'Girl, Interrupted' Opening Scene

The first two minutes of this clip show the opening to this film.

The opening two titles are written in a scrawly handwriting in a bright white against a fully black background. The colours could represent the starkness of the environment the film is set in, and also perhaps the way mentally ill patients are often said to see things only in black and white, rather than grey also; it is one way or the other. The chosen type is quite messy which could signify that it has been written in a hurry or that this film is a spontaneous account of someone's life rather than an intricately thought out and edited script. The film is, incidentally, an account of Susanna Kaysen's 18 month stay at a mental hospital in the 1960's.

The film begins with quiet and hard to hear sounds, which build to a held, shrill, violin note as a window appears into the shot. The weather outside, although seeming bleak, is very much brighter than what it is like inside of the room - similar to a heaven and hell conflict.

However, the music then transfers to a soft guitar melody as the film title shows. The use of this change in music could be representing the misleading stereotype of mentally ill people and that inside their head, although it could seem to the rest of us to be a single shrill note of madness and horror, does in fact make sense and fits together in harmony to the patient as it does in a melody.

The setting is unclear as the shots being used are mid-shot and close up. Also, the camera is generally tracking downwards. Due to the camera heading down the viewer may feel like he is being brought into this hellish world and farther away from the reality at the window. Also, by using shots which do not reveal much of the background, it creates mystery and curiousity.

As the camera does track down, we see two characters in close-up shots. Both of which have very pale skin which is accentuated by dark circles around their eyes and in one case, contrasted against dark hair, and in the other matched against pale blonde. This portrays the unhealthiness of these characters which creates mystery and a questioning of what is wrong with them.

The first diagetic sound that we hear is of a girl crying, which introduces one of the films' themes of sadness. It also suggests that it is a prominent emotion held throughout the film.

The shot shows a black cat sitting on the windowsill. Black cats can be considered to be either good luck or bad luck, depending on the circumstance. This could suggest that the fortune of the characters is unclear and is either good or bad, but never in between.

At the end of the two minute clip, the protagonist says "girl...interrupted", as she says this, she is literally interrupted by being pushed back into the next scene. It could also be a reference to her mind or thought path being interrupted or an interruption of reality and her own world.

The mundane colours used throughout this time contrast against the bright and harsh colours of when we are brought to the hospital - the dominant setting. Our eyes have become accustomed to the darkness of the film and so the brightness is a surprise and puts stress on our eyes; perhaps a suggestion that it is not difficult to get caught up and enveloped by this 'other world' of mental illness, and that recovering is a harsh and stressful experience. It could also be mirroring the mundane colours with the mundane lifestyle and how it can be a dark and gloomy time. Blacks and greys are colours associated with sin and death which could be foreshadowing future events.

This darkness is contrasted by sharp light at the end of a corridor. Perhaps linking to 'the light at the end of the tunnel'. However, the light is blocked by thick black bars and a lock, which is unlocked by what seems to be security behind the bars. This could be a suggestion that the protagonist is being deliberately blocked from reaching happiness.