50 Greatest Movie Scenes Ever

29. The Interrupted Goodbye - Brief Encounter

Brief Encounter’s best scene is actually a continuation of its very first, recontextualised after an hour spent following the passionate affair between Laura and Alec, the former of which is tied down in a loveless marriage with children.

The illicit affair brings her an immense amount of guilt, but the connection between the two is real, as they meet up regularly at a nearby train station. Even though they both know it can’t last, the reality is confirmed when Alec is offered a job in South Africa, and Laura has to return to her loveless domestic life.

The scene in question occurs during their final goodbye, which is rudely interrupted by a friend of Laura’s, who has no idea what she’s sabotaging. The pain in the eyes of these two lovers as they struggle to hide their true feelings is heartbreaking, but it’s what comes once Alec departs that’s so painful.

As her friend continues to ramble, Cecil’s face changes, and the camera (which so far has been relatively static and naturalistic), twists as it pulls in on her face, and the lights go down. Something has snapped, and Laura rushes out the door with the intention of flinging herself onto the train tracks, all shot through stomach-churning Dutch angles and soundtracked by the piercing screech of the incoming train.

It’s Cecil Johnson’s performance that does all the heavy lifting, conveying so much anguish, pain and loss without barely saying a word.

[JB]

28. Breakfast - Reservoir Dogs

Quentin Tarantino often gets accused of being a pervert for verbose scenes, preferring to say in 200 words what others might say in 20, as well as being a little too happy to fetishise violence. It's funny, then, that his most enjoyable scene is one that sticks its fingers squarely up at both of those accusations: it's just a group of guys sitting around eating breakfast while one of them regales everyone with a theory about Madonna's "Like A Virgin."

Considering it came right at the start of Tarantino's all-too-short cinematic career (assuming he genuinely commits to only making 10 movies, of course), it's shot with the kind of confidence you'd expect from a veteran, but the swagger only a newcomer pulls off. It's about us being captivated by these charming rogues to the point that the heart of the film - the heist that goes wrong - matters so much less than these exchanges that we don't even get to see it. Imagine the audacity!

It's also a lot smarter than it's probably given credit for, offering far more insight into the ragtag collection of characters than most of the other individual scenes with greater subtlety. We should have known there'd be friction between Joe and Mr White from their clash over the address book, we should have known Orange was a rat when he told everyone Pink don't tip...

Yes, it's self-indulgent, but since when did art have to be demure?

[SG]

27. Hallway Fight - Inception

The Matrix deserves at least a mention here, for that inspiration is clear to see across Inception, and in particular this moment, which takes some of the ideas and ingenuity from that film and realises its full potential. Inception is, at the very least, the greatest blockbuster of this past decade, and an astonishing feat of filmmaking from a true master in Christopher Nolan, and the hallway fight sequence highlights exactly why.

By this point in the movie, the rules of the various levels and how they interact have been well-established. So when the car goes tumbling off the bridge in the first level, it impacts the gravity in the second, where Arthur is the only one awake. That leads to him experiencing zero gravity as the car falls, and one of the most exciting, innovative sequences in all of cinema. That it cuts between this, the snow level below, and the car above, just adds to the thrill and sense of unknowing.

It's one of those moments that is at once obviously a feat of so many - the editing of Lee Smith, the genius of effects supervisor Chris Corbould to build the rotating set, the cinematography of Wally Pfister to then capture it - and yet leaves your mouth open in disbelief at what you're witnessing.

It works on multiple levels.

[JH]