People always ask me what I thought was the main reason The Silence of the Lambs swept the major categories the way it did. The simple reason is one really great scene. Sure, Silence of the Lambs is full of great scenes. But it’s not a perfect movie, despite what we think about it now. I remember that time — Bugsy was the film everyone thought would win. But Silence was simply the better film. When I think about it, though, I’m certain a film can win on one, maybe two, maybe even three really great scenes. But for me, I don’t think the movie would have won without this scene:
Ah, those were the days.
Can you think of other films that won Best Picture and did so mainly because of one scene? The one scene from The Godfather (maybe) after the cut.
Arguably, this scene: