‘A single frame is rarely more important than all of the others in a film, but the first and last can leave one hell of an impression.’

In this article by Robert Hardy, he takes a look at a new juxtapositional supercut from Jacob T. Swinney which shows the first and last few seconds of 55 contemporary films. The 2 shots shown next to each demonstrates how filmmakers use the beginning and end shots to communicate narrative, themes and motif to audiences. Since I have only seen a handful of the 55 movies, I thought it would be a good idea to create my  own supercut of some of my favourite films showing the first and final shots and  interpreting their connections.

In my short clip I chose 7 films; some the connection between the first and last clip is clear whilst others you have to flesh out their meaning.

1. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

The first film is the 1971 (not the dreadful 2005 version) ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory‘ by Mel Stuart. This has always been one of my favourite childhood films being adapted from one of Roald Dahl’s novels, the colours, the characters and the music are all just magical. The first clip is children running out of school, whilst the last is the great glass elevator taking flight. I think the connection between the two is mainly theme based, being a child’s film and the fantasy of school children. I suppose the intial credit openings with the chocolate being made might be able to count as the official opening and be a foreshadowing of Charlie’s future.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

A complete opposite film to the one above but published in the same year is Stanley Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange‘. This film is also an adaption of a novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess which I am actually currently reading. The film’s opening and closing shots both show the protagonist Alex before and after his arrest and psychological conditioning and attempted suicide. The first shot we can see Alex’s sinister gaze as he oozes confident. In the last shot we see Alex in a neck brace, physically injured but still has the same sinister looking gaze. The relation between these two I believe is that ultimately he remains the same ‘evil’ person despite his treatment.

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Darren Aronofsky’s 2000 film ‘Requiem for a Dream’ is the film that shows the best connection between the opening and close shot in my opinion. In the first shot we see the game show infomercial that Sara Goldfarb constantly watches and ultimately auditions for. In the closing shot we see Sara finally on the gameshow in her red dress and hugging her son, however in reality this is all her imagination, as she has completed lost her mind. This emphasises the depressing and hopeless theme of the film as Sara in reality never got accepted on the show and emphasises Sara’s insanity due to her eating disorder.

Rushmore (1998)

Rushmore is one of Wes Anderson first film in which we can see him develop his unique aesthetic. The opening and closing shot are connected through the use of the curtain which symbolises the ‘play within a play’ theme.

American Pyscho (2000)

American Pyscho directed by Mary Harron is a film based on the novel of the same name. The opening sequence shows shots of a high class restaurant and its perfectly presented food. The last shot is a zoom in of Patrick Bateman look intesensly at the camera. I believe the correlation between these two aims to be a comment on how Patrick Bateman’s psychotic nature is acknowledged to due to the brainwashed and ‘perfect’ society that he is surrounded in.

God Help the Girl (2014)

God Help the Girl is a British musical drama film by Stuart Murdoch of the band Belle and Sebastian. In the opening shot we see a sad Eve lying in her bed at the psychiatric ward suffering from Anorexia Nervosa. In the last shot we see her with blonde hair on a train, showing her full recovery from the disease and in new pursuit for her music career as she travels to London. In the shot we see her smiling and happy versus the first shot where she is looking glum and depressing her bed.

Donnie Darko (2001)

Richard Kelly’s film Donnie Darko opens with the protagonist Donnie Darko lying in the middle of the road during one of his sleep walks led by the figure Frank. In the last frame we see Donnie’s mother and Donnie’s love interest waving at each other uncertainly. It’s quite hard to explain the connection between to the frames as the film is rather complicated. However, there is a clear link as its almost as if the first frame is foreshadowing Donnie’s death in the last frame.