Kick It Off With A Bang

When I was in university attending lectures, every ten of my “awake” minutes would surely be matched by five in which I was zoned out – no matter how interesting the lectures’ content might have been. This isn’t the case when I watch movies: If I’m watching something I find even remotely interesting, I’ll keep paying attention - even over the course of a slow, three-hour film.

When it comes to grabbing a viewer’s attention, opening scenes are crucial. If a movie has a strong beginning, it will likely have its audience captivated for the remaining two hours. This doesn’t mean that the opening has to be fast-paced, action-packed or explosive – it just has to be really well done. The acting, direction, cinematography and soundtrack are what matter. Here are my top five movie openings of all time; each, in fact, is so good that I would take personal offense at anyone opposing these opinions.

1) The Graduate
This film has an equally strong ending to complement its exceptional beginning, in which a young (and totally handsome) Dustin Hoffman arrives at LAX shortly after graduating from university. The camera follows him along the moving walkway while “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel (who wrote the entire soundtrack for this movie) plays in the background. The soundtrack and gorgeous cinematography (yes, even though it’s filmed in an airport) are huge parts of why I’ve made this my number one opening scene. But what really makes the scene is Hoffman’s performance. Though he does not utter a word (hence “The Sound of Silence”), the sight of his expressionless face as he stands perfectly still on the moving walkway sets the mood for the entire film. Watching Hoffman and listening to Simon and Garfunkel for these two minutes, we quickly learn that protagonist Benjamin Braddock feels trapped and is suffering from some kind of quarter-life crisis.

2) Inglorious Basterds
Basterds’ opening is almost on par with that of The Graduate. No film has ever made me bite my nails through its first twenty minutes quite like Inglorious Bastards did. Anyone will tell you that Christoph Waltz’s performance as Nazi Colonel Hans Landa was brilliant; when I first saw the film, I looked around at the audience in the theatre as I watched Col. Landa grill (in his torturous, apparently-passive way) a French milk farmer about hiding a Jewish family. I can still remember the visceral reactions of the people around me - covering their eyes (despite the lack of gratuitous violence or gore), biting their nails, shaking their heads. This scene is incredibly uncomfortable, and it’s nerve shattering; it’s also brilliant.

3) Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Here is an opening that can only be described as iconic. Watching this scene, and the entire film for that matter, is a remedy for my version of the “mean reds” - just as Tiffany’s is for Audrey Hepburn’s character Holly Golightly. There is something so comforting about this scene, in which a yellow cab glides down the near-empty morning streets of Manhattan. Further, there’s the beautiful surprise of seeing the exquisite Hepburn step out of the car in a beautiful, bedazzled gown, walk towards Tiffany's and, reaching into her purse, fish out not a nice lipstick or wallet but a croissant from a paper bag and a Styrofoam cup of coffee.

4) The Royal Tenenbaums
I love all of Wes Anderson’s movies, but The Royal Tenenbaums is by far my favourite, and is another movie I tend to gravitate towards when I’m suffering a case of the “mean reds.” The opening is intriguing, as it introduces us to each character in the film, piquing our curiosity and our desire to get to know these characters better. Further, the soundtrack (like most of Anderson’s) is incredible. The opening scene to The Royal Tenenbaums features the extremely soothing voice of Alec Baldwin as narrator, a fantastic cover of “Hey Jude”, and a stunning shot of Mordecai (Ritchie Tenenbaum’s pet eagle) flying over Manhattan.

5) The Godfather
I’ve completely lost count of how many times I’ve watched both The Godfather Part I and Part II, but it doesn’t matter - I still return to the two regularly, and I’m still stunned every time anything badass is done or said, which is approximately every two minutes. The opening scene of The Godfather Part I offers a concise illustration of why first-generation Italian Americans relied heavily on justice from the Mafia as opposed to law enforcement or the authorities. As a grieving father unveils the story of how a group of young men took advantage of his daughter and beat her to a pulp, you can’t help but become completely involved. The story he is relating to Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) is told in a dark room in which only his forlorn face is illuminated. When the camera pans to Brando, who is caressing a cat, one can only think, “Oh yes, I am so ready for the next three hours.”

Image from MorgueFile

Nicole Simon
		About the author:
		Nicole is a Toronto native, who somehow weaseled her way into the Fashion Institute for Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. There, she majored in Fashion Marketing and Merchandising. Her greatest accomplishments include working as a fish monger for one memorable summer when she was eighteen, and getting scowled at by Judge Judy in line at a restaurant in Manhattan.
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