The scene starts off with a crowed watching the news. The crowd itself is static and still, with a single character moving right at the centre of the shot. This gives us an idea that this man is the protagonist, and the people around are merely part of the background, or props. The seriousness of the situation is made clear through the news, as we get to listen to the current events of that world. However, the protagonist does not pay much attention to the news, and instead orders a cup of coffee. This imediately lifts him to another level in the hierarchy of importance as a character in the film, as he is doing something very different to the people around him.
As we have already established the negative mood the opening has, we can make metaphor out of the ordered coffee. The coffee is black, which is bitter. This can be interpreted as that the protagonist is holding the emotion of bitterness. This is furthered, as later on as he leaves the shop, he adds alcohol to his coffee. This can be interpreted as him trying to forget a pain, as alcohol is often associated as something to heal wounds with, when in fact it just makes them more painful.
The negative and dreary atmosphere is also established through the setting. The setting is very dirty, dark, dreary, and smokey. The location is apparently London, as shown in the opening. London is a generally clean city, which is efficiently organised. The London we are presented with is the dead opposite of this, and instead shows what we can call a dystopian version of London.
The diegetic sounds give us a few insights of the dreariness - the youngest man (18 years old) was murdered, the 1000 day war in Seattle, amongst others.
Enigmas include:
- Why is the youngest person 18 years old?
- Why is there a war in Seattle? Why would Seattle have any reason to have conflict?
- Who is the man in the crowd?
- Why is there violence?
- Who caused the explosion?
- Why does the protagonist not care? What is he hiding? What is his pain?
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