Unfaithful

There is a small moment about 30 minutes into this film that is a perfect encapsulation of “show don’t tell” and why there is no other art form quite like film.

Diane Lane is washing dishes in the kitchen sink when Richard Gere walks over and places two wine glasses down on the counter. He then spends about 8 seconds looking at her and as he is doing this, it is as if she doesn’t even know he is standing right there beside her. She is off in her own dream world. At first, he gives a little smile because he thinks it is cute, but as the seconds wane on you can see his face grow more concerned. He realizes in the split second that she’s not just in some cute trance and zoning off for a second, but her mind isn’t present with him at all. Sure, she is physically there with him, but her mind is long gone and happily in some other place.

When he walks out of the room, she hears his footsteps walking away and pulls back from the sink before looking over her shoulder almost startled to see that he had been in the room the whole time.

When the moment happened, the hair on my arm stood up and I got a shiver down my spine. Part of that is living through something similar to what Gere experiences in that moment, but it also is because of how much is communicated in those precious few seconds. From start to finish it is no more than 30 seconds. Not a single word is spoken. Yet, everything is communicated about where they both are & what they are thinking.

To make this moment even more impactful, as things start to unravel towards the end of the film, Gere tells Lane that he knew what was going on from the very beginning. If you missed the small moment in the kitchen earlier in the film you may think to yourself “yeah, sure you did buddy” but since we have witnessed that moment, we have known from that moment that he knew what was likely going on.

It is such a masterful touch of writing and a textbook example why there is nothing like the intimacy you can feel with fictional characters in a well-made film. In an era where streaming services make movies to an audience they know will be on their phones half the time, it was beyond refreshing to be reminded of what this art form is at its best. Not reiterating plot points five and six times verbally. Not dialogue dumps that explain every single motivation of a character. But small and subtle moments that you could miss if you blink, yet when you catch them it makes you feel like you are right there in the world yourself. You get to use your own brain to process what you are seeing instead of having things spoon fed to you.