Short, but sweet, cinemagical moments

Short, but sweet, cinemagical moments

Posted on May 9th, 2010 by Jeff McDonald

Sometimes a film, for all its length and breadth, contains for me a singular moment, a brief cinemagical gem that becomes — for me, at least — a keystone, or a pivot point for all the sights and sounds, the words and actions that precede it, and follow it.

One of those occurred last night, as I was watching “The Madness of King George,” which tells the true story of George III’s deteriorating mental health, and its impact upon relationships with his family and advisers. There is a brief, but pivotal point near the end of the film when George’s health — and his future as king — hang in the balance. In London, Parliament is in an uproar, while George relaxes with his doctor and attendants at a country estate, reading Shakespeare’s King Lear and coming at last to his senses, so to speak, as he reads the words of another monarch overcome by madness ….. it’s a great moment by a great actor, Nigel Hawthorne.

Another such moment occurred for me earlier this week, as I watched another Brit film, “The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain,” which tells the story of a Welsh villagers who — outraged that a pair of English cartographers are re-labelling their ‘mountain’ a ‘hill’ — do everything in their power to delay the cartographers’ departure until said hill can be ‘raised.’ There is — again — a brief, but pivotal point in the second half of the film, where Reverend Jones experiences a revelation, then delivers an impassioned sermon from his pulpit, exhorting his congregation to go forth and raise that hill ….. it’s another great moment by another great actor, Kenneth Griffith.

A couple weeks back, it was a film from this side of the pond, “The Magnificent Seven” (John Sturgess’ adaption of Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai”), where seven gunmen are hired to protect a Mexican village from bandits. Late in the film, at a point where everything seems to have gone against the gunmen, along with any chance of their protecting the villagers, one of them (James Coburn’s character) decides he’s going back in. One by one, most of the others decide to join him, and one by one, more instruments are added to the music underneath the scenel, all contributing to the sense of impending action. Good work here by people on both sides of the camera.

Sure, there are plenty of other … Russell Crowe’s gladiator revealing his identity to Joaquin Phoenix’s emperor in “Gladiator” … Kenneth Branaugh’s King Henry, speaking to his men on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt in “Henry V” … Gary Cooper’s sheriff stepping out onto an empty street, with the camera zooming out to show us just how alone he is in “High Noon” … another camera move, slowly zooming out on a German youngster singing Tomorrow Belongs to Me in “Cabaret.”

I could go on and on … and I bet you could, too.

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Jeff McDonald

There's a saying around here, something like, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could!" That's me. I'm a 'dang Yankee from back-east' who settled in the Lone Star State after some extended stays in the eastern U.S., and New Mexico. I worked as an archaeologist for a few years before dusting off my second major in English, and embarking on a 25-year career in journalism. Since then, I've embraced the dark side of the force, and now work in PR for a community college in Midland, Texas.