For this week’s highlight list, I have picked a few memorable intro scenes in film and discussed why they stood out to me. I have a separate list which focuses on a few opening scenes from television.
Scott Pilgrim (2010)
I remember the first time I watched this film. I knew from the pixelated Universal logo that this was something unique. Edgar Wright’s filmmaking is both epic and personal, which is certainly a difficult union. The film treats mundane moments like making tea, in this first scene, as foundational to its epic narrative, tone, and characters.
We meet the protagonist in a small kitchen, waiting for band practice. The characters are not discussing anything monumental, and the setting is fairly straightforward and mundane. However, the filmmaking changes this setting into something engaging. For instance, we get little info bubbles about each figure, including their age and status.
Once we have met all the characters, the film changes its environment to visualize what it feels like to listen to music, at least for Knives. In doing so, it transforms what was a traditional band practice into an epic visual spectacle. We return to Knives at the end of this credit sequence as though the entire coloured light show was in her head. This makes the spectacle of the scene personal, something which the rest of the film continues.
Birds of Prey (2020)
Given the history of Harley Quinn, this opening scene had to recreate her background and introduce her to new viewers. It also needed to distance her from the problematic aspects of Suicide Squad and act as a standalone film. That is a tall order, but Birds of Prey succeeds. Just like Harley, the film needed to be independent from the Joker.
This sequence introduces some of issues which Harley must work through in the narrative, like her past abuse and suppression. But it’s still a fun scene, one which demonstrates that this will be Harley’s story and voice, and that she will fight to keep it that way. While Harley has had a difficult life, as illustrated by this sequence, her perspective on these issues gives us insight into who Harley is and how she understands her past. Because it shows her past as a cartoon, the shift to real people further demonstrates that Harley has transformed. She is literally a different person than the one in the title sequence.
MirrorMask (2005)
This is one of the films I most frequently suggest to people. It was written by Neil Gaiman and created by the Jim Henson company, which is sort of dream team in my mind. Its mixture of CGI and puppetry is fantastic, particularly with Dave McKean’s visuals. This introduction is one of my favourite scenes in the film because of its soundtrack and style. It does a great job of introducing the film’s two worlds: reality and Helena’s imagination.
We meet our unhappy protagonist, stuck in a world where she does not belong. This is a familiar story, but from this scene, we understand that our protagonist is a bit different. Unlike the trope of wanting to escape to join a circus, Helena does not want to be in a circus. She wants to be mundane, to bring normality into a place where such a thing does not belong. The title MirrorMask thus refers to the dynamic introduced in this scene, the need to mirror and the need to mask oneself to match your surroundings.
Labyrinth (1986)
I am really biased when it comes to Labyrinth, even the title for this blog comes from a Labyrinth quote. The combination of Jim Henson and David Bowie make this an unforgettable film, and my all-time favourite. I’ll admit, it is rather cheesy in moments, particularly in this opening scene. However, this sequence was also revolutionary, and should recognized for three big reasons.
First, it includes a classic 80’s Bowie song mixed with Trevor Jones’ fantastic score. Second, one of the people credited has Grover as a last name, which is just perfect for a Henson film. Third, the owl in the scene is one of the first computer generated characters in a feature film (IMBD). Yes, it sort of looks like a terrible screen saver by today’s standards, but it was a huge step forward. This film is innovative not just because of its puppetry, but for its technical special effects. It made the effort and risk to be revolutionary, and for that, this scene remains an important part of film history. How many other films are 95% puppet? Not enough, but I digress. Although the film was not well received when it was first released, it has become a huge cult phenomenon, and a large reason for that is its technical prowess, as demonstrated in this innovative opening scene.
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Now for a different kind of labyrinth, one which is just as innovative. The soundtrack to this film is iconic, as the film begins and ends with a somber and wordless lullaby. The music in this sequence has no language, making it universal while also familiar. Lullabies are something primordial, they are the first songs we ever encounter. Although they are intended for children, we carry these songs with us across generations, sometimes losing the words along the way.
Lullabies are similar to a fairy tales because cultures pass both of them down and occasionally change them. As such, the film uses the conventions of the lullaby and fairy tale to reach into our culture. While its subject and narrative are new, its form and the way in which it engages its audience is all too familiar. This makes Ofelia’s journey in the film, and the creatures she encounters, both innovative and strangely recognizable. We don’t need to know the words to understand the emotions in the tune. The same goes for the world in Pan. This opening demonstrates that what is unfamiliar in the film is driven by the same conventions of wordless lullabies. I would say more on the film, but I wrote my Master’s Thesis on it and Frankenstein, and I run this risk of plagiarizing myself, if such a thing is possible.
Bunraku (2010)
The first seven minutes of Bunraku argues that history is defined by our “perverse fascination with violence”. There will always be someone more powerful than you. One can either accept this or be driven mad. Just as the Roman forces defeated one foe, so too were they defeated by the next generation, and so on. Our history is thus a never-ending cycle of violence, the events of which eventually lead to Bunraku.
I chose this scene because the film deserves a lot more attention and because of how uniquely it visualizes this message. It turns history into a puppet show, which lends to idea that destruction is mankind’s nature. It’s as if each epoch were manipulated by some unseen strings.
The first scene in Bunraku shows off the film’s various genres. It is a comedy, an action film, a martial arts/dance film. It is a lot of things, similar to the way the narration characterizes storytelling: “as many ways there are of killing a man, there are equally as many ways of telling this old tale of strife”. Violence and storytelling are essentially linked, making the politics around violence, history, and storytelling akin. This is what the opening sequence to Bunraku highlights in such an effective way.