″Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” is the memorable last line in Casablanca. “Well, nobody’s perfect,” is the perfect final gag in Some Like It Hot. “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown,” is the sign-off to, yes, Chinatown.
There are many justifiably famous last lines of movies. But what about first lines … the dialogue that ushers us into what we hope will be an indelible cinematic experience? The lines that establish characters and start to draw us deeply into stories?
Some movies start epically.
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Just before the famous orchestral theme of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), there are some ominous lines in Elvish then in English. “The world is changed,” someone we soon learn is Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) says. “I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost. For none now live who remember it.”
So much is suggested: the huge scale of the story, the gravity of the events about to unfold, the exotic fantasy world where elves speak their own language. It’s a fitting opening to one of cinema’s greatest trilogies.
The Godfather (1972) also starts memorably. “I believe in America. America has made my fortune,” Bonasera (Salvatore Corsitto) tells Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) as he asks for a favour. We are drawn into a masterful scene that shows the Godfather’s power, influence and moral code.
Some films throw you right into the action.
As Lust For Life blasts on the soundtrack, Trainspotting (1996) opens with a chase through a city as Renton (Ewan McGregor) recites a list: “Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career” followed by more consumerist options. Then Renton declares that he wanted none of them: “I chose heroin.” A character, a cinematic style, a theme and the film’s subject are wittily summed up in less than two high-energy minutes.
Ewan McGregor as Renton in Trainspotting.
One of the cleverest not-quite-but-almost first lines is in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).
As a series of characters wake up in London, foppish Charles (Hugh Grant) realises he is late. “Oh f—,” he says. “F—,” he repeats a few more times then a “bugger” as an alternative. The comic tone is set, a likeable main character is introduced and all that needs to happen, given it’s a romantic comedy, is for him to meet the unlikely, polar opposite love of his life.
Sometimes the significance of first lines is not revealed until the climax of the story.
The Power of the Dog (2021), which should have won best picture at the Oscars, starts with an unseen young male speaking over pensive music. “When my father passed, I wanted nothing more than my mother’s happiness,” he says. “For what kind of man would I be if I did not help my mother? If I did not save her?” These words are immediately forgotten as the story moves into Montana, 1925, and we meet abrasive ranch owner Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his more civilised brother George (Jesse Plemons).
Quentin Tarantino is always his own man when it comes to storytelling.
He opens Pulp Fiction (1994) with a dictionary definition of “pulp” followed by a scene featuring scruffy Pumpkin (Tim Roth) talking about robberies with the seemingly more sensible Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer) in a booth at a diner. “Forget it, it’s too risky. I’m through doing that shit,” he says. “You always say that, the same thing every time,” she replies. Within five talky minutes, they are robbing the diner and we know it will be dangerous. Surf guitar music kicks in, opening credits roll and the story is away.
The Social Network (2010) has a deliciously witty opening scene, which also takes place over a dining table.
Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network.
“Did you know there are more people with genius IQs living in China than there are people of any kind living in the United States,” says a too-chatty, too-smug Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg). His date, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara), replies, “That can’t possibly be true”. Yet Zuckerberg will explain exactly why he is correct about that and everything else in such detail in Aaron Sorkin’s rapid-fire dialogue that we thoroughly enjoy her dumping him five minutes later. We know all we need to know about the man who’ll invent Facebook.
Sometimes a director will hold our attention with images before a single word is spoken.
At the opening of Forrest Gump (1994), a feather drifts to earth through a suburban scene in the 1980s and lands at the feet of a curious-looking man on a park bench. He looks at the feather with wonder, opens a suitcase that reveals he has an ordered, childlike life and carefully places it inside a book. When a bus (revealing the year) passes and a woman sits next to the man-child, he speaks the film’s first words after more than three minutes.
“Hello,” he says to her. “My name’s Forrest, Forrest Gump. Do you want a chocolate?” It’s a line that shows his simplicity, friendliness and generosity. His accent tells us he is from the American South, so it’s meaningful that he’s white and she’s black. We are immediately drawn into a film that places Forrest at the centre of social change in his country.
Sometimes opening lines can have the opposite effect than is intended.
Loading
Seeing superheroes battle in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) should have been a treat for comic book fans. But it sparked overwhelmingly negative reviews that included phrases like “painful to watch” and “incoherent mess”. The first words were a sombre voiceover by Batman (Ben Affleck) during a funeral. “There was a time above, a time before,” he droned. “There were perfect things, diamond absolutes. Things fall, things on earth. And what falls is fallen.” In the audience, excitement was already dimming.
So first words matter. Otherwise things can fall in a movie. And what falls is, sadly, fallen.
Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.
