Film analysis - Sin City

The first shot that the film opens with is an establishing shot of a city. Although the film is in black and white, it is distinctive that it is set in the night as the lights of rooms in buildings appear to be on through this opening scene. Connotations that this is a busy urban city are suggested through diegetic sound as cars aggressively sound their horns and police sirens are heard. The first character known as ‘The Customer’ is introduced as she sways into shot while several slow and seductive blows of a saxophone in the soundtrack emphasize her status as what appears to be as a sex symbol. Her vibrant red dress and lipstick appear to be the only color on screen, connoting ideas of love, power and passion while further emphasizing her sexual status.

The first bit of dialogue is introduced which beings to narrate and pick up on subtle emotions and body language which the viewer may have missed. ‘She shivers in the wind, like the last leaf on a dying tree’ is the first bit of narrative and is contrasting to the first impression the audience would have received regarding The Customer being a powerful sex symbol. This portrays a fragile side to the character and references to loneliness and death connotes unhappiness. The shallow depth of field in the next shot adds a moment of enigma as we see the figure of another character slowly walking towards the camera and creating a two shot as the audience is introduced to the character known as ‘The Man’ who we later discover is also the narrator. A series of shot reverse shot’s are used to display the unusually relaxed interaction between these two characters and to establish their relationship as people who have just met. The instrumental soundtrack is far in the background yet it subtly creates an atmosphere firstly through the same seductive saxophone in sync when The Man’s dialogue turns lustful. Sounds of elegant piano can then be heard in harmony with the saxophone turning the mood from one suggesting sexual motivations to an atmosphere reflecting classic Hollywood film noir when the conversation turns more deep and meaningful. This idea is further reinforced with the black and white style of the film itself and in the two shot showing the two characters dressed in formal eveningwear. Additionally, it can be argued that the soundtrack is like a rhythm for words creating the idea that the narrations are poetic.

As the entire film is in black and white, the director plays about with the use of color in order to emphasize and draw any focal points of certain motifs in editing. This is displayed again in the scene when The Man talks about The Customer’s eyes whilst lighting her cigarette in a close-up and her eyes flash a vibrant green. The Customer turns away and it is then cut to two shot in which The Man appears to reach for his jacket pocket but suddenly stops when asked a deep and personal question to which he hesitates to continue and drops his hand, further engaging the audience. The Man’s character is established slightly in a subtle way when he stops what he is doing, as later on we discover he may have had intention to kill her that that precise moment, and answers very meaningfully. The shot slowly zooms into a close-up in which the audience can see the frightened and sorrowful expressions on The Customer’s face when he talks about her being sick of running and not wanting to face ‘it’ alone connoting possible themes of crime and action as well as adding to enigma.

The next part of the opening shots a scene created in editing with special effects as everything appears in silhouette form, including the two characters in a long shot. This shows The Customer and The Man embrace, another unexpected event, but more importantly the audience can see that she is falling into his arms which could connote her character as easily wooed and displays fragility as he is holding her. The next shot focus’s on The Man as he narrates his final thoughts whilst The Customer is still being held in his arms. The Piano soundtrack stops to play after a sinister-like sounding note is played. The diegetic sound of rain falling is heard adding gloominess to the atmosphere before, adding a colossal twist, he shoots The Customer. A second after this, the sound of thunder is heard once again adding gloom. The Man’s character is revealed further here, as his narrative remains gentle and poetic after he commits murder, ‘The silencer makes it whisper with a gunshot’. His tender gentleman-like qualities are displayed as a high angle shows him laying The Customer down and cradles her in his arms as she dies. By this point, the audience would be fully engaged as there are many unanswered questions left. The two characters and their meeting was unusual and mysterious as not much information was given away but the final twist is thrown before the opening titles when The Man casually says ‘Ill cash her check in the morning’ causing even more confusion and enigma more the audience.

The final shot, a high angle, is zoomed out of rapidly and the camera seemingly circles around the city as the soundtrack being to play the theme song consisting of sleazy sounding saxophone music, bass guitar and offbeat noises of broken instruments which continues playing through the opening credits. The effect of zooming out and the music playing connotes how this is just one insignificant thing that’s happened tonight in this sleazy city and there is more going on. Here the themes of sex, violence and crime appear apparent as the film title can be cleverly seen made out of lit up buildings of the city before turning blood red, again, reinforcing the themes.