Essay on the Opening of 'Sin City'

The scene opens with a long shot of a woman standing in the rain with her back to the camera in a red backless dress, she is standing on a balcony that looks over the city and lights can be seen from the windows of other buildings against the night which makes the balcony and woman stand out more. The fact that she is partly in colour suggests that she will play an important role. The whole scene is in film noir style and the only colour is the woman’s dress and red lipstick which draws the audience’s eye to her, the red connotes danger and lust.

The camera flicks to a close up shot of her face and shows the space over her shoulder where the man can be seen walking towards her. The man is wearing a black suit and a black tie with slicked back hair that makes him look like the ‘bad guy’ character from the original film noir films which gives an expectation that something bad will happen. The two don’t speak until she turns around to face him and while he is walking towards her there is a voice over that sounds poetic and loving., which implies that he either knows her or loves her. The dialogue between the two is very focused and the sentences are short which adds suspense, this creates the expectation in the audience that something will happen. The man speaks about her in a way that sounds obsessive; he says things such as “I’ve been watching you for days” which makes the audience wonder if the man is good or bad because he sounds like he loves her, but his expression and body language is too cold considering what he is saying. The camera has close up shots of iconic props such as the cigarette and the lighter to make them more memorable and to connote film noir similarities.

The contrast between light and shadow is emphasised when the man lights the woman’s cigarette which throws light on her face and shows her eyes which are bright green to make her look more mysterious and enigmatic. The two standing on the balcony are in the shadows but the party in the background is in the light which makes them look isolated and alone. The camera focuses on the woman’s face a great deal when the man is talking to show her emotional responses and the flirty connection the two seem to share. When the two kiss the colours invert but the scene looks quite cartoon like because the two are completely in white and look like they have been cut out, it looks like a parody of chiaroscuro. The is no more dialogue after the two kiss but the voice over picks up and sounds as poetic and loving as before which connotes love and romance.

The camera shows and close up of the two hugging and there is a flash of light and the camera does a close up on the gun and silencer which shows its significance to the scene, the gun creates surprise in the audience because the voiceover made the audience think that the man loved her but the gun rips that idea away. The voice over language changes from poetic and loving to cold facts that sounds more like an assassin which makes the audience re-think their impressions of him as it seems like his loving obsessions is actually an obsessive nature is for a murder target. The last line of the voice over “I’ll cash her check in the morning” shows the idea of moral ambiguity through the man’s job as an assassin. The scene ends with the camera pulling away from the scene at a high angle that shows the cityscape and makes the murder looks insignificant against the huge buildings and city. The camera pulling away from the scene creates a feeling of isolation and insignificance because the buildings tower over the scene and the characters look very small.

The dialogue is fairly short but it adds a layer of depth and complexity to the characters compared to if he had just shot her and left. The audience finds out that the woman is running from something and the man seems to comfort her but he actually uses her weakness as an excuse to get close to her so he can shoot, the scene emphasizes the woman’s vulnerability and weakness which is a running theme in film noir and this is used to set up the audience for a film that follows mostly male characters with either women like the one in the opening scene, or strong women who try and seduce the male characters.