My Top 10 Favorite Shots In Cinema
This afternoon I was thinking about how I should be blogging, and about how I needed an Instagram post, AND about how I had to record a new podcast episode tonight. During this time another user on Instagram tagged me in a challenge—a top 10 of my personal favorite shots. This was perfect, because not only did it give me an idea for an Instagram post, but it also gave me a list topic to boot.
I thought about what makes shots so perfect in my mind, what it is that draws me to some shots (and directors) over others, that why those two things don’t always correlate. After all, I only have one shot on this list that’s made by one of my Top 5 favorite directors (Theo Angelopoulos because of course). My brainstorming process took me through all the beautiful, sweeping shots from movies like Lawrence of Arabia or 2001: A Space Odyssey. I also considered the iconic shots; the shots like this one of Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry. Lastly, I thought about movies like Blade Runner 2049 or Ex Machina that blended CGI and real effects seamlessly and beautifully. These all felt like really great contenders, and they certainly are more conventional and magnificent than the list I ended up compiling.
Here is the thing though: I am drawn to story more than anything else in cinema. After all, at their core, movies are visual storytelling vessels. All of the 10 shots that I ended up settling on are woven deeply into the plot and enhance or further the story. They aren’t simply gorgeous, they are intentional. Additionally, all of the choices that I made are intensely personal; they show fear, joy, confidence, and rage. I hope you enjoy this list as much as I enjoyed making it. Unfortunately, this platform doesn’t allow me to reformat the photos I want to put in the post. In order for anyone reading this who may not have Instagram to see the shots I’m talking about, I linked them in the titles. On Instagram, they’re in black and white, like the rest of my account (and this blog). The linked images will be in the original colors.
10. Boys in Church, Don’t Torture A Duckling
This film is Lucio Fulci’s masterpiece. A biting criticism of the Catholic Church and its invasive structure and hold over his country, this film centers around a small Italian village where young boys are being murdered. It plays like a whodunnit, slowly ticking off suspects as several characters try and deduce the motive for such horrible crimes. I chose this shot in particular because the focus of the black-robed skeleton over the two future victims is not only ominous and symbolic but wonderfully framed as well.
9. Perfect Lift, Dirty Dancing
Switching from dread to joy, we have one of the iconic moments on this list. Johnny lifting Baby at the end of Dirty Dancing is a perfect shot for a perfect moment. These two have had a rough start to their relationships and, at the same time, they struggled with (and failed) the lift in their dance routine. The final scene shows a symbolic and perfect lift with these two characters in total happiness. It’s iconic and it’s beautiful, ending one of the most wonderful love stories to be put on film.
8. Crossed Legs, Basic Instinct
The granddaddy of the erotic thriller: Basic Instinct. Since this subgenre is one of my favorites and I have seen a lot of them, I can definitively say what makes Basic Instinct the best and most memorable is more than just *the scene* but rather 1) Sharon Stone’s performance and 2) the cinematography is actually interesting and unique. Now, yes, I did pick the shot right before *that moment* but only because it shows Catherine Tramell as exactly who and what she is: a cold, confident woman who is completely in charge of this situation and knows it. Confidence, especially female confidence, has never been shown quite as effectively as in this movie—no, in this scene. We don’t need to know what’s happening here to know that this woman is in charge and that she is dangerous. Most of that is because of Stone, but it’s also because of the angle and the framing of the shot.
7. Final Scene, Landscape In The Mist
This is one of my all-time favorite movies, by my all-time favorite director. I try to keep lists fresh, but I haven’t picked a Theo Angelopoulos film in a long time, so I included it. In this film, a sister and brother run away from their home in Greece in order to find their German father (who may not exist.) Throughout their travels, they grow and struggle their way through borders. This tree, in this beautiful misty field, is a symbol of their ended journey. They reach it, exhausted, and then shots fire. It’s a part of a trilogy of films examining the inhumanity of border policies in Europe and it’s devastating yet somehow peaceful and beautiful.
6. Protestors, The Battle of Algiers
One of the greatest war movies/anti-colonial works of all time, The Battle of Algiers shows Algeria’s struggle for independence from France. Although many of the shots in the film are striking, moving, or sometimes way too hard to watch, I chose this moment for two reasons: it shows a true moment of coming together during a time of struggle, yet is striking and beautifully framed. This is one of the most powerful movies ever released and I cannot recommend it enough.
5. Hannibal’s Reflection, Silence of the Lambs
Way smarter people than I have written major analyses of this movie and every one of its frames. I’m just here to say I love this shot and that’s why it’s here.
4. Raise A Fist, Attica
In an incredible show of human solidarity, hundreds lift a fist in this shot from the 1974 documentary Attica. For those who may not know, this film is documenting the 1971 prison riot, still the worst in US history, It started as peaceful protests against prison brutality and bad conditions. When that didn’t work hostages were taken and things turn violent. You (should) know the rest. We can learn and grow from history and historical images and documentaries can preserve these lessons forever. Of all of these shots, this one is probably the most powerful because it’s real.
3. The Hallway, Repulsion
Real talk: I actually have never seen this movie. I just think that this shot is striking and it has staid with me ever since I first saw this clip.
2. The Doorway, The Godfather
A tragic close to a tragic movie, this is the scene where Kay becomes emotionally (and also literally) closed off from Michael and the monster he has become. The framing is excellent and the look that they give each other after this shot is devastating.
1. Conversation With A Priest, Hunger
This scene with soft backlighting in a dark room filled with swirling cigarette smoke contains not only my favorite shot in cinema but also my favorite scene in cinema. This is where Bobby Sands (Micahel Fassbender) bares his soul to a priest who has been sent to talk him out of a hunger strike. He is strong and stubborn in his belief system and became a martyr for the Irish Republicans with this strike. Not only does this scene, directed by Steve McQueen in his breathtaking feature debut, deeply explore the actions of Bobby Sands on a raw and human level, it also allows for competing philosophies to be heard. The acting in this one take scene is incredible and I chose a still showing Bobby leaning forward in an adamant advocation of his cause because the body language is as perfect as the lighting.
Those were my ten favorite shots in cinema, but there are so many more amazing frames across the world of film. Please don’t hesitate to comment below with yours!