file under: two scenes

1) from la jetee, in which the protagonist watches his love interest sleeping (this is a past event, a memory to which he is anchored). although the movie is composed entirely of black and white stills with accompanying narration, the stills in this particular segment follow each other at a quickened pace so that the images start to form a "film-like" fluidity of her opening her eyes and looking back at him. the sound of birds increases from the background to the foreground as this simple moment of two people looking out/into each other stretches on for a long minute or two, then is suddenly cut short by a jump to the face of the protagonist's doctor (now in the present), studying the protagonist coldly. there is nothing but darkness in the background, and no sound. the transition is bracing.

2) from fellini satyricon, in which the hero stumbles home from a debauched party with an old poet (a mentor of sorts), someone who has very recently been scorned, dishonored, and abused by the host of the party. they stop to rest in a field tilled for sowing, stretching out over furrows of raw earth. as dawn approaches, the old poet talks about leaving the young hero the varied and beautiful things of the world (the trees, the sky, the many clouds, etc). there is a shot of the young man's arm stretching up to the sky as he listens, grasping at clouds that are far away. the poet dies, but the youth is unaware of the passing. he is thinking of a young lover that left him for another. to himself, he says, "even though you left me, i still love you" (can't remember the exact subtitled line just now, but that's the sentiment). there is a quick image of his object of affection, just a momentary flash, then the young hero is jerked to his feet as he realizes he is no longer in the field but laying on a beach, in chains, about to be corralled into a slave ship with many others. again, the transition is jarring.

both scenes catch us in the midst of a private reverie, a moment of nostalgia and yearning that takes us away from the world (only to shock us back into the present like an unexpected dousing of cold water). seeing the first one yesterday reminded me of the other instantly. i like when that happens.