Close-Ups, Part II: The Extended Close-Up - Code 46

This is the second post in a three-part contribution to Matt Zoller Seitz's Close-Up blog-a-thon, running October 12-21 at The House Next Door.

I'll speak only briefly about this chosen sequence, if only because I fear that my words will fail to do it justice. In short, this culmination of Samantha Morton's unspeakably brave performance in the criminally underrated Code 46 is among the most stunning things I've yet experienced in my still-young cinephilia. Sorry, Mrs. Swank - time to hand back that Oscar.