Movie: Casino Take a look at the opening 90 seconds or so of Casino, a film by Martin Scorsese. Robert DeNiro plays a Mafia casino owner who has fallen--and fallen hard--for a hard-boiled dame played by Sharon Stone. Though DeNiro wants to play by the rules, his affair with Stone eventually lands him in big trouble: she 'has the key to his heart' and he is unable to extricate himself from his heroic struggles (agones) with other mafia types. The movie begins with DeNiro crossing to his car; he doesn't yet know it, but he's about to be catapulted into his own kleos-producing medium of song. As hero of the story, the moment of his death (the turning of the key -- compare the 'key to his heart') provide the impetus for music, in this case the choral passage of St. Matthew's Passion. Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder Und rufen dir im Grabe zu Ruhe sanfte, sanfte ruh! Ruht, ihr ausgesognen Glieder! Euer Grab und Leichenstein Soll dem ängstlichen Gewissen Ein bequemes Ruhekissen Und der Seelen Ruhstatt sein Höchst vergnügt schlummern da die Augen ein. In tears of grief, we set ourselves down and we call out to you in your grave Lie softly, softly there. Rest your worn and bruised body. May your grave and tombstone become, for the most anxious conscience, a comforting pillow and resting place for the soul. In the utmost bliss may your eyes shut down in slumber there. DeNiro is literally blown to bits; or rather blown to Bach. In his death, however, he is catapulted into a musical masterpiece. Likewise, Achilles by his impending death, will find immortality in the song of the Iliad.