Tension, Stasis, Leave Out

Thrillers, but much more. We look at gripping scenes in films as diverse as Joel DeMott's documentary Demon Lover Diary, Kathryn Bigelow's Blue Steel, Carol Morley's Dreams of A Life, Mimi Leder's Peacemaker, and Marleen Gorris' remarkable A Question of Silence. Cinema is an action art, isn't it? Or is it? Directors Angela Schanelec, Anouk Leopold, Kira Muratova, Chantal Akerman, Sharon Lockhart, and Pakistan's Subiha Sumar, amongst others, show us the pleasures and beauties of the held Moment. Movies show the world, but what happens when they don't show something? In this chapter, some of the great filmmakers from around the world withhold a moment, a scene, and their films are better for it.