A defence of films where nothing happens, since I keep being asked to…

A defence of films where nothing happens, since I keep being asked to provide one.

Things do happen. A woman gets on a train. Somebody does not say the thing. Two people eat a meal and one of them leaves slightly early. The real complaint is about volume. Nothing happens loudly, and we have got very used to being told when something matters.

What I like is being trusted to notice. A film that cuts to a face and holds it and does not score the moment is a film that thinks I can read a face. I am not always able to. But the ones where I manage it stay with me for years, and the ones that told me what to feel are gone by the car park.