art's 111+ Movie Masterpieces, Reviews & Trailers
* Complete Film Ratings by Director
* Essential TV series
Please note that the mentioned scenes are often also key scenes in those movies, so don't watch unless you have seen the films already - the short descriptions I provide to introduce them are kept spoiler free, though. Otherwise just sit back and savour these unforgettable movie moments - and if you have a suggestion or know where to find better versions of the clips posted here feel free to share it with me!
As an appetizer I recommend to take a look at Flavorwire's 135 Shots That Will Restore Your Faith in Cinema: http://www.miramax.com/subscript/135-shots-that-will-restore-your-faith-in-cinema-video - enjoy and see how many films you can recognize. Or to put it in another way: How much catching up do you still have to do?
Latest additions:
2014/11/01 - #59 - Landscape in the Mist (Angelopoulos, 1988)
2014/11/01 - #40 - The Dead (Huston, 1987)
2014/02/18 - #23 - Happy-Go-Lucky (Leigh, 2008)
2013/12/27 - #30 - Secrets & Lies (Leigh, 1996)
2013/11/17 - #35 - Ben-Hur (Wyler, 1959)
2013/10/26 - #11 - I am Cuba [2 New] (Kalatozov, 1965)
2013/10/25 - #06 - Songs from the Second Floor (Andersson, 2000)
2013/10/25 - #05 - You, the Living (Andersson, 2006)
2013/04/11 - #07 - The Cranes are Flying (Kalatozov, 1957)
2013/03/13 - #02 - The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1928)
Artimidor
Webmaster of the Santharian Dream
http://www.santharia.com
P.S.: Feel free to make suggestions and recommendations or check out my other lists:
* Art's 111+ Movie Masterpieces, Reviews & Trailers
* Complete Film Ratings by Director
* Essential TV series
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- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsGiulietta MasinaFrançois PérierFranca MarziA waifish prostitute wanders the streets of Rome looking for true love but finds only heartbreak.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... - DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsMaria FalconettiEugene SilvainAndré BerleyIn 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.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.) - DirectorBéla TarrÁgnes HranitzkyStarsLars RudolphPeter FitzHanna SchygullaA naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.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... - DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDavid NivenKim HunterRobert CooteA British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.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!" - DirectorRoy AnderssonStarsElisabeth HelanderJörgen NohallJan WikbladhYou, the Living is a film about humankind, its greatness and its baseness, joy and sorrow, its self-confidence and anxiety, its desire to love and be loved.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? - DirectorRoy AnderssonStarsLars NordhStefan LarssonBengt C.W. CarlssonWhere are we humans going? A film poem inspired by the Peruvian poet César Vallejo. We meet people in the city. People trying to communicate, searching compassion and get the connection of small and large things.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... - DirectorMarc CaroJean-Pierre JeunetStarsMarie-Laure DougnacDominique PinonPascal BenezechPost-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy about the landlord of an apartment building who occasionally prepares a delicacy for his odd tenants.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. - DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsAudrey TautouMathieu KassovitzRufusDespite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.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... - DirectorMikhail KalatozovStarsTatyana SamoylovaAleksey BatalovVasiliy MerkurevVeronica plans a rendezvous with her lover, Boris, at the bank of river, only for him to be drafted into World War II shortly thereafter.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. - DirectorRon FrickeStarsPatrick DisantoA collection of expertly photographed scenes of human life and religion.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! - DirectorMikhail KalatozovStarsSergio CorrieriSalvador WoodJosé GallardoFour vignettes about the lives of the Cuban people set during the pre-revolutionary era.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. - DirectorDavid LynchStarsNaomi WattsLaura HarringJustin TherouxAfter a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.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... - DirectorSergei EisensteinStarsAleksandr AntonovVladimir BarskiyGrigoriy AleksandrovIn the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The resulting street demonstration in Odessa brings on a police massacre.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. - DirectorRobert WiseStarsJulie AndrewsChristopher PlummerEleanor ParkerA young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.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. - DirectorBéla TarrStarsMihály VigPutyi HorváthLászló feLugossyOn the eve of a large payment, residents of a collapsing collective farm see their plans turn into desolation when they discover that Irimiás, a former co-worker who they thought was dead, is returning to the community.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? - DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsTom CruiseJason RobardsJulianne MooreAn epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.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... - DirectorFederico FelliniStarsMarcello MastroianniAnita EkbergAnouk AiméeA series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering tabloid journalist living in Rome.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. - DirectorStanley DonenStarsFred AstaireJane PowellPeter LawfordA brother and sister dance act encounter challenges and romance when booked in London during the Royal Wedding.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... - DirectorCarol ReedStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenAlida ValliPulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.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. - DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMartin SheenMarlon BrandoRobert DuvallA U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.Ride of the Valkyries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKaYOW9zMoY
Francis Ford Coppola's helicopters have received the command: "We're going in..." - DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKirk DouglasRalph MeekerAdolphe MenjouAfter a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.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. - DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.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. - DirectorMike LeighStarsSally HawkinsAlexis ZegermanSamuel RoukinA look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.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... - DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKinuyo TanakaYoshiaki HanayagiKyôko KagawaIn medieval Japan, a compassionate governor is sent into exile. His wife and children try to join him, but are separated, and the children grow up amid suffering and oppression.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. - DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDeborah KerrPeter WyngardeMegs JenkinsA young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.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...