Analysing an Opening Sequence - Touch of Evil

Analysing an Opening Sequence

Touch of Evil (Welles, 1958)

Touch of evil is most certainly situated within the film noir thriller genre, containing many of the conventions needed, it is a fantastic advertisement for this style of film. Shot in black and white with the wonderful use of shadows, high angle shots, and unbelievable low key lighting schemes, has enabled this film to be seen as one of the last examples of film noir thriller in the genre’s classic era, from the early 1940’s, to the late 1950’s. The opening sequence is set on the Mexico/US border, the home of the deceit and violence that is about to take place within these opening three and a half minutes. The film’s introduction contains one of the most famous crane shots of all time capturing incredible and perfect images that can in a way only be described as art. The main character that is tracked within this opening sequence is beautifully presented as a stereotypical film noir lead character, he is immediately liked, as he is shown as a caring, smart man, dressed in a suit, with his arm around his wife walking her down the gritty streets of Mexico, occasionally stopping to kiss her. The opening scene consists of a man placing a bomb in a car, and then that car’s journey towards the US border, following alongside the newlyweds Mike and Suzie Vargas. The Scene ends with the couple kissing and then the car exploding within the US. This film noir thriller is truly one of the classics of it’s time, beyond the technical perfection the tension is incredible and it all explodes off screen this justly makes the film a model opening sequence.

The colour scheme used is very dark, there are barely any light colours within the introductory three and half minutes, this puts the viewer into the perfect state of mind to begin watching this typical film noir thriller. Set on the musky streets of Mexico, it brings alive action sequences and its mood setting Jazz music lightly played in the background also makes the opening sequence as effective as it is. No credits are used within the introduction, and this forces the viewer to pay even more attention to the events unfolding before their eyes. The only shot within the opening that isn’t made with a crane is the one at the very end of the car exploding, this enables the viewer to appreciate Orson Welles’ spectacular camera techniques, if he was given full control of the making of ‘Touch of Evil’ it could well have been one of his greatest creations. As shown in other film noir movies, tension is built by the lead character’s face not actually being shown until way past the one minute mark, played by Charlton Heston this moment is when the viewer begins to pay attention to the car as it pulls up alongside him and his wife with a bomb in the trunk. You then see the car pull up and the American citizens inside talk to an official with the newlyweds walking on in the background, the woman in the car then hints that she can ‘hear a ticking noise in her head’, and it is almost comical in the sense that she is laughed at by the official and told to drive on when in reality she is the talking sense. The viewers are then put in a privileged position by where we receive a close up of Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh kissing then looking up in astonishment as there is a cut to the car exploding, this is where the opening scene ends, with tension at its peek and the viewers asking questions about what will come next, it is almost as if the objectives of directing and writing have been achieved perfectly by Orson Welles.

The film begins with a man holding a bomb, the timer is set, then he sneaks up to a car and places it in the trunk, incredible shadow techniques are used for this sequence, and this thirty second piece where no man’s face is seen sets the entire film up with extreme pace. The crane camera technique really does begin the film at an enormously high standard, and gives the rest of the movie a lot to live up to.

Touch of Evil is rated PG and apart from the explosion at the end it is most probably viewable for all ages, with its artistically shot sequences and comedic edge within the opening sequence, but this may not interest younger children as it contains slight influences of violence and deep performances, so the film’s target audience could be seen as from the teenage generation upwards as it needs more mature viewers to appreciate the work that has gone into it and it’s astounding storyline. This style of film attracts a certain audience, it is not for everyone as it conveys a specified meaning in the way that it has been filmed and written. The preferred reading of Touch of evil, is that crime really does pay, it is difficult to actually attach a reading to this film as there is very little dialogue but it would seem as if the oppositional view of the film is that the woman is ignored, ‘they disregard women’ and then finally the negotiated view, this would have be seen as ‘yes, crime really does pay, but it shouldn’t be presented in a film in that particular way’. As a British male teenager, born exactly 50 years after this film was created, it seems to be almost cheesy in the sense that he is so in love with his wife, but this was not its intention back in the late 50’s. In this day and age a teenager’s uncensored mind would see the car blowing up as almost insignificant compared to modern action films in which large cities are destroyed. What is most appealing about Touch of Evil in my point of view is the way it is beautifully shot, three and a half minutes of a crane shot is simply impressive, with its spectacular low key lighting schemes, it sets the movie up almost perfectly.

Charlton Heston, the lead character in Touch of Evil, had starred in many films before this, such as ‘The Ten Commandments’ and ‘Three Violent People’ he was an idol, and this only attracted more and more viewers, but Touch of Evil, directed, written and co-starred by Orson Welles was one of his most memorable performances that 10 years later earned him a chance to act in ‘Planet of the Apes’ a global phenomenon. Janet Leigh had also an equally impressive list of films before she was cast for Touch of Evil, starring in such classics as Houdini, after her spectacular performance in Touch of Evil, she lead on to acting in such famous horrors as Psycho, for which she received a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award. Orson Welles also co-starred in the film, as well as writing and directing it, before Touch of Evil he wrote such timeless stories as War of the Worlds and in 1941, he co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in Citizen Kane, often chosen in polls of film critics as the greatest film ever made. This glorious cast that had been put together almost guaranteed the film success.

Touch of Evil was produced by Albert Zugsmith and Rick Schmidlin and was distributed by the world famous Universal Studios, the film added to a long list of successes that Orson Welles had achieved as at that point in time it was considered justly as one of the greatest film noir thrillers of all time. The posters and advertisements of the film were representative of the 1950’s, Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh kissing with Orson Welles standing in the background, a colourful scheme is used to attract attention which is unusual for film noir. (normally dull and shaded colours are the conventions) The characters names are listed to also add emphasis. This is the most popular poster of the film, showing all three of the main and famous actors in the cartoon style. Since 1958 the film has remained a classic and in 1993, Touch of Evil was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film was placed number 64 on American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Thrills.