GREAT SCENES
Three Times / 最好的时光 (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2005)

With nary a word of dialogue, Hou orchestrates a spectacular opening scene. Mark Lee Ping Bin’s expressive camera dances around to The Platters’ “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” revealing Shu Qi and Chang Chen through subdued patterns of color and light. 

GREAT SCENES
The World / 世界 (Jia Zhangke, 2004)

One of the many magisterial moments in The World consists of a simple rack focus from nighttime Beijing to a shot of two friends separated by the language barrier yet paradoxically united in their loneliness. We see Anna and Tao riding in the back of a rickshaw cart as “Nights of Ulan Bator” — a Mongolian folk song about a lover’s solitude — captures an entire generation’s alienation.

GREAT SCENES
Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966) 

A foghorn sounds offscreen, a wordless patient approaches her sleeping nurse, and cinematographer Sven Nykvist’s reliance on natural light attains magisterial dimensions.

GREAT SCENES
The Boys From Fengkuei / 风柜来的人 (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1983)

Ah-Ching and his friends buy tickets to a “European film” from a shady street scalper. A magical moment ensues.

Edit — Bonus points for anyone who recognizes a similar scene from Jia Zhangke’s Still Life! (In an interview conducted several years ago, Jia cited this film, along with Chen Kaige’s 1984 film Yellow Earth and Yuan Muzhi’s 1937 film Street Angel, as his three biggest cinematic influences.)

GREAT SCENES
Platform / 站台 (Jia Zhangke, 2000)

As a familiar pop song plays on the radio, Ruijuan (Zhao Tao) dances to the rapture of lost memories. Jia’s camera remains static, allowing Ruijuan to fill up the screen space with her movement. Moments later, the film cuts to a long shot of her riding through dusty Fenyang, and Su Rui’s melancholy “Shi Fou” merges with the clatter of small-town traffic.