The Criterion Collection

You could (and should) probably start any list on this subject with an Ozu film. I chose this set for the scene in the empty theatre where small pieces of paper flutter down in the midst of a tense argument. This scene is present in both the original and the re-make.

The scene in the hotel tv room and on the day off are particularly beautiful.

Who else would have thought to make a film about the French resistance and include so much silence and waiting. When I think back on this film it is like the whole thing exists in a haze of smoke, and everyone is waiting for someone to make the first move.

The opening section of this film is gorgeous from start to finish, Kelvin's solitary stroll is so perfectly understated.

Maybe this film is more about what threatens stillness, but Antonioni definitely 'gets' that space here.

More Kiarostami in the collection please...

Maybe the title is all that you need to know.

The montage when the gang of criminals evacuate the building that they have been turning upside down is so beautiful.

Erice understands how imagination manifests itself itself in a silent space in an unbounded and sometimes terrifying way.

Ting Ting's scenes are all so delicate. Also, more Taiwanese films in the collection please.

Costa has single handedly shown us how low grade digital can capture light in a totally unique way, and in doing so he breathes a freshness into the idea of quiet and still imagery.