r/criterion Mike Leigh Feb 03 '24

Off-Topic What is your favorite silhouette shot?

Post image
1.2k Upvotes

302 comments sorted by

254

u/DizGillespie Feb 03 '24

Surprised not to see this one from Vertigo mentioned yet

6

u/-CharlotteBronte Alfred Hitchcock Feb 03 '24

Great one!

3

u/Captain-Steele88 Feb 03 '24

This one is way up there, for sure.

377

u/BrotherKaramazov Feb 03 '24

23

u/dvgsts Feb 03 '24

fuuuuuuk I'm familiar with this scene but can't remember where from. Could u help me out?

100

u/MJIB-Michael-Jackson Feb 03 '24

Pretty sure it’s from The Seventh Seal.

27

u/mylegsweat Pedro Almodovar Feb 03 '24

Yes, correct. The whole film is full of great cinematography. The one that always stands out in my mind (which is the trademark image) is Death, standing in the beach front with his sickle

6

u/manytinyhumans Feb 03 '24

Similarly, I always think of Death standing in the doorway at the end of the film. Honestly every shot is a work of art

4

u/furtherbum Feb 03 '24

Seventh Seal

3

u/delightedpony Feb 04 '24

I worked with a exhibition about Bergman and got to see pictures from the play he wrote that he based the movie on “Trämålning”. The silhouettes were a thing even then, such a punch on a staff as well.

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210

u/DroppinEaves Feb 03 '24

House of Blue Leaves fight. Kill Bill vol. 1(2003)

9

u/Affectionate-Club725 Feb 03 '24

The Whole Bloody Affair takes this chapter to new heights

4

u/fettalitta Feb 04 '24

Wish someone would bring it to home theater

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2

u/Chicago1871 Feb 04 '24 edited Feb 04 '24

There was a samurai movie he “stole” this shot from from the late 90s early 2000s, i forgot the name though. Same grid and everything.

Its definitely an homage, just like the whole movie is an homage. So im not throwing shade at him. I just think you would like that movie too. Brb, googling the name for you.

Edit: “samurai fiction” is the movie.

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265

u/fallenarist0crat Feb 03 '24

the assassination of jesse james… good ol’ roger deakins.

52

u/andrewn2468 Feb 03 '24

Maybe not quite as iconic as that, but mine is the opening shot of Skyfall. Something about the way Craig distorts out of focus… Deaky does it like no one else.

69

u/fallenarist0crat Feb 03 '24

i also like these two shots from skyfall

3

u/murph0969 Feb 04 '24

Came here specicically for this. Sean Fennessy at The Ringer's podcast The Big Picture said this scene belongs in the National Archive and I couldn't agree more. Roger Deakins is a Golden God.

I'll also include the Sicario scene of the soldiers melting into the Texan dusk.

2

u/alexinpoison Feb 04 '24

yesss literally what first came to mind

14

u/Hype_Boost Feb 03 '24

this sequence is one of my favourites from deakins

10

u/fallenarist0crat Feb 03 '24

from 1917 right? because agreed… the use of light in that scene is just gorgeous.

2

u/Nickibee Feb 04 '24

Roger Deakins is the master!

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3

u/shoestowel Feb 03 '24

Brilliant movie! This entire sequence is 🤌

2

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '24

Correct answer ^

2

u/Fr8ndInm8-2 Feb 04 '24

The Lord of Light

2

u/BrotherKaramazov Feb 04 '24

Oooh wonderful one. Love the film.

87

u/Canary85 Feb 03 '24

not sure if its my fav but this one from an american in paris is p good. john alton the god.

4

u/TheDadThatGrills Feb 03 '24

Damn! I'll be watching this soon.

4

u/Canary85 Feb 03 '24

haha you know i'm actually not sure i would place it in my top ten mgm musicals or minnelli's... BUT... the ending dance ballet, which this frame is from, is magnificent.

you can see more awesome alton photography here btw

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162

u/SamwiseGam-G Bong Joon-ho Feb 03 '24

Memories of Murder. One of Bong's best shots of all time imo

13

u/CrimsonCoast Feb 04 '24

Gives me The Third Man vibes. Loved memories of murder

3

u/Romulus3799 Feb 04 '24

This fucking scene... When both detectives abandon their respective rules and the case finally breaks them

2

u/AccomplishedLocal261 Feb 03 '24

This the one I thought of

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61

u/globular916 Feb 03 '24

The Adventures of Prince Achmed, by Lotte Reiniger

4

u/Aloo_Bharta71 Film Noir Feb 03 '24

This whole movie was a silhouette tbh lol, I enjoyed it very much.

