Ah, ok thanks. The closest theater showing that seems to be 17 miles away. I’ll see if it’s still there a couple of weekends from now, when I’ll have to time to check it out.
Its been a while since I saw it, but I think there was another long shot in Children of Men, in the car. As I recall that one was pretty impressive also.
Yeah, Matt, that is the shot from that movie that really sticks out in my mind, not because it’s super long, but because the movement is amazing in a “how the heck did they do that?” kind of way.
There are actually at least three in Children—the birth, the ambush while they are driving in the car, and then Theo’s escape from the building during the battle.
I wasn’t impressed with Children of Men at all. i barely even noticed those ‘long shots’ and i have a fetish for that sort of thing. heheh. it’s probably because there was too much going on or something.
The gratuitous track-up-around-the-house in Tenebrae might be a contender.
In the days before CGI it was quite an achievement.
Vigorous Travellings are here!
Very sad to hear a badmouthing tidbit on the great Sokurov, a director of unique depth and sublime skill in all aspects of film.
Has anyone mentioned the great opening scene in Touch of Evil.
…as well as the inexplicably surreal ending of Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia.
P.V.C.-1 (2007)
Has nobody mentioned the sublime opening shot of SATANTANGO?
satantango
or Old Boy because that is just cool
The shot from FRENZY mentioned above is actually two shots, look closely and you can see where the quick edit comes.
Still very impressive.
I remember during repeat viewings of CHILDREN OF MEN spotting what looked like opportunities for wipes, during the car chase in particular. No particular idea if they’re really there, though.
This has probably already been mentioned, but the scene in Goodfellas where Henry is walking through the restaurant kitchens and corridors to get to his table has always been a favorite of mine.
Either Paths of Glory trench sequence or the climax of The Sacrifice. I’d put the Saving Private Ryan storming of the beach sequence up there as well.
The 20-minute scene with the priest in “Hunger”, the opening shot of “Boogie Nights”, the end of “400 Blows” or the fight in “Oldboy”.
The Secret in Their eyes : the shot in the soccer field
and there are 2 great ones in Children of Men, one in the car and one towards the end when Clive Owen runs into a building
I’m surprised that no one (including moi) has mentioned one of the most elaborate moving camera shots in cinema history: the one from I AM CUBA. The DVD comes in a package that resembles a Cuban cigar box!
The film is pretty blatant propaganda for the Castro regime, but the shot in question is SPECTACULAR. It takes place maybe 10-15 minutes into the film and starts on the roof of a hotel in Havana that overlooks the Caribbean Sea. I would LOVE to tell what happens for the next 10-15 minutes but it would be a MAJOR spoiler, especially what happens at the very end of the take. Supposedly the shot even continued past where it now ends but the filmmakers didn’t want to overdo it!
I think it’s available on YouTube.
See it for yourself!
Agreed on Sátántangó, Children of Men, Oldboy, The Secret of Her Eyes and I Am Cuba. I would add the scene in 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days where the abortionist leaves the room…
My new favorite tracking shot would have to be in The Four Times. Anyone who has seen the film should know what I am talking about, but there is a 10 minute wide shot that is led by a stray dog that runs in and out of town.
Touch of Evil
There are so many… I think Children of Men has a bunch of great ones…Its not a very long one, but I like in Resevoir Dogs when the camera tracks Mr. Blonde all the way from the warehouse, back to his car, back to the warehouse with the gas can, all the way up until he is shot. <3
Someone has probably said Russian Ark…too tired to look :(
The first scene of Boogie Nights. HELLOOOOOOOO.
Two words: “The Passenger”.
I didn’t know about the Omega thing: thank you, Mr. F. P. Tomasulo!
I still can’t get my head around how Michelangelo Antonioni achieved this shot!
As has already been said, the final shot in The Sacrifice and any given shot from a latter Bela Tarr film.
Also in response to FRANK P. TOMASULO, PH.D., Soy Cuba was banned in both the Soviet Union and Cuba, to reduce such a beautiful film to blatant propaganda isn’t fair, it’s more Anti-Batista/Capitalism than pro-Castro anyway, hence it’s banning.
I would have really liked to have seen if Sergio Leone could have pulled off the opening tracking shot to The 900 Days based on the book by Harrison Salisbury. The film project, canceled after Leone’s death, was to have begun within an apartment in Leningrad, followed a worker through the rubble of the streets and ended looking down the barrel of a piece of field artillery as the Germans began another round of bombardment of the besieged city. The shot was to have lasted almost twenty minutes. But as Robert Reagan stated months ago on this thread Max Ophuls camera was always on the move.
@ MARK D VANSELOW: The penultimate shot in THE PASSENGER was achieved in the following way, at least according to my interview with Antonioni:
“Inside the hotel room, the camera hung from a ceiling until it reached the bars on the window. Then the bars opened. there was a huge crane outside the hotel and someone hooked the camera to the crane to continue the movement. This was all on a series of gyroscopes, so that it could even be hand-held later. It was very windy during that scene and it took eleven days to shoot!”
He even drew a diagram for me, a birds-eye view of the scene. I guess this elaborate method was a precursor of the Steadicam.
@Allan: I was unaware that SOY CUBA had been banned. Thanks for that information.
What’s the evidence that Soy Cuba was banned? I’ve read about it’s indifferent reception in Cuba.
M I
I suppose you’re right. I guess I should have said that it has a one-take that feels like it has an invisible cut just as Children of Men feels like it does. I’d describe the one for The Secret in Their Eyes, but I’ve already said too much by saying that it has one.