Here is a link to the opening sequence of Lucky Number Slevin. If you have seen the film then it you will understand that it can be difficult to describe the premise of the film without revealing the twist ending as a lot of the film is based on questions. One of the main themes of this film is the theme of identity, without revealing the ending the premise is about a man known as Slevin who is mistaken as a man that is in a great deal of debt with 2 rival gang leaders, both the rival gangs do not know that about the other wanting Slevin, and Slevin does not know anything about the two rival gangs in the first place which does make the film incredibly confusing for the audience, however this is all build up towards the twist ending. There is also a mysterious man known as Mr. Goodkat who interlinks between the two gang leaders and appears to have knowledge about every single person that is shown throughout the film; however the audience will not fully understand how he knows this information until the end. The theme of identity is brought up throughout many crime-dramas, most notably The Departed who uses identity to discuss the theory that just because certain people are often perceived in certain ways does not mean they fully encapsulate these ways and never show the opposite side of who they are. This is similar in Lucky Number Slevin because Slevin in the beginning of the film is very humorous and is often used as comedic value however he later changes and becomes more serious (specifically near the end of the film). In many ways this film could not be considered a crime-drama and more of a crime-comedy as throughout the first half of the film there are numerous examples of comedic elements, mostly through the dialogue and the story itself (often Slevin discusses his confusing situation with other characters in a very humorous way) however throughout the second half the film does become much darker and delves into more sadistic imagery and the storyline becomes much clearer towards the audience thus making it more of a crime-drama. BE AWARE that this specific link can falter when watching the video if you pause it, however you can combat this by simply refreshing the page using the F5 button on the keyboard.
You will notice that this sequence in particular is very short; this could be because after this sequence there is a very long flashback sequence which is unrelated to what is shown during the title sequence. I originally planned to analyse this flashback sequence as well as part of a different blog however so far I cannot find a direct link.
You will also notice that no main characters or dialogue is shown in this sequence, this is because the whole sequence is done to create the sense of mystery but also give the audience a sense of bewilderment, which is one of the typical emotions audiences typically gain when watching this film. I discussed the premise earlier for a number of reasons, firstly I because I felt it would make more sense when I start describing the features that are being shown and another reason is so that you can understand why these scenes are being shown within the opening.
As the title sequence opens the audience can see a fade in shot of a piece of paper with data concerning the film written on it. These pieces of paper are important in the actual film as they reflect the bookies who keep track of debts There is non-diegetic music being played in the background which is very soft and melodramatic, however it is notably very mysterious and very intriguing towards the audience, this instrumental music is played throughout the sequence thus highlighting in greater depth the mysterious value and effect it has upon the audience. There can be seen very faint images of random numbers spread across the screen, these resemble the bookies that are shown throughout the film and highlight the fact that the bookies are involved in debt collection.
At 0:11 the camera begins to pan down from the sheet of paper thus revealing more data about the film’s credits, this continues to happen until 0:14 in which this shot there can be seen a coffee mug stain on the sheet of paper highlighting that people may have been careless around this particular document as though it is not important, this would make more sense as to why Slevin’s identity is mistaken as though it is a very simple mistake. There is then a shot of two red lines which cross over each other, the use of red highlights the blood and emphasizes the danger that is shown throughout the film, the camera then begins to pan down thus following one of the red lines, there can now be heard indistinctive dialogue that is very similar to an announcer from a typical horse racing game, this reflects the bookies that are shown throughout the film, the camera then fades out into a black screen.
At 0:22 the camera then fades in to a shot of a phone in the middle between two beds. The colours that be seen within this shot are all very brown and beige, this could create a very bland sense and create a mysterious sense of bewilderment, at 0:30 the shot then fades out into black again, this emphasizes the bewilderment that was shown as the audience will not be able to understand why a phone is in the centre of the shot and why the shot has been used at all, this will intrigue the audience and make them interested to find out what the phone has got to do with the story. In the shot the wallpaper focused mainly on circular images whilst the bed sheets were much more ‘wavy’ and crimped. This mismatch of shapes is very interesting and also emphasizes the bewildering, confusion that is given towards the audience.
At 0:32 there is then another fade in to a point of view shot of the outside of an elevator as the elevator is going down, the shot starts moving in the direction of the elevator as though it is part of it, from the shot it also appears that the elevator is going down a small tunnel as though entering another world, this could reflect the two aspects of the film, comedy and drama who are both considered polar opposites. It also creates the sense to the audience of a predatory figure leering over prey as it smoothly moves forward as though it’s about to strike, this creates a very threatening atmosphere towards to the audience and emphasizes the drama and, when combined with the creepy eerie music also highlights a mysterious overtone towards the scene. Around the tunnel in this shot it appears very dark and wooden (through the wooden panels around the floorboards), this in turn creates a dark atmosphere which again makes the scene much darker, serious, mysterious, bewildering and also threatening all at the same time towards to the audience.
