Narrative theory

Deja Vu Opening Sequence (< Click here!)

(only the first 8 minutes)

The film opening i chose to analyse is Deja Vu (Scott, 2006) starring Denzel Washington. It's a crime thriller, but also includes elements of science-fiction, as time travel plays a large role in the film. The story is set in New Orleans, over the course of one day in the life of Agent Doug Carlin, played by Denzel Washington.

In the first 8 minutes of the film, we see Mardi Gras celebrations taking place in New Orleans, and a large ship full of sailors and their families being taken to a celebration. We also see someone working on the boat, who investigates a car which had had it's radio left on while stationary on the ship. It turns out the car has a bomb inside, which explodes, completely destroying the entire boat and seemingly killing everyone inside. Choas ensues, and we see an official looking car pull up to the scene, and Denzel Washington steps out, beginning to survey the situation.

The events do link together in this opening sequence. It is all surrounding this large boat full of sailors which then explodes. The film then continues to straight afterwards, introducing Denzel Washington to the audience.

The film reveals immediately that he is an officer of the law (of some kind), as he pulls up in a squad car when we first see him. He is also wearing a uniform. He is given an emphasized introduction, which lets the audience know he will probably be the hero of this movie. He doesn't have a single line of dialogue and yet the film establishes a lot about the character very quickly.

In terms of story, the film keeps things very ambiguous. In the opening scene, there is no explanation of any kind as to what has really happened to make this boat explode, who is responsible, or any kind of plot the film will involve. After finding out later on that the film involves time travel, i can certainly say there was no implication of this direction being followed in the opening sequence to the film.

The audience needs to know nothing after watching the opening sequence of Deja Vu. It is deliberately vague, leaving lots unanswered for the audience to find out. Overall, i really like this sequence. It is really intruiging, and leaves the audience (myself included) begging for more, and to find out what is really going on.