Sweet and Low: David Atkins

David Atkins, the director of 'novocaine', chooses his best and worst scenes of all time

Best Scene: 'Blue Velvet' (David Lynch, 1986)

The audience is fully in this movie because we learn the story exactly when the main protagonist does. This is happening in the scene when Jeffrey (Kyle MacLachlan) enters Dorothy's (Isabella Rossellini) apartment. He's searching for clues, without knowing what to look for. Dorothy enters and he hides in the closet. There are two camera shots on Jeffrey – his voyeur gaze at Dorothy and a second tight shot of his face. The same happens when the scene turns serious, when Jeffrey sees Frank (Dennis Hopper) rape Dorothy, and is discovered by Dorothy who begs him to beat her. Jeffrey leaves the scene a changed man and the audience has learned many elements of the story. We can't pull out – like the relationship now between Jeffrey and Dorothy. There's a charge from having simple camera angles, subdued acting, and putting the action in the middle ground.

Worst Scene: 'Moulin Rouge' (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)

Here is style over substance – as opposed to Blue Velvet's substance supported by style. The first pivotal scene between the lovers Satine (Nicole Kidman) and Christian (Ewan MacGregor) should clearly draw the audience in, but when Satine is introduced I was repelled. She enters on a swing singing "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend". There are midget dancers, fat ladies with heavy bosoms, flash, flash, flash; outrageous costumes with the camera constantly on the move. This is eye candy at the expense of the story. This rock'n'roll operatic style is exhausting and it's difficult to pay attention to, which is a shame because the story is quite beautiful.