@michaelgemar @RickiTarr "alchemy" really is the right term. On paper, everything should be extremely average. The story is a standard MacGuffin flick with a face turn twist, the actors are great but they didn't do anything but turn in good work. The cinematography is straightforward. The sets are great but it's not really a destination film.
Somehow, this adds up to something incredibly special, with characters I never want to see anywhere else, and with dialog that never wears out.