The above images are some examples of the use of leading lines to direct the viewers eye to important elements, in this case Sullivan (Tom Hanks, above) and Maguire (Jude Law, below). Also of interesting note in the image of Maguire, for the film they used a dolly pushing the camera in and a zoom lens zooming out to create that vertigo effect used in Vertigo and The Lord of The Rings. Even though Maguire is walking toward the camera, he never seems to get any closer. It's an interesting shot and worth checking out.
Another interesting thing I noticed during the film was that during the montage scene showing the time lapse of bank robberies there is a constant dolly movement from left to right throughout the entire sequence of shots. This would have taken some careful planning before hand to get things to match well.
Another great sequence in the film is when Sullivan decides to take out his father figure, John Rooney (Paul Newman), in order to enable Sullivan to exact revenge on Rooney's son, Connor (Daniel Craig), for the murder of his wife and son. The sequence has amazing lighting, falling rain, and composition elements. The camera cranes up to reveal Rooney walking with a string of bodyguards to his car. They get to the car and the driver is dead and the door locked. Everyone starts looking around. A blaze of tommy gun flashes burst from down the street. The camera dolly's past the bodyguards as they fall one by one to leave Rooney standing alone by the car. There is no sound through this sequence except for music and the falling rain. Finally, the tommy gun figure steps into the light to reveal Sullivan as he slowly walks up to Rooney. The focus racks from Rooney to Sullivan. Then sound comes back during the climatic scene, and a close up on Sullivan's face as he shoots Rooney. It's loud, and machine gun flashes illuminate Sullivan's conflicted face as he kills someone he loves. Here's a YouTube link to this sequence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_4Sx5NtOPM
Two more great sequences are Sullivan's final revenge against Connor which is a complex "oner" which I assume steadicam was used, but I'm not sure how they got the camera at the high angle for the beginning of the shot as Sullivan walks down the hallway to Connor's room. The camera follows Sullivan into Connor's room, shows sullivan enter the bathroom and shoot at something off screen. As Sullivan exits his arm catches the doorknob and the door closes to reveal in a door mirror Connor's body in the tub with blood splashed against the white wall. Here's a link to the scene. I couldn't find a better quality one with a good aspect ratio, so get the movie and watch it there instead. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTPq8VPwc4o
My final favorite sequence is at the end. Sullivan and his son Michael arrive at Perdition, a pristine beach house on the shore of one of the great lakes. Everything is tranquil and beautiful. Sullivan enters his sister-in-law's house. He stares out the window at his son playing with the dog. The viewer sees the scene outside reflected in the window. This leads to Sullivan's tragic and surprising end. I can't describe it well, so just watch. Here's a link to the scene. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7b0_Z9dzoM
