Genre and Opening Sequence

For this assignment, I have chosen to analyse the opening sequence of Zack Snyder's 'Sucker Punch (2011)'.

'Sucker Punch' begins on a 1960's stage (later seen in the movie) which then transforms into the female protagonist's bedroom. This introduction shows and summarizes the events of her mother's death and how the family are affected in different ways. For example, the stepfather is rather glad at the thought of his wife's death as he believes that he will be receiving inherited possessions from her final will and testament. The daughters however do not share the same enthusiasm towards their beloved mother's passing. This sequence focuses around the struggle of the children under the pressure of living with their abusive stepfather. When the stepfather discovers that all inheritance was left towards the two girls, in a drunken rage, he attempts to abuse them in a physical manner. All this commotion leads to the female protagonist accidentally killing her sister and therefore being admitted to a mental institution for these actions.

I decided to analyse this particular opening sequence as it offers a fairly wide overview in such little time of the events before "Babydoll" is admitted to the asylum. This sequence also contains a little bit of action and suspense whilst the sisters are battling to keep themselves from harm and possible death at the hands of their estranged stepfather.

Setting

The movie is set in 1960's America and most of the movie will no doubt take place in the mental institution for girls. However, the opening sequence of the movie takes place in many different locations- a stage, two bedrooms, an office, a graveyard and finally, the mental asylum. Most of these scenes take place during the nighttime although the graveyard and mental asylum scenes are lit with a very bleak and cloudy type of weather- possibly to portray the negativity of the subject manner at hand?

Themes

The opening seems to highlight many different themes which may be reintroduced later throughout the rest of the movie. Some of these these would be abuse, violence, mental instability and death. Violence can be shown by the physical squabbles between the sisters and their stepfather and death is touched upon lightly by the passing of the girls' beloved mother.

Icons

Not many objects stand prominent in the opening sequence although the alcoholic beverage and the gun play a rather important role in the introduction of the movie. If it wasn't for either of those items the later events may have never taken place. Of course, I am referring to the death of Babydoll's sister and her admittance into Lennox House.

Narrative

The narrative of the story is told by Abbie Cornish's character, Sweet Pea, in the role of a narrator. She tells us about angels and how they appear in the strangest places- possibly referring to Babydoll and her future actions.

Characters

The only important characters shown in the opening sequence's scenes are Babydoll, her sister and their stepfather. Babydoll is quite clearly a normal late teen/early twenties female with a sense of adoration towards her mother- shown by her reaction to being told of her passing. Babydoll does not show any signs whatsoever of insanity or mental instability and this, I believe, is a very important point of the opening. Babydoll's retaliation to her stepfather's abuse worked in his favor and by attempting to save her sister, she in turn killed her instead of her stepfather. Babydoll's sister was also a normal early teenage girl and was quite clearly not too capable of looking after herself. The stepfather is obviously a shallow vessel of a human being and it is shown that he resorts to violence and alcohol as a method of controlling his rage. The stepfather plays a very significant role in the first few scenes of the movie as he is the character who chooses to admit Babydoll into the Lennox House in Vermont. However, it is highly likely that Babydoll would have been introduced to the asylum anyway as she did kill her sister, regardless of the fact that it had nothing to do with the level of mental stability present within her.

Textual Analysis

As striking as the scenes look, the camerawork is fairly simple in the way it is operated. However, there are some lovely camera angles present which could have been used to summarise the importance of the subject manner and the scene. For example, the birds-eye view angle at the burial of the mother could symbolise the death of all hope for both sisters. The background music of the opening sequence features a cover of Eurythmics' 'Sweet Dreams' (performed by Emily Browning, the actress who plays Babydoll). The track begins with a soft, haunting melancholy which gradually progresses into a thundering crescendo of static sound which fits perfectly with the scenes taking place.