Euclidian Political Reasoning
from Lincoln
A simple yet emotionally impactful moment, this is the scene where President Lincoln sits down to dictate a telegram, and winds up relating the basis of his political philosophy to two young men. The brilliance of the moment – besides Daniel Day-Lewis’ enthralling performance – is how loose and unrehearsed it feels, as if Lincoln sat down without having his mind made up, and merely used his knowledge of philosophy and reasoned mind to come at the only rational conclusion: That all sides, being equal, must be equal always, or all is thrown out of balance.
The Path of Joe’s Life
from Looper
After a pivotal moment in the story, Rian Johnson’s Looper flashes back to examine what protagonist Joe’s life would have been like if he really did kill his future self. In montage format, we see Joe age from Joseph Gordon-Levitt into Bruce Willis across the years, at first living a life of luxury, partying, and drugs before eventually falling on harder times and returning to crime. Eventually, old Joe finds love, just in time for it to be stripped away from him. The scene is dazzling, an important swath of exposition presented as an insightful chronicle of life itself, illustrated with amazing visuals and great work from Gordon-Levitt and especially Willis. Looper is one of the year’s best films for a variety of reasons, but this moment is one of the most powerful and memorable.
Freddie and Lancaster Say Goodbye
from The Master
If The Master is not a great film overall, it is still filled with several tremendous moments, and the best comes at the very end, as protagonist Freddie parts ways for the last time with cult leader Lancaster Dodd. My main complaint with the film is how one-note deceptive Lancaster’s character is for much of the run-time, but where we can rarely believe a single one of the words that come out of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s mouth, this final goodbye is a moment of genuine emotion for the man, as the platonic love he feels for Freddie is very real indeed. Joaquin Phoenix and Hoffman play the scene beautifully; so much so, in fact, that it is easy to forgive the film’s missteps when it builds to such a perfect dénouement.
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