Film is a dramatic construction in which, for the first time in history, characters can be seen to think at even the subtlest level, and these thoughts can then be choreographed. Sometimes these thoughts are almost physically visible, moving across the faces of talented actors like clouds across the sky. This is made possible by two techniques that lie at the foundation of cinema itself: the closeup, which renders such subtlety visible, and the cut—the sudden switch from one image to another—which mimics the acrobatic nature of thought itself.
