Close shot, close up

Maria Falconetti vs Charles Bronson

The film that redefined the close-up is Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc . The master of the close-up in our time, or my time at least, is Sergio Leone—witness the famous opening to Once Upon a Time in the West (68), in which he creates drama through tight close-ups. Talk about a silent movie. No music, no dialogue, but great sound effects.

Paul Schrader, Film Comment Sept-Oct. 2014