We are left with romantic scenes punctuated by political statements.

The manipulations of this colorful assemblage of desperate housewives, cheating husbands and assorted oddballs eventually result in the inevitable moment of reckoning between the ex-paramours out by the lake, in a scene punctuated, naturally, by a shooting star or two.

Finally, as the night dragged on, he dozed a little on one of the beds, while the ghostly sound of the storm outside wailed an eerie counterpoint to the waiting scene inside, punctuated by periodic sounds of straining labor, slowly but inexorably drawing closer together.

The snatching of their son precipitates endless, repetitive scenes of parental hysteria, punctuated by calls from the shadowy abductor and abortive cash-delivery attempts.

It takes several scenes, punctuated by blackouts, to get across the point that Sam needs to live her life "on the edge," but Lou, pretty shaky after the crash, is ready to settle for a motorcycle.

This gave us a blast of 88-degree air, plus a clean green scene punctuated by mud-splashed trucks waiting at crossings.

The procession recreates the most memorable scenes of peasant life, punctuated by a succession of seasons in a veritable living museum.

The movie zips ahead, in short, spiky scenes punctuated by skillfully edited montages of digitized photographs and newspaper articles.

The movie jumps ahead in short, spiky scenes, punctuated by beautifully edited montages of digitized photographs and newspaper articles, and by Mara, head down in the wind, tearing through Sweden on a motorcycle like-well, like a bat out of hell.

"There were pools of blood all over," Chase Goodman, a 27-year-old student, said in describing a scene punctuated with screams and gunfire.