Scenes

When you think about the times that made up your life, you're likely to think of specific memories -- people, things that were said, places, etc. -- rather than a wide panoply of emotions and times. In a way, movies (and other literary forms) are subject to the same sort of selective memory. We tend to think of our favorite lines and shots, rather than the movies as a whole. Maybe writers and directors will hate me, then, for encouraging this, but I want to share some of my favorite scenes from movies (sometimes the movies are awesome in their own right, sometimes not) with you.

Most of these are not world-famous "You can't handle the truth!"-type scenes, but rather smaller scenes from big movies or big scenes from lesser-known movies. I would caution you that there are crazy spoilers below, and that you really owe it to any film to see it in its entirety if you like the scene, but I do my best to give you the setup without spoiling the whole film.

From "The Big Kahuna" (1999)

Adapted by Roger Rueff from his own play, The Big Kahuna was compared by some to David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, but in reality has a very different message and focuses on very different people (although both plays involve salesmen). The below scene is interested because it stands completely on its own -- you really don't have to know much about the context of the rest of the movie to understand it. But just to set it up for you: Bob (Peter Facinelli) is a new hire to an industrial lubricants company's sales team, who accompanies Larry (Kevin Spacey) and Phil (Danny DeVito) to a convention. Bob manages to get an invite to a party with an important potential client, but rather than use his meeting to pitch the client on lubricants, Bob uses the opportunity to proselytize to the man about his Christian faith. This infuriates Larry, who storms out just prior to the beginning of this scene in which Phil attempts to impart some knowledge and experience to Bob:



From "Broadway Danny Rose" (1984)

Woody Allen, one of the greatest screenwriters of all time, has a rare knack for both comedy and drama (sometimes simultaneously), but this scene below is pure hilarity. Like many great comedic set-pieces, it really needs no introduction, but the basics here are: Danny Rose (Allen), half-assed talent agent, and Tina Vitale are running from a mob goon whose boss thinks Tina is cheating on him with Danny and has murderous intentions for the both of them. That's all you need to know:



From "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" (2003)

Sometimes a script comes along that is just perfect for a particular director. "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" is one of those -- the almost hagiographic subject matter and ethereal tone of the film were perfectly suited to Kim Ki-duk's understated, stream-of-consciousness style. This is a beautiful, amazing film throughout, and one you would do well to see in its entirety, but let me try to set up this scene. The character you see here (the characters do not have names) was a young apprentice to a Buddhist monk at the beginning of the film. As a child, he had cruelly lashed stones to small animals in a pond near the monk's shrine, and watched as they struggled to survive with the added weight. As he grows up, the young apprentice experiences many life changes, eventually leaving the shrine, and ending up in prison. Upon his release, he returns to find his old mentor dead and the shrine in disrepair. This scene comes at the culmination of the young apprentice's attempt to purify himself and the shrine, and to atone for what he has done. The incredible, haunting song is the traditional Korean "Jeongseon Arirang" performed by Kim Young-im.



From "Amadeus" (1984)

Obviously film is a multimedia art form, and music plays a major role in just about every movie and every powerful scene in every movie. Perhaps no film, though, ever captured the transfigurational power of music the way Peter Shaffer's Amadeus did. Below is a short monologue from early in the film -- the setup is that Antonio Salieri (played by F. Murray Abraham) is recounting to a young priest his experiences with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) and Mozart's incredible musical talent. Salieri had met Mozart earlier in the film and was disgusted by the composer's bad manners and infantile behavior -- referring to him as a "performing monkey." And then Salieri encounters some of Mozart's sheet music (the piece is the 3rd Movement, Adagio, from the Serenade No. 10 for Winds in B-flat major):



From "Great Balls of Fire!"(1989)

This biopic starring Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis is a little odd, a bit screwy, and a whole lot of fun. In my favorite scene, Chuck Berry (unknown actor), who was infamous among musicians for being a major prick, refuses to play his set before Lewis, despite the fact that Lewis is a rising star and has the number one record at the time. The scene really needs no further introduction, but I will say this: Great Balls of Fire has the all time greatest ending title card in movie history. After the final scene fades to black, before the credits roll, a card comes up that reads: "Jerry Lee Lewis is playing his heart out somewhere in America tonight." Awesome:



From "Empire of the Sun" (1987)

This is my favorite scene from a Steven Spielberg film, although this isn't necessarily my favorite Steven Spielberg film. I don't know if it's because I saw this movie at a certain time in my life, or if something about it appeals to me on a basic level, but this never fails to move me. I hate to give too much away here, but you do need some setup to understand the subtext. Jamie (Christian Bale) was a British kid living with his family in Shanghai prior to the outbreak of World War II. Throughout the early part of the film, Jamie expresses his love for combat aircraft, in particular the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, and fighter pilots, whom he idolizes. When the Japanese invade Shanghai, Jamie is split up from his family, forced to survive on the streets until he is near starvation, when he gives up and is captured and sent to a Japanese labor camp. The camp, as it happens, borders on a Japanese Air Force airfield, and on his first day there, Jamie makes a powerful discovery:



So, those are some scenes that have stuck with me from movies I've seen. I hope you get a sense of meaningfulness from them, and if you like them, I encourage you to see the movies they're from, because all are good or fantastic films. I tried to include movies and scenes that weren't already super famous, so hopefully I've expanded your knowledge at least a little bit.

I might do another one of these entries if I feel so inclined -- you let me know if you're interested in seeing another one!