Name a movie that just floored you.

[Quixote1818]

129. Harold and Maude

This scene alone floored me. Maude and Harold are sitting on the shore of San Francisco Bay, watching a beautiful sunset, when Maude sees some gulls soaring overhead. Her joy reminds her of a story that Dreyfuss had once written about [some backround here -- Dreyfuss was the famous French Jewish army officer who was unfairly accused of selling military secrets in the late 1800's by fascist nationalist types. He was arrested and put in prison on Devil's Island in French Guyana, in South America. Emile Zola published a famous and fierce denunciation of the military authorities in 1898, called "J'Accuse."] Dreyfuss was imprisoned in solitary confinement on Devil's Island, with nothing to do but stare out of his cell, where for years he had been thrilled to watch "the most *beautiful* birds." Maude quotes Dreyfuss: "Later on in Brittany, I realized that they had only been seagulls." There's a pause, while the Cat Stevens music swells a bit, and then Maude explains to Harold: "For me, they will *always* be glorious birds."

Did you notice what happens immediately before she says it? Harold notices the Nazi concentration tattoo on her arm. She is really talking about her attitude that she brought to the concentration camp. "Later on, HE realized that they had only been seagulls. But TO ME they will always be glorious birds." Seagulls are a symbol of freedom and she is telling Harold that she was able to keep her mind free and joyous even in the worst circumstances.