5. Entracte In Leos Carax's Holy Motors
Of all of the scenes on this list, this one is the closest to breaking the rules mentioned in the opening. Leos Carax's film about the insanity of making movies varies in genres several times throughout the course of the narrative. It could be said that during the Entracte (the intermission) the film becomes a musical before reverting back to its structure. However, the truth is the scene is too good to not include. Denis Lavant (the bald guy in the wife beater in the center of the photo above) plays an actor who, for some reason, has to play various roles throughout the course of a day. Several references are made to filmmaking during the course of the movie, Carax uses different segments to make points about the state of cinema (he is particularly harsh when it comes to using gratuitous amounts of CGI). But in the stellar Entracte, in which Lavant walks into a church alone with an accordion, begins playing "Let My Baby Ride" and is eventually joined by a dozen other people to play the rest of the song, displays the ultimate power of music in movies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDcnIVdzyS4 It's fun, it's engrossing, and it is concise, but Carax uses one long steadicam shot to capture the impromptu marching band in all their glory. The irony is that although the shot is elaborate and detailed, the lighting is mostly naturalistic and it isn't as overtly stylistic as much of the rest of the movie. The church of cinema is a place where anything is possible, if a group of accordion enthusiasts happens along someone playing a catchy tune why wouldn't they join in? The Entracte in Holy Motors is unbridled movie magic.