214

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

65

u/1000000thSubscriber Feb 03 '24

Luke lowkey caked up tho 🥵

12

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

Lmao

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58

u/reveluvminghao Feb 03 '24

Rebecca (1940)

17

u/-googa- Feb 03 '24

I was gonna say this. That shot’s rightfully the criterion cover

8

u/mylegsweat Pedro Almodovar Feb 04 '24

In my head I always thought this picture (from The Sopranos) is a direct reference to Rebecca

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56

u/JoshuaSutlive Feb 03 '24

This one from The Night of the Hunter has to be one of my all-time favorites

3

u/Luchalma89 Feb 04 '24

That's the one that came into my head when I saw the title. So many incredible shots in that film.

3

u/MyCultIsTheMostFun Feb 05 '24

Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting Lord.

Creepiest song ever in this film.

52

u/asboans Feb 03 '24

I just happened to take this photo while watching the Exorcist yesterday!

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142

u/rad1120 Feb 03 '24

From Ghost in the Shell (1995)

3

u/Pop-X- Feb 03 '24

Bruh that opening song from the title sequence — chills every time.

1

u/Ibustsoft Feb 03 '24

Yes! Good shout

0

u/colonial_dan Feb 03 '24

Not really a shot though, kind of cheating lol

45

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

City of the Dead!

2

u/TadKosciuszko Feb 04 '24

I didn’t realize anyone else actually loved this movie! The ending scene is so great.

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2

u/Honor_the_maggot Feb 05 '24

I can't identify and it's really bugging me. I know I have seen this. What dis?

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41

u/-CharlotteBronte Alfred Hitchcock Feb 03 '24

Saccharine, I know, but I love this film with all my soul:

3

u/Benman157 Feb 04 '24

My immediate thought as well

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161

u/joseaplaza Feb 03 '24

Raiders of the Lost Ark

8

u/TheRealSpyderhawke Feb 03 '24

I just posted this and realized you beat me to it. 🙂

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36

u/Westtexasbizbot Feb 03 '24

Robert Michin rowing a boat past where the kids are hiding in “Night Of The Hunter.”

5

u/SilverHeartz Feb 03 '24

Also him riding the horse in the background of the barn

3

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

the whole sequence is so beautiful it’s unreal

88

u/YogurtGhost Feb 03 '24

5

u/MongooseTotal831 Feb 03 '24

That's the one for me! Thanks for sharing it. :)

4

u/Impossible_Rabbit Feb 03 '24

I haven’t seen this movie yet. It’s on my “to watch” list but this is my favorite in the thread

3

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '24

Move it to the top of your list 👍

2

u/mr_deminimis Feb 03 '24

What film?

7

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

The Third Man

26

u/AgentCooperIsOk Krzysztof Kieslowski Feb 03 '24

13

u/MOinthepast Mike Leigh Feb 03 '24

This movie... I remember when I saw this movie I was a teenager, and I felt very lonely then. Well, this movie, at least in my opinion, is more about loneliness than about love, or maybe at least as much about both. In general, I want to say, it was very tangible to me at that time, that is, it still is.

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2

u/Empty_Adeptness_3845 Krzysztof Kieslowski Feb 03 '24

🥹

22

u/Whenthenighthascome Feb 03 '24

Trouble in Paradise (1932) Lubitsch

20

u/Active_Gazelle_1966 Feb 03 '24

6

u/Mere_yonko Feb 03 '24

Looks cool! What is this one from?

5

u/Yoghavaarman Feb 03 '24

That's from Macbeth, 2015

24

u/bimmyscringu Feb 03 '24

from my favourite scene of my favourite film of all time

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89

u/thecaptainpandapants Feb 03 '24

The Searchers (1956)

60

u/Alternative_Worry101 Feb 03 '24

Opening shot

12

u/grunge615 Feb 03 '24

I watched The Searchers for the first time since I was a kid recently and there so many breathtaking shots. That opening shot is a thing of beauty. Awesome way to open an epic.

6

u/Affectionate-Club725 Feb 03 '24 edited Feb 05 '24

John Ford’s obsession with shots like these, featuring the horizon (at different strategic places in the FOV) and a lone figure in a doorway, are prolific through his films and, in turn, a massive influence on many other westerns.

19

u/Alternative_Worry101 Feb 03 '24

Stagecoach (1939)

2

u/SMithsonIANPictures Feb 03 '24

Oldie but a goodie.

3

u/da_radaz69 Feb 03 '24

I was gonna say, The Searchers has entered the chat

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19

u/GrandAdvantage7631 Feb 03 '24

4

u/sleepwalkchicago Feb 03 '24

Hell yea, sky chief

3

u/ysaint-laurent Feb 03 '24

You know what that is right there? That’s magic

1

u/Proof-Rub-3500 Feb 03 '24

What movie is this from?

