When Movies Become Art

[HCIsland]

Movies will often have moments where they construct shots or sequences where they transend just story telling and stand out on their own. These are the shots where you feel like pausing the film (sometimes you may actually do it) just to admire them or sequences that are satisfying just playing them on their own.<P>This is not about good story telling, character or plot development or technical achievement, though these elements may play a part. It is purely about aesthetics. You don't even need to know anything about the film to appreciate them.<P>I think Fellowship has a number of these moments, some of the more obvious being the sequence that follows the moth to Gandalf on the top of Orthanc or that shot where Arwen faces off against the Nazgul, but there are others. Two Towers seems to have less but one that certainly comes to mind is Theoden's "Where is the horse and the rider" monologue.<P>What are the sequences or shots that do this for you? If you want to bring in other films that you admire, go for it.<P>H.C.