Tension, Stasis, Leave Out

"Tension". Thrillers, and so much more. We look at gripping scenes in films as diverse as Joel DeMott's documentary Demon Lover Diary, Kathryn Bigelow's Blue Steel, Carol Morley's Dreams of a Life, Mimi Leder's The Peacemaker, and Marleen Gorris's remarkable A Question of Silence. "Stasis". Cinema is an action art, isn't it? Or is it? Directors Angela Schanelec, Nanouk Leopold, Kira Muratova, Chantal Akerman, Sharon Lockhart, and Sabiha Sumar, among others, show us the pleasures and beauties of the held moment. "Leave Out". Movies show us the world, but what happens when they don't show something? In this chapter, some of the great filmmakers from around the world withhold a moment or a scene, and their films are better for it.