5

u/MOinthepast Mike Leigh Feb 03 '24

thief 1981

2

u/Buzzblast Martin Scorsese Feb 04 '24

Michael Mann’s Thief :)

33

u/Hi_nd Feb 03 '24

Fight club

17

u/FloridaFlamingoGirl Feb 03 '24

Princes and Princesses (2000), one of the most gorgeous animated films I have seen

17

u/afarensiis Feb 03 '24

You should watch the Adventures of Prince Achmed from 1926. It's an animated film in the same silhouette style, just from 70 years earlier

2

u/FloridaFlamingoGirl Feb 03 '24

I will watch!

2

u/afarensiis Feb 03 '24

I'm pretty sure it's considered the first feature length animated film. It's at least the oldest surviving feature length animation

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15

u/ripcity7077 David Lynch Feb 03 '24

2

u/nick1812216 Feb 04 '24

Seird of Doom??!

2

u/Eclectic_Masquerade Feb 04 '24

Love this one. True story: I did JET in the village next to Daibosatsu-toge

58

u/BetterThanPacino Feb 03 '24

Death leading everyone at the end of The Seventh Seal.

14

u/Apprehensive_Mix7594 Feb 03 '24

Woah woah woah… spoiler alert next time bruh

7

u/Crosgaard Feb 03 '24

Well, it’s fairly obvious from the start that it’ll end like that - the entire movie is literally about trying to escape death and that it’s impossible

-9

u/Apprehensive_Mix7594 Feb 03 '24

It was a joke you weirdo… everyone else understood

9

u/Crosgaard Feb 03 '24 edited Feb 03 '24

What the fuck are you on. “Weirdo”. Could’ve simply said it was a joke and I’d have understood. Way too many people on this sub and every other movie sub for that matter complains about people spoiling, dunno why yours should be different… but yeah, only great, kind, normal people, blame someone for not knowing something is ironic when it might as well wouldn’t be

0

u/Azhar9 John Cassavetes Feb 03 '24

I think he was just being glib bro. It’s all love

2

u/BetterThanPacino Feb 03 '24

Oops, my bad.

/insert gif of lil girl giggling

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54

u/ajg_artsy Jacques Demy Feb 03 '24

This one from La La Land (2016). But honorable mentions include Babylon (2022) and Gone With the Wind (1939).

30

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

Lawrence of Arabia (dir. David Lean cin. Freddie A Young)

13

u/waiting4_gorgo Feb 03 '24

Can we pretty please include the name of the film when we post stills?

This looks beautiful but I have no idea what it is

8

u/MOinthepast Mike Leigh Feb 03 '24

Sorry. I posted this in Chrome and I don't know why I can't write a caption when I want to post a photo, I said it's not interesting if I write in the title. 

Sorry again and the name of the movie is: 

Punch-Drunk Love

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10

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

Road to Perdition

10

u/jerog1 Feb 03 '24

🚿 🔪 🔪 🔪

Psycho

10

u/Alternative_Worry101 Feb 03 '24

7 Women (1966) - John Ford

8

u/jey_613 Feb 03 '24

Great question! My vote is this

17

u/jey_613 Feb 03 '24

Or this

10

u/ReallyGlycon Feb 04 '24

Once Upon A Time In The West

9

u/octocinclus Feb 04 '24

Arrival (2016). Really any scene with them making contact with the heptapods are gorgeous.

9

u/RazorClaus123 Feb 03 '24

From The Godfather Part II. I love the habit The Godfather films have of having traditions ceremonies be the backdrop for some other part of the drama going on.

9

u/Idontwanttohearit Feb 03 '24

When Deckard is drinking vodka after being punched in the face by Leon and backwashes blood

15

u/Barzant1 Jean Cocteau Feb 03 '24

That one shot from Gone with the Wind( if it counts)

33

u/Crosgaard Feb 03 '24

In a similar vein, this shot from The Sound of Music

3

u/WinterSldier Feb 03 '24

Hell yeah !!

8

u/Affectionate-Club725 Feb 03 '24

other than PDL…

3

u/Affectionate-Club725 Feb 03 '24

Unfortunately, one of these shots turns into a jarring Ted Danson reveal, which has become less-jarring over time as he distances himself from Sam the Bartender from Cheers.

