That which can only be filmed

[Ghost]

that's a phrase I've run into from time to time in reading film reviews/criticism. Roughly speaking, it's used to describe a shot, scene, or otherwise with a simple, commonplace moment that captures something sublime and transcendent. So I thought I would see if anyone has similar favorite sequences.

I'll start off with two --

Wings of Desire -- In which the angel (Bruno ganz, I believe) happens upon an automobile collision with a motorcycle IIRC. He walks to the motorcyclists as he's dying on the pavement, and sways his thoughts from the pain to pleasant memories as he passes away. There's something beautiful and still in the solemn gait as he walks away from the scene, qwhile the man speaks of his memories.

A Bout de Souffle (Breathless) -- The way that Jean Seberg walks into the picture, rear side turned to the camera, sashaying about with as she tries to sell newspapers. I've come across several reviews, comments etc. online where people mention this scene, which is wholly unremarkable except for its subtle beauty.

This is difficult to do, since the point is that it cam only be filmed, but I was curious if others have similar favorites.

[GringoTex]

It used to be theorized that that which is uniquely cinematic is based in montage or editing (the dialecticism of Eisenstein, etal). The French critic Andre Bazin disputed this with his theory of decoupage- wherein he claimed that cinema's ability to achieve the aesthetic meaning of montage within a single shot was what made it unique and gave it its beauty.

So far as transcendent moments in film that leap out at you because you've never seen anything like it in any artform before: Godard and John Ford achieve this the most, IMHO. Ford's moments, especially, are startling because they leap out at you from very conventional story lines and genres.

[MeridianFC]

GT you're too smart by half. Stop reading books man. ;)

The scened in "Onibaba" shot through the reeds. There something so simply yet incredibly moving and evocative there. You see this type of scene in quite a few Japanese flims ("Rashoman" through the trees, "Boiling Point" reeds again), I'm not sure what the underlying meaning/intent is but it gets me everytime. There's certainly an element of the appreciation, or at least acknowledgement, of nature in Nippon cinema.

[CHICO13]

Or kinda like when PeeWee Hermann was dancing on the bar in those bigass platform shoes to 'Tequila' in "PeeWee's Big Aventure"

[Owen Gohl]

Originally posted by GringoTex
Ford's moments, especially, are startling because they leap out at you from very conventional story lines and genres.

Could you please cite an example? I have many of Ford's images in my mind but I'm not sure if any would fall into the category referenced in this thread.