Seamless Action: Top 15 Long Takes — Part 1
In a medium predicated on storytelling through montage, the extended tracking shot has long captivated movie aficionados, who marvel at the grace and choreography needed to pull it off. However, with everybody and their mother trying to replicate the frenetic, quick-cut action of the Bourne trilogy these days (and more often than not failing and ending up with a sequence that feels like it was edited for MTV Cribs), it’s high time for a reminder of the power of longer takes in action-thriller films.
15) Tenebre (1982), Louma Crane Shot, Dario Argento
Tenebre was inspired by a disturbing series of interactions the Italian horror director Dario Argento had in 1980 with an obsessed fan. According to Argento, the fan telephoned him repeatedly, day after day, until finally confessing that he wanted to kill the director. Although ultimately no violence came of the threat, Argento said he found the experience terrifying, and he channeled his fears into the writing of Tenebre.
For one of Tenebre‘s main set pieces, the murder of the lesbian couple, Argento employed the use of a Louma crane to film a several-minutes-long tracking shot that acted as an introduction to the sequence. The tracking shot, due to its extreme length, was fraught with potential problems and proved to be the most difficult and complex part of the entire production.
14) Panic Room (2002), Opening Shot, David Fincher
Obviously, Fincher used some computer trickery to achieve this long take. However, it creates the kind of slow, nail-biting tension that Hitchcock would have appreciated.
13) Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), The 5,6,7,8s, Quentin Tarantino
It follows the Bride into a bathroom stall, moves around the whole house, and comes back. Nice.
12) Strange Days (1995), Opening Shot, Kathryn Bigelow
This superb opening shot is from the POV of a thief escaping a robbery.
11) Breaking News (2004), Opening Shootout, Johnnie To
This is the seven-minute opening tracking shot of the Hong Kong action film. A special investigation team is observing a group of bank robbers who are about to pull a heist. When the robbers want to leave, some regular cops appear and start talking to the robbers about breaking some traffic law. The investigation team creates a diversion to get the attention of the cops, but one of the cops makes the mistake of asking one of the robbers about a bag in their car, giving rise to a hellacious firefight that lasts over four minutes.
10) Oldboy (2003), Corridor Fight, Chan-wook Park
There’s only one way out of this situation. And it involves a hammer. And violence.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we continue on to the top 10 long takes in all of cinema history.
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