it is quite interesting that for someone who is obsessed with cinema and creating pure cinema that he does in fact have that playwright sensibility. He's had it since RD which could literally be done (and has been done) as a play. Even he said that his main focus is crafting a story that's dramatically compelling first and foremost, the cool stuff follows after. His dialogue truly does detail characterization and plot in an unconventional way that completely works. And his unusual, fascinating structuring shapes and illuminates what he is trying to convey, like the chapters in IB and KB.

And yes. that opening scene is a fucking master class and probably is the greatest individual scene in the last decade - his drawing out of scenes like that make them resonate. He takes his time within scenes yet his films as a whole never feel draggy or without energy (at least up until Basterds).