Love Actually
'Love Actually' is a dearly loved, star-studded, sweeping, British rom-com that is cherished by many people, British or not. The opening scene to this is very thoughtful and provocative, introducing the main subject matter, which is, of course - love.
The visuals in this opening are not so important, but instead the audience is focused on the narration. The opening scene reveals none of the main characters, plot lines or famous actors, but instead it decides that it is more important to focus the audience on the main idea of 'love'. This is narrated by Hugh Grant, in his very recognisable British accent, and is appropriate as an audience will immediately know who is speaking. He brings up a lot of points that we, as an audience would not necessarily think of, such as the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport, and the twin towers. This subverts the audience's expectation, cheers them up, and prepares them for a film that is going to be heart-warming and provocative.
The beginning also links to the end of the film, where at the beginning we see strangers at the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport, at the end we see this scene with characters we have learnt to love and cherish. This has a far more emotional impact than the first scene, as we know the characters' stories, how they got there, what their love is and we can relate to them a lot more then the complete strangers that we are presented with at the beginning. It gives the film a rounded, cyclical feel to it, and comes back to the point that 'love actually is all around', which is the main theme the film is trying to communicate. Of course, I'm not supposed to be analysing the end, but to analyse the beginning of this film, the end is a natural place to jump to.
Onto the visuals! The shots in this opening are very stylistically done. It may be an unoriginal, overused type of stylising, but it is stylised none the less! On each of the shots of people embracing, kissing or lifting up a small child the camera focuses on them, while leaving everything else around it out of focus, centralising the audience's attention on the lovers. In a lot of the shots the lovers may not be noticeable if the camera hadn't made everyone else out of focus, and this helps with the concept that 'love actually is all around'. Another effect which is employed is the slow-motion when people are moving at a fast pace, such as when children are running to their mother, or someone is being hoisted up in the air. This creates a very cheesy effect, and not one that I am a particular fan of, as I don't believe slow motion should be used on humans because it diminishes the reality. However this might be the effect that 'Love Actually' is going for - it may want to take a step back from reality and just believe that love is always perfect and eternal.
The most obvious impact which the scene has is right at the end, when the text comes up on screen saying 'love actually IS all around', in time to Hugh Grant saying it. Throughout the scene it was obvious there was going to be a final thought, and this was it. Looking back on the scene you can see how it all relates to the point through the dialogue, and it all just slots nicely together. Overall it is a very strong opening scene as it establishes the main theme of the film...although I still hate slow-motion people...
Love Story
'Love Story' is a classic love story with a very interesting opening, full of enigmas! The film is a great, critically acclaimed film that won an oscar for Best Original Score and was nominated for another six, including Best Lead Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Director, Writing and most prominently Best Picture. In other words, it was nominated for all the biggest awards, but only won one of the lesser ones.
The opening scene to 'Love Story' is beautiful and touching. The dialogue is emotive and pulls at all the heartstrings. The camera-work is smooth and simple. The narration is tear-jerking and brilliant, the setting picturesque and reminiscent, and the music is outstanding. 'Love Story' shows how such a simple scene is so effective and beautiful, and by the end of the first scene the audience is already attached to the lovers through sympathy and an understanding that they do not have. It is so connectable and yet so distant. The audience long to have an understanding of the pain; in a strange way they almost long for something so dramatic to happen in their life, yet at the same time they hate the thought of it happening. This is the impact of the opening to 'Love Story'.
The music is very very beautiful, and one of the big factors in the success of this scene. It is classical piano music accompanied by an orchestra, and it adopts the minor key in order to evoke a feeling of melancholy and reminiscence. Being classical music, it relates to the line of dialogue 'she loved Mozart and Bach', and it also foreshadows one of the main features of the film - Jenny's musical talent. It is filled with passion, and really brings the scene forward in it's beauty and effectiveness. The pianist plays with true emotion as if they are one of the lovers, and this shows through in the soundtrack. You can see why it won the award for Best Original Score!
Cinematography-wise, the camera work is kept very simple, so it does not intrude in the scene or the story. It is all one shot, panning down from a town in the snow to a man sitting on the floor facing away. This keeps an element of continuity about the scene, and is the best way to present the scene, as fancy cinematography would take away the raw emotion of the scene.
The acting is incredible. So much passion is put into the voice-over, and you can hear that the character is struggling to retell a story with so much pain in it. There are pauses in just the right places, and you hear the character talk as if talking through tears. It hits it's high point right on the pause before he says '...and me', which is simply beautiful.
'What can you say about a 25 year old girl who died, that she was beautiful and brilliant, that she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles...and me'
It is also successful as it presents the audience with a number of enigmas. They want to know why she dies, who she was, what their story was, and what course the film is going to take next. These make the audience want to watch on, if only to find out the answers to these questions. The opening obeys a few of the conventions of the romance genre, such as the idea of 'doomed love', which is used in many romance films such as 'Titanic' and 'A Walk to Remember'.
Overall the opening scene was truly brilliant, and would make some people cry before they even see the film. Right from the first piece of dialogue the film has connected the audience to the characters, and they already empathise with them.
Both films had strong beginnings, and both gave the audience something to think about. 'Love Actually' starts the audience off with a positive, happy frame of mind, whereas 'Love Story' starts them off in tears! Both techniques work well for the films they are a part of, and both set up the mood of the film very clearly.
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