Sin City Opening Scene Analysis

Sin City is another noir film that shows key aspects of the noir genre while also reinforcing the importance of confusion in the genre. In the opening, we see a man walk up to a woman on a balcony. They talk for a bit and then the man shoots the woman. