'The Red Violin' Opening Sequence

The Red Violin - 1998 - Francois Girard

(Video is of whole movie, we analysed the first 6 minutes)

Mise en Scene

• Close up shot, dirty, dark, confusing, only colour is the red blood 
• Police stations, telephones 
• Close ups, shadows 
• Shaking camera 
• Dull colours, switch from busy to quiet scenes 
• Dramatic, bustling, hectic, busy 
• Begins with an enigma 
• Begins with a sense of drama, sadness, action
• Unexplained
• Uncomfortable feeling
• Funeral, sad feel, melancholy
• Scenes are cramp views, awkward close-ups, uncomfortable following, mysterious darkness 

Narrative

• Introduced characters and settings, police and police stations 
• Implies that the main theme of the film is crime
• Story told slightly out of order, funeral scene and hospital scenes, film grammar suggests the two scenes are linked