Béla Balázs (in Theory of the Film ) emphasized the “micro-physiognomy” of the face. In a powerful dramatic scene, the camera becomes a polygraph. The twitch of an eyelid, the settling of a jaw, or the failure to suppress a tear constitutes the “dialogue” of the subconscious. Digital effects cannot manufacture this; it is the irreducible trace of human presence.
At the end of Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust epic, Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) prepares to flee. Instead of feeling the triumph of having saved over 1,100 lives, he suffers a monumental emotional collapse. He looks at his gold pin, his car, and his clothes, calculating how many more lives he could have "bought" from the Nazi regime. Béla Balázs (in Theory of the Film )
In a quiet, checkered-tablecloth restaurant in the Bronx, Michael sits across from the men who tried to kill his father. He excuses himself to the bathroom. In a long, agonizing take, he retrieves a handgun taped behind the toilet. He returns. He sits. He stares as McCluskey chews his food. The sound design is crucial: the clatter of a train, the hiss of the radiator. Digital effects cannot manufacture this; it is the
To be powerful, the actor must be willing to be ugly—to let the snot run, to let the voice crack, to show the terror of being human. He looks at his gold pin, his car,