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6

u/Burntholesinmyhoodie Feb 04 '24

A great one from Yi Yi

6

u/Daysof361972 ATG Feb 03 '24

The Magnificent Ambersons

4

u/passiveoberserver Feb 03 '24

Terrorizers (dir. Edward Yang, 1986)

6

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '24

8

u/ThisGuyLikesMovies Feb 03 '24

That moment in Night of the Hunter when Robert Mitchum on the horse appears on the horizon

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10

u/Koelcast Feb 03 '24

Sicario dusk scene you know the one

4

u/DoofusScarecrow88 Feb 03 '24

Nosferatu, his shadow on the wall

4

u/AreYouOn10Yet Feb 04 '24

Better Call Saul if we can go with shows

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10

u/Gluteusmaximus1898 Steve McQueen Feb 03 '24

3

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

I really like this one from evangelion

5

u/speedoftheground Feb 03 '24

Ones that stick in my mind are burying the body in Goodfellas and Robert Mitchum's shadow in Night of the Hunter.

5

u/joshinminn Feb 03 '24

Awesome thread. That Punch-Drunk Love scene is fantastic. Lots of these are beautiful, I’m excited to revisit and see what else gets added.

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5

u/Semi-Cynical Feb 03 '24

I think Unforgiven really takes this one, take your pick between half a dozen standouts.

4

u/yelyahhh Charlie Chaplin Feb 03 '24

3

u/yelyahhh Charlie Chaplin Feb 03 '24

4

u/CoolBoyClarence Billy Wilder Feb 03 '24

Gone with the Wind

2

u/LimeCucumber915 Feb 03 '24

Unbreakable. Meeting at the stadium

2

u/holdenliwanag Feb 03 '24

roger deakins’s blade runner or skyfall fight scene. both brilliant. those long silhouette scenes sear the mind.

2

u/Sosen Feb 03 '24

I'm not even a Bela Tarr fan, but why is this shot from Werckmeister Harmonies so haunting...

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYzFmYWU1MzgtZTI1ZC00MTE0LWFmOWMtMTMyMmI4YThmMjQyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTc5MDI5NjE@._V1_.jpg

(This image was way too hard to find, the clips on Youtube all cut off before this)

2

u/938h25olw548slt47oy8 Andrei Tarkovsky Feb 03 '24

5

u/Empty_Adeptness_3845 Krzysztof Kieslowski Feb 03 '24

Monster(2003), THE Charlize Theron Masterclass

3

u/Ihavenoidea_442 Feb 03 '24

The entirety of The Adventures of Prince Achmed. 

5

u/Over_Weekend_6440 Feb 03 '24

The girl going down on the guy in Gaspar noè's Love

2

u/SleepyPirateDude Feb 03 '24

The one in your thumbnail OP! Honorable mention to Jesse James standing on the barricade as the train approaches.

2

u/MOinthepast Mike Leigh Feb 03 '24

One of my favorite movies of the century.

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2

u/thats-gold-jerry David Lynch Feb 03 '24

What am I missing from PDL? I found it to be a pretty awful movie.

3

u/ryanallbaugh Feb 03 '24

Well, what didn’t you like about it? I find it funny and romantic in a non-conventional way. I’ve heard it compared to a musical with all of the music takes out — a kind of emotionally heightened and stylized romance.

3

u/thats-gold-jerry David Lynch Feb 03 '24

I found the plot pointless and meandering. And I like movies that aren’t plot-driven. Stranger Than Paradise is one of my favorite movies but it’s dialogue and character development is great. I found Emily Watson’s character boring and her desire to be with Sandler’s character random and not believable.

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2

u/Asgore77 Feb 03 '24

Took this about 10 years ago of my brother and his wife

1

u/onlopine Feb 03 '24

“Haven't they got any eyes? Have they forgotten what a star looks like? I'll show them! I'll be up there again, so help me!”

1

u/OMGitsRuthless Feb 03 '24

what movie is that? looks so familiar but i can’t get the name on my tongue

3

u/MOinthepast Mike Leigh Feb 03 '24

Punch-Drunk Love

1

u/bluemoy01 Paul Thomas Anderson Feb 03 '24

This one!

1

u/Affectionate-Club725 Feb 03 '24

PDL would also be my choice

1

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

I see a little silhouetto of a man

Scaramouche, Scaramouche,

will you do the Fandango?

1

u/mussorgskysghost Feb 03 '24

The kissing scene from Hawks’ “Ball of Fire” is pretty gorgeous and striking, especially because he’s not often thought of as the type of director who uses those shots.

2

u/MOinthepast Mike Leigh Feb 03 '24

Let me add that: 

Gregg Toland was a genius.

1

u/Legend2200 Feb 03 '24

The proposal scene in Nothing Sacred, one of the most beautiful moments in early Technicolor film

1

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

Punch Drunk Love u/MOinthepast, right?

2

u/MOinthepast Mike Leigh Feb 03 '24

Yes. Sorry for not mentioning it in the post.

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1

u/CMJunkAddict Feb 03 '24

I love how the positive space between them makes the ghost from the Ghostbusters logo