| Moments in Movies that I Adore |

 

Disclaim: This will include all genres, from animation to horror, from thriller to love chicks. I may or may not use those as references to the final project. Make sure to sit back and enjoy those moments with me.

1. Wilde (1997)

By the 20th century, a movement in recognition of gays and lesbians was underway, abetted by the social climate of feminism and new anthropologies of difference. It's not easy, but a huge process has been done by this time. "Wilde" is definitely not the first LGBTQ+ movie - it was The Boys In The Band released 27 years ago, but it was indeed a significant piece of work and still brings to discussions in this period. For the acting, no doubt, but for the storyline, they have been too busy to capture Oscar Wilder's "gay" life than his other sides of existence. 

One of its famous scenes was this GIF above - the tension, the openness, and "how cockiness was he" all together bring this act to its very best. What I like about this is that they may or may not find it challenging to so freely discuss things like this back then, and yet the courage to actually put this on a cinema aspect shocks me. 

And, the actor. A handsome blond man in a vest. Stephen Fry sure knows how to capture the audience's heart in just 2 seconds. 

〇 https://libguides.msubillings.edu/c.php?g=902155&p=6492392

〇 https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/history 

 

〇 https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/sep/12/wilde-importance-being-accurate-stephen-fry  

 

〇 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120514/

 

2. Henry Cavill in Vendetta (2001)

By the old name Laguna, "Batman" in this movie saves the plot instead of the city just by his face.

But honesty, who wouldn't want to be saved by him?

〇 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0329276/plotsummary/

3. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

This is a new anime animated by the Madhouse Studio, adapted by the same name manga. In this scene, there's a flashback from Frieren - a female Elf with green eyes, long white hair tied into two pigtails, and pointed ears, where she and her lost friend, Himmel, went to buy some souvenirs after their mission. This was originally the idea of the blue hair guy and she simply goes with it. They stopped by a jewelry store, and then Frieren picked a ring. Himmel after paying for it stared at that silver ring for a long time, the answer is later spoiled: it has the symbol of "forever lasting love". Himmel has loved her for most of his life while being an elf with an extremely long lifespan, she simply didn't realize the male's feelings. Here, after calling out her name, he kneed down, and offered her the ring like a promise: 

"At least, in this life of mine, I got a chance to be your husband."

Love someone who is: almost immortal, very powerful, dumb at feeling probably the worst experience. But for Himmel, he chooses to accept that. His passion for love and patience for Frieren has made this scene go viral and himself popular. In fact, even though he is dead in the current timeline, he is the number one most beloved character in the whole movie! Anime Corner quotes: "Episode 14 Is the Most Beautiful Episode of the Year"

〇 https://animecorner.me/frieren-episode-14-is-the-most-beautiful-episode-of-the-year/

〇 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22248376/

〇

4. On the Beach at Night Alone (2017)

The whole movie smells of loneliness. The 101 minutes of "On the Beach at Night Alone" are a continuous alternation of pairs of images: Younghee alone and Younghee between conversations with friends, between idle visits, and forced conversations. 

There is a subtle difference in Kim Minhee's acting in these two contexts. The more people she surrounded herself with, the more lonely her character seemed. Younghee is like a rebel fighting the whole world alone when she "pulls her heart out" talking about the meaning of love, husband and wife, and about men. On the contrary, in scenes where she was alone, like when she sat playing the organ in a minimalist room in Hamburg while smoking and softly singing a love melody under the soft yellow sunlight of a Korean winter afternoon, when crying alone between rows of empty seats in the cinema, stroking and kissing flowers on the roadside or sleeping on the beach, Younghee truly enjoyed and immersed herself in every moment. The film contains many scenes of rotating the lens in close-up, panning out, or quickly panning scenes that seem "clumsy" in filming technique but effectively express the confusion and disorientation of the character Younghee.

She wants to be loved, but what love brings is simply not what she dreamt of. 

By that, Younghee gives herself to nature.

〇 https://vnexpress.net/on-the-beach-at-night-alone-doi-thoai-khong-hoi-ket-ve-tinh-yeu-va-noi-co-don-3543435.html

〇 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6412864/

〇 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/movies/on-the-beach-at-night-alone-review-hong-sang-soo.html

5. On The Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate (2002)

A drama movie itself, the movie content is surrounded by fears, tears, and screams. However, there will always be a glimpse of hope: romance and humanity. When I was watching "2023 in 7 Minutes" by VOX, all I could remember later on were death, tragic events, and wars. Maybe, really, it is tough to be human. But let's not turn into someone we don't even know.

〇  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313550/

〇 https://inreviewonline.com/2022/03/25/on-the-occasion-of-remembering-the-turning-gate/

 

6. Spirited Away (2001)

I finished This first anime from Ghibli Studio in under a day. I was drawn to it by the soundtrack first, however, the quality and the plot are what kept me interested. In this GIF, Chihiko is running away from the Spirit Land with a warning in mind: "Do not turn back." By that, she runs out of it and forgets something that used to exist. 

This makes me think quite a bit as her departure is so details but narrow - completely opposite to the entrance which just simply a field of grass. What does the director try to say here? I tried but failed to understand the message, however, this is still a very impressive scene.

〇 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245429/

〇 https://vov.vn/van-hoa/san-khau-dien-anh/spirited-away-phim-hoat-hinh-doat-giai-oscar-thay-doi-toan-canh-anime-nhat-ban-877755.vov

7. In The Mood For Love (2000)

The scene's score had a very charming and romantic quality to it that caught my attention. The song swells and soothes, perfectly complementing the slow-motion tracking shots that define the scene. The lighting, particularly the hanging lights around the noodle vendor, was another aspect that intrigued me. These lights became a motif, and their expert placement within the frame in every shot they were in enhanced the overall quality of each shot. Even though the technical execution of the scene was expertly crafted by the crew, the creative conception behind it all was equally impressive.

〇 https://www.newyorker.com/culture/touchstones/wong-kar-wais-in-the-mood-for-love#:~:text=The%20construction%20of%20%E2%80%9CIn%20the,of%20a%20Magritte%20still%2Dlife.

〇 https://vnexpress.net/in-the-mood-for-love-mot-tinh-yeu-dep-va-buon-2424936.html

〇 https://www.tasteofcinema.com/2016/the-10-best-scenes-in-wong-kar-wai-films/

───── ❝ dox.xela ❞ ─────