Best Close-ups in Films

Close-ups. Don't we just love them? They can exude different feelings: happiness, despondence, fear, etc. Here are some of my favorite (and might be the best) close-ups.

L'IMPORTANT C'EST D'AIMER (1975)

Romy Schneider as Nadine Chevalier

Directed by: Andrzej Zulawski

The close-up of Romy Schneider's face along with Georges Delerue's haunting music is one of the most hypnotizing moments I've seen onscreen. Romy breaking the fourth wall makes this scene more sincere and heartbreaking. She's not just acting, she's also talking to the audience. Romy's passionate performance, Delerue's brilliant score, and Andrzej Zulawski's delicate direction make such an iconic scene. Wonderful.

Of Canned Pineapples and California Dreamin'

Tagline: If my memory of her has an expiration date, let it be 10,000 years...

CHUNGKING EXPRESS
Wong Kar-wai, 1994

Wong Kar-wai (a.k.a. WKW) lets us unwind with Chungking Express, which is more laid-back compared with his intense martial arts drama Ashes of Time. Chungking Express is a feel-good movie wherein canned pineapples, stuff toy, towels, chef salad, and The Mamas and the Papas' California Dreamin' are one of the characters.

Fave Movie Quotes: My Favorite Season

"Where is the friend I seek? My longing rises with the sun.
Night fades, in vain I call his name.
I see his traces, I know he is there.
I feel him where the flowers sweeten the air.
Where saplings sprout, and wheat thrives.
He is the breeze that caresses me.
The scent for which I long.
I hear his voice blend into the summer's song."

- Emilie, quoting lines from a song

Then They Found a Dark Angel in The Crow

Tagline: Believe in angels.

THE CROW
Alex Proyas, 1994

Plot: Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) and his fiancée Shelly (Sofia Shinas) are murdered by a bunch of lunatics. One year later, Eric is brought back to life. Armed with supernatural powers and guided by a crow, Eric hunts down the punks who wronged him and his fiancée. A kind heart even when he was still alive, Eric also saves helpless people and tries to make wrong things right.

The Outcome of Original Sin

Tagline: In 1971, Arthur and Annie Pope blew up a napalm lab to protest the war...Ever since then they have been on the run from the FBI. They chose their lives. Now their son must choose his.

RUNNING ON EMPTY
Sidney Lumet, 1988

"Why do you have to carry the burden of someone else's life?" Lorna asks Danny.

Danny Pope (River Phoenix) and his brother are just like us, human beings, suffering the consequences of Adam and Eve's original sin. Changing your name every six months is definitely not a normal way to live. The parents seemed to have forgotten that their children are bound to have a life of their own.