Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Top Ten Opening Scenes

Here it is, dear reader. Yet another Top Ten. Josh, Tom and I had such a good time with the last few, we thought we'd once again delve into cinema's history and explore another aspect of film, this time swapping a genre restriction for more of an elemental examination. Opening scenes can make or break a film, and some can even become more beloved and memorable than the films that follow. For the sake of this piece, only a few restrictions were self-imposed (I can't guarantee but can only assume my associates followed the same guidelines, since most seem rather unconscious).  The scenes had to be from feature films, and they had to be the opening scenes. No matter how perfect that match-blowing-out transition in Lawrence of Arabia is, it comes too late in the film to truly count as the "opening scene". Beyond that, everything was fair game. So, without further ado, read on below. Feel free to comment, give your opinions, and don't forget to check out Josh and Tom's posts as well.

10) Blue Velvet (1986)

When tasked with describing what makes a great opening scene, the most obvious and likely answer one would give (beyond "exciting") is to set the tone of the film. Indeed, every other entry on this list does exactly that, it establishes the tone of the film, almost like an overture, prepping the audience for the next few hours. David Lynch's most beloved (and arguably greatest) work, however, does precisely the opposite. Rather than reflect the film's tone, we open with a saturated scene of suburban bliss. Set to Bobby Vinton's classic "Blue Velvet", Lynch takes a Norman Rockwell painting and brings it to life in a manner so calming and serene it itself becomes unsettling. It's far too perfect, far too plastic. The longer you watch, the more the innocuous images of suburbia unnerve. The cracks begin to show when Jeffery Beaumont's father struggles with a tangled water hose, the kind of banal, every day problem Lynch brilliantly uses to telegraph Beaumont's heart attack, before banning down beneath the picturesque grass to reveal the bugs crawling beneath the surface. The opening scene far from sets the tone. Rather, it tells the audience exactly what it intends to do: explore the darkness beneath the picture-perfect scenery of middle America, coming at you like a razor to the eye (w reference to a forefather of Lynchian imagery, Un Chien Andalou, whose shocking first scene would have made this list had it only been a feature film).



9) Patton (1970)

Francis Ford Coppola has said that when he was writing The Godfather, his friend advised him that his original opening scene, which simply showed the wedding, was too dull, and that he needed something more striking, like he had done with Patton (which he wrote but did not direct). And while "I believe in America" may be the more memorable opening line, the much more striking and memorable opening scene is the oft-parodied speech delivered so powerfully by George C. Scott in his Oscar-winning role as General George S. Patton. There, before a large American flag, the decorated war hero steps forward, and lays out his philosophy. The scene is patriotic and imposing. Powerful and haunting. Terrifying and inspiring.  Stark, simple and beautiful, this scene is both pro-and anti-America, for and against the war. It means all of those things to any who view it. This scene, this speech, it was George S. Patton, to his very core. This scene tells his story, and indeed tells the story of the American soldier, at least in the Patton era.

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x156uvg" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x156uvg_patton-s-opening-speech-to-the-troops-george-c-scott_shortfilms" target="_blank">Patton&#039;s Opening speech to the troops - George...</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/josephwouk" target="_blank">josephwouk</a></i>


8) Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Tarantino is by far the master of opening scenes, but undeniably his best is from arguably his worst film, Inglourious Basterds. Here we meet Hans Landa, the devilish S.S. Officer that won actor Christoph Waltz a well-deserved Oscar and served as Tarantino's vilest villain until Leo DiCaprio tore up the screen as Calvin Candy (opposite Waltz's much less despicable Dr. Schutlz) in Django Unchained. The dialogue between Landa is both typical of Tarantino, with the brilliant banality of the topics (milk is discussed at length) and razor-sharp wit, and also far-beyond his usual scope, eschewing rapid-fire ooo culture banter for a slow-burning, tensely paced, multi-lingual showdown where all of the tension is between the lines. Charming and terrifying, The Jew Hunter (as Landa affectionately refers to himself) establishes himself immediately as the film's chief villain and also its most memorable and dynamic character in a film rife with two-dimensional stereotypes. The film doesn't quite live up to the fiery thrills, but this first scene re-established Tarantino as a master of cinema.

7) Trainspotting (1996)

A calm Edinburgh sidewalk in mid day. People going about their business. Then BAM! Iggy Pop's Lust for Life kicks off as two skag boys (heroin addicts) flee the store clerk, items they nicked falling from their coats as Renton (Ewan McGregor) lists off a miserable mantra about the doldrums of modern society. "Choose life" he suggest. "Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers." he continues as he's struck by a car, only to lean on its hood, laughing. It's the perfect introduction to Renton, strung out and wild, as he continues his diatribe against the horrors of being average. We're introduced to the whole crew of junkies we'll follow down Danny Boyle's rabbit hole, cut with such a frenetic energy you can almost see the emaciated Iggy Pop flailing about between frames. The speech concludes brilliantly with Renton's "philosophy", and transforms the rebellious energy of the junkie into a moment of tragedy: "Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?"


6) The Dark Knight (2008)

The fact that you're reading this means you know how to access the internet. That means I don't need to bother writing this entry, because you truly can't go on more than two sites on the internet without someone raving about The Dark Knight trilogy. And while I've been known to spit more than my fair share of hate at both the leg-humping fans of helmer Chris Nolan and the dreadful conclusion to the trilogy, I will never argue that the second dil isn't a stroke of pure genius, kicked off by the most thrilling scene of any comic book film. How does one take such an outlandish figure as The Joker and remain faithful to the spirit of the character while keeping the film grounded? Like this, with a bank heist thrilling, gorgeously shot, and (once the silent bank-robber removes his mask with the now classic line "Whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger") terrifying. Its a perfect introduction to Nolan's take on the Clown Prince of Crime, a brilliant opener that sets the tone for the film, and one of the most memorable scenes, not just of comic book movies, but of 2000's filmmaking.


5) Manhattan (1979)

Woody Allen's critically beloved love letter to the city of Manhattan kicks off with a colorless montage of the city set to "Rhapsody in Blue" because, as the film's protagonist Isaac puts it, "To him, no matter what the season, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the music of George Gershwin". To anyone who's ever roamed the streets of New York City, especially after having seen Allen's opus, he's right. The dialogue is Isaac working out the introduction with his new novel, and is honestly background noise for most of the scene, where the focus is simply the thriving city so many have come to love, and Allen had come to define (or perhaps it had come to define him). It all culminates in as powerful a declaration of love as has ever been committed to the screen just before the climax of Gershwin's anthem is accompanied by fireworks over the Manhattan skyline: "New York was his town, and it always would be". The scene was especially poignant when its score and editing style was used in a post-9/11 tribute to New York at the 2002 Academy Awards, presented by Woody Allen himself.


4) Jaws (1975)

We all know it. It's one of the most-often parodied scenes from any film. Pretty girl strips down and dives in. The camera dives deep in the water, gazing upward at the swimming beauty. The familiar and ominous sounds of the infamous John Williams score begin to play, before an unseen force of nature tears the girl down beneath the deep to her doom. This initial scene sets the mood of terror early, always there as an undercurrent of fear so the film can truly focus on it's main story (three very different men on a boat, and how they come together) without having to rely on recent jump scares just to keep people watching. It set a precedent for how horror films could work, though sadly few follow the model, and almost none do it as well.


3) Scream (1996)

Scream is one of those rare cases wherein discussing the opening scene can actually spoil the movie. However, since the movie is almost 20 years old, most people who were going to see it have seen it. Regardless, the rest of this paragraph will be white on white. Highlight to read it if you've already seen the film. If you haven't, I would recommend preserving the surprise. It's one of the greatest horror films of all time, and its even streaming on Netflix for your convenience. Alright, we good? Good. The opening scene of Scream works on so many different levels. It's terrifying, yes, playing off of the stereotypical urban legend of the girl home alone with the harassing phone calls. And it functions perfectly as an isolated short film, doing little more than acting as an overture for what's to come. It's remarkably paced, brilliantly directed, a highlight of Wes Craven's career and a testament to his horror prowess. Take this scene on its own, and it ranks leagues above all 4 of the Scream films, whose own energy and tension never quite caught up to its first few minutes. But to really appreciate the genius of the opening sequence is to remember the marketing. It's 1996, and horror is virtually dead. Slasher films have been run into the ground by numerous, accidentally humorous romps of Jason and Freddy. Along comes a trailer for another slasher film, albeit this one from a cinema legend, starring Drew Barrymore and featuring Neve Campbell, best known at that point as that chick from Party of Five. In a throwback to the grandaddy of all slasher flicks, Psycho, but for an audience who'd likely never seen more than the shower scene in a commercial, the film marketed the the films with the obvious star, the at the time uber-famous Drew Barrymore, front and center. And just like how we know James Bond will never really get taken down by a henchman, the audience "knew" their heroine would survive till the end. I mean, the most famous person doesn't die in the opening scene, right? That's the rules. Yet in one scene, Craven showed that, yes, she can die. And brutally so. For a movie all about the "rules of horror movies", Craven proved some rules can be broken.

2) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

The scene, and the film its from, seem so classic, so much a part of the American cultural landscape, that it's hard to believe cinema had been around so long before them. Raiders of the Lost Ark did all it could to feel like an old school adventure serial, and in turn came to revolutionize and redefine what adventure movies were and could be. Though admittedly, the details (like the famous boulder chase) were lifted from, among others, Donald Duck comics, the scene is still uniquely Spielberg, and sets the tone for one of the most thrilling and beloved treasure hunts in cinematic history, and is undoubtedly the most fun and exciting opening scene of any film to date.

1) Citizen Kane (1941)

It had to be. Could there be arguments made for other scenes? Other films? Certainly. But it will always come back to Kane. In this scene, we're introduced to Xanadu, the lonely kingdom of Charles Foster Kane, who lies in bed with his snow globe, slowly fading from the world. In his final moments, one word passes his lips as the snow globe hits the floor. "Rosebud". Thus begins the greatest mystery in the history of cinema. What did Rosebud mean? Who was Charles Foster Kane. The story of a man (and in a way, the story of man. The oldest story there is) begins with his last words. The film has been interpreted, reinterpreted, and continues to be lauded as the greatest film of all time, and deservedly so. This is the scene that began it all, unfolding the great mystery.


This list proved even more challenging to narrow-down than the Animated Top Ten, and wound up being so Amero-centric I felt guilty (though I stand by my choices. If nothing else, American cinema is the champ at opening with a bang, as evidenced by even my honorable mention only one Austrian, one Japanese and one Italian flick), so the "Honorable Mentions" was revived from the last post. The titles link to the opening scenes when possible. Since no spoilers pop up in an opening scene, feel free to click without worry.
Honorable Mentions:


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