- The Observer,
- Sunday February 6 2000
I love the encounter in the desert between Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia. It is a truly cinematic moment, a moment impossible to recreate on the television screen. I like the idea of cinema as an epic experience.
In Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky there is the scene of the knights' advance across the frozen lake. It is black and white, obviously, and you can see this frozen lake, but no people. Then a great throbbing sound begins to build and eventually a huge, charging army appears over the horizon. Leading with just the sound can be very chilling and threatening.
The scene in The English Patient, when Juliette Binoche swings up to look at the frescos is wonderful. There is such sheer pleasure in the camerawork and [director] Anthony Minghella really draws the scene out, revelling in it.
