castle of illusion

Using wide-angle lenses and shooting directly against the back wall of the set, Ms. Akerman turns the rooms of Jeanne’s small apartment into theatrical spaces, cramped stages on which the characters play out their lives. In the years since, this approach, in which the space of the shot becomes contiguous with that of the set — known in critical jargon as an aquarium shot — has become the de facto standard of the so-called art cinema, as sure an indicator of the director’s cultural ambitions as the fast, spatially disconnected editing of a Hollywood action film is an indicator of popular entertainment. (via DVDs - Men Carouse; Women Clean - Films by Cassavetes and Akerman on DVD - NYTimes.com)