What are some of your all-time favourite film scenes?

[Matteo]

This is a companion thread to my 'most powerful film' thread I made a little while back. I think it'd be great if we could share our all-time favourite film scenes. I will only be posting content that is available on YouTube so you can see the clips yourselves if you're interested. Consequently, and because of this, a lot of my favourite scenes will be missing because they're not up on YouTube, but at least I can still share some of them.

Paths of Glory (1957, Stanley Kubrick)



This is perhaps the best conclusion to any film I have seen. It thematically encapsulates everything Stanley Kubrick was postulating throughout the film. It's an absolutely devastating and tragic ending and almost single-handily dispels the notion that Kubrick was an inhumane or cynical filmmaker. It really demonstrates the meaninglessness of war and how soliders are merely pawns on a chess set, being ruthlessly dictated and exploited by elitist interests.



Eyes Wide Shut (1999, Stanley Kubrick)



Technically, this is one of the most impressive things Stanley Kubrick ever achieved. This is chilling stuff, and a perfect example of images and sound coming together to create something truly evocative and mysterious. Easily my favourite scene in the film.



Late Spring (1949, Yasujirō Ozu)



This is another absolutely remarkable and thematically fitting conclusion to the film. It's amazing how much is said when nothing is being said at all. The father coming home to an empty house after seeing the (forced) wedding of his daughter go ahead is heartbreaking. Ozu was a huge social critic of post-war Japan and I sincerely believe this film encapsulates these notion flawlessly.



Sling Blade (1996, Billy Bob Thornton)



The reason why this is one of my favourite film scenes is because of its simplicity. It's all done in one take, accompanied by a serene (yet strangely tragic) ambient scoring, and very a calm composition. If you've seen the film, it is also extremely moving. Most filmmakers could have easily plagued a scene of this nature with over-wrought sentimentality and cliches, but Thornton dealt with it with restraint and a very observant sensibility.



The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007, Andrew Dominik)



If I had to choose one scene that combines narration, sound, editing, acting, directing, and storytelling perfectly, then it would be this. It manages to hit all the right notes, evoke so many different emotions, and tell a complete tale.



Mulholland Drive (2001, David Lynch)



I don't even bother to understand the intellectual reasoning behind this scene. I don't want to. It's something that has to be experienced on a purely emotional level. In fact, I don't think Lynch means anything by this other than to appeal to our deepest emotive sensors, and it worked remarkably well.



The Terminator (1984, James Cameron)



Say what you want about James Cameron now, but this scene is a remarkably constructed piece of filmmaking. The music, the slow-motion, the editing, the sound design, the colours. It spawns such a distinctive atmosphere and sinister underpinning.



City Lights (1931, Charlie Chaplin)



Chaplin was an ardent proponent for silent cinema because he believed anything could be conveyed through music and image. And the ending to this beautiful film more or less substantiates that assertion. This is sentimentality, romance, love, companionship, whatever you want to call it done right. It's perfect. Actually, it's better than perfect.



Taxi Driver (1976, Martin Scorsese)



If I was forced to show one scene from Taxi Driver that encapsulates what the film is about and what Scorsese was propounding, then I would select this. It's an utterly dejecting examination into the loneliness and isolation of Travis Bickle. It's also immensely heartbreaking because you can see the despair and despondency in Robert De... actually, no, Travis Bickle's eyes.



Punch-Drunk Love (2002, Paul Thomas Anderson)



This is such a cogently directed and downright exciting slice of filmmaking. It's just so well-acted. So damn well-acted. So much intensity and so much emotion on display. I also think this film demonstrates that Sandler is a fantastic actor when he is given the right role, the right script, and the right director.



Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975, Peter Weir)



This is one of the most hauntingly beautiful, eerie, and suggestive scenes in all of cinema. The sound design is absolutely remarkable, as is Russel Boyd's criminally overlooked cinematography. Perhaps the single greatest 10 minutes to ever come out of Australian cinema.



Animal Kingdom (2010, David Michod)



Another wonderful example of truly effective sound design, simple (yet effective) cinematographic framing, and a perfect soundtrack. This reminds me a lot of the Too Late for the Sky scene in Taxi Driver, and it's just as redolent in its impact.



One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975, Milos Forman)



I think we can all agree that this film has one of the best endings in all of American cinema. It never fails to send shivers down my spine. That's all I can really say.



Goodbye, Children (1987, Louis Malle)



I still think of this scene frequently. It's absolutely devastating because it manages to convey the grim and egregious realities of the Holocaust without showing anything graphic or exploitive. One of the most painfully heartbreaking scenes in all of cinema.



Memento (2000, Christopher Nolan)



This is a beautifully restrained moment in Nolan's masterpiece. It does a remarkable job at allowing its audiences to understand what its protagonist is feeling and thinking without it coming across as too conspicuous or contrived. It also contains one of the best lines in all of cinema - "how am I supposed to heal if I can't feel time?"



2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick)



This could, very well, be my absolute favourite scene in all of cinema. The paradigm shift from one moment being in space to the next in this neoclassical room is staggeringly ambitious and challenging. But it's the sound design, the remarkable compassion, the surrealistic backdrop and the sheer distinctiveness of it all that makes this moment a truly special one.



Collateral (2004, Michael Mann)



This is another example of downright good acting and writing. It's such a calm and quiet moment in a film that could have easily been riddled with explosions and mindless action. I also found both of these characters extremely compelling and this scene delves more into what drives them as individuals.



Detachment (2011, Tony Kaye)



This is simply one of the most truthful monologues in all of film. It is more politically and socially relevant now than what it was 3 years ago. There is a lot being said here and it's just so shockingly accurate. What is being postulated here is something I believe in so ardently.


There are so many more scenes out there, too, but I think I've wrote enough for now. What are some of your favourite film scenes?

[Daz]

Ride of the Rohirrim from Return of the King. It was just a perfect blend. The acting, especially from Bernard Hill is spot on and draws so much emotion. The score only heightens it (one of my favourite pieces of music from any film), the CGI effects enhance everything that's going on, rather than overwhelm it. On top of that, I'd been imagining that moment for years, since I'd first read the book, and after the first movie come out, and it exceeded any and all expectations. It makes me happy to this day.




Also, the stare down from the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The tension is just incredible. I remember the first time I saw it, and it just dragged on and on, almost comfortably so, as you waited for one of them to make the first move. And again, the music is just so ridiculously good. I don't think you can ask anything more from film making than this.