At 0:36 the scene then fades into another scene in which there is a long shot of a very old, seemingly rundown industrial car park as a man dressed in a beige suit walks across carting a book in his left hand. The car park is very beige and brown which reflects the beige imagery shown previously. The car park is very dark also with mould seeping from the roof and spread across the walls which creates a distinguishable dirty and rotten atmosphere but also creates a sense of isolation through the fact that the man is alone in a darkened place. Since the man is wearing a very smart suit and there is notably a very expensive sports car in the background it creates and reflects the earlier scene in which objects and scenery are mismatched which emphasizes a sense of bewilderment and confusion even further. The camera continues to pan across the room as the man is walking, it begins with a long shot of the man however once the camera pans the shot becomes an extreme close up of the man’s book he is carrying. The audience can see that the man is breathing through the air coming directly out of his mouth, this shows that it is a very cold day in which emphasizes resentful feel towards the audience.
At 0:52 there can be seen a point of view long shot from the elevator moving upwards that was shown earlier, this reflects the predatory feel and indicates to the audience that the man is being watched thus highlighting the threatening atmosphere that was hinted on earlier. From this point of view shot the audience can tell that a predatory-type figure is watching the man walk up to his car from a reasonably close distance, however the man does not notice him thus highlighting the predatory figure further as though he is a ‘silent killer’.
At 0:54 there is then a point of view shot taken from inside the man’s car, this only lasts for a few moments as very quickly 2 gun shots can be heard as the man’s face then smashes into the window of his car thus breaking the window in the process so there is then a mid-shot of the man’s face with blood shattered across the remaining parts of the window. Considering this sequence only lasts a few moments it is very effective in terms of shock value, which is actually a typical feature in horror films as opposed to crime dramas, it’s effective because the audience simply don’t suspect is as they had only small hints that there was a predatory figure surrounding the man as all the shots of the assassin were point of view shots. It also highlights the graphic nature, considering that there is blood across the screen combined with the fact that the man’s face shatters his own car window shows the audience that this film is very violent and will therefore be unsuitable for audiences under the ages of around 15-18 as it is very graphic here. This is typical in crime-dramas and very typical of many famous gangster films such as Scarface and The Godfather of which show a lot of blood and violence in their scenes in order to highlight the graphicness and the violence shown in the scenes. There is also an eerie of sophistication shown here, this is due to the fact that the gun clearly has a silencer attached to the gun, this can be heard through the sound the gun makes when it is shot at the man, also due to the fact that the assassin is never shown (in the opening sequence) it also highlights sophistication as the man is clearly very secretive and can kill people without the person knowing they are even in the same room. The notion of sophistication is typical in crime films such as Casino Royale (see Casino Royale Opening Sequence blog) and also The Departed, The Godfather among many others. The scene then cuts to a long shot in which the elevator is continuing to move upwards but this time the audience can see a man’s legs moving upwards with the elevator clearly indicating where the assassin was when he killed him, this however does not show the assassin’s face thus keeping the mysterious notion of the assassin.
At 1:06 there is then a point of view high angle long shot of the man’s dead body; the camera pans smoothly towards him creating a sense that the assassin is very smooth and delicate about his kills and moves very smoothly just like a typical animalistic predator. The assassin then leans over the man so that his shadow appears over the dead man indicating the dark nature of the assassin, he then picks up the book the man was carrying and walks off. The scene then quickly cuts to black.
Then the sequence quickly jumps the paper which was shown earlier during the credits. This time a number of red lines quickly move, link and travel through each other until eventually the camera pans on one of the red lines as it moves across the screen thus revealing the title “Lucky Number Slevin”, Slevin is written in notable red writing whilst “Lucky Number” is written in plain black writing, this highlights that Slevin has an eerie of danger around him, his letters are all in italics and are in disoriented capitals which reflects confusion and danger at the same time. It also corresponds the theme of identity as audiences will be asking who/what is Slevin and why is it written in this style as opposed to the other two words in the title which overall intrigues them towards the film. The scene then fades to black and continues to cover more credits surrounding the film for a number of seconds.
At 1:50 there is a shot of some unidentified people walking through a door into a man’s office. The room is full of wooden texture which corresponds to the wooden and beige imagery of the floorboards in the earlier car park scene. As the men walk in there can be seen multiple stars of David thus indicating Jewish overtones and also indicates that is very likely this scene is set in a synagogue which means there are religious overtones throughout this film. Using religion is a key element in a lot of crime drama’s, more specifically gangster films like The Godfather, most notably The Godfather Part 3 as in this film a mafia boss can be seen numerously visiting the Catholic church and at one point visiting the Vatican City to meet a priest. The scene then ends very quickly after this as it leads into the flashback soon after. Gender is a representation that isn’t explored in great detail here however it can be shown through the fact that at 1:59 once the people enter the room it is notable that they are all men wearing suits indicating that men are the dominant force and women are not involved in any such way around crime.
Here is a still taken from the opening titles when the red lines cross each other. As you can see the image is very dark and creates a very sinister tone towards the audience.
Here is a still taken from the shot in which the phone is shown in the middle between two beds. As you can see the image bold's a vast amount of beige colours which creates a very bland but equally intriguing aspect towards the audience. As referred to in the blog I stated how the wallpaper boasts a vast amount of circular shapes whilst the bed sheets are have more 'wavy' imagery. This mismatch imagery creates a disorienting atmosphere towards the audience and creates a sense of bewilderment and confusion.
Here is shot taken during the elevator scene. As you can see the whole room is very dark thus creates a dark atmosphere. As the camera moves along with the elevator going down it creates a sense that a predatory figure is lurking over someone.
Here is shot taken inside the industrial car park (I referred to this frequently throughout the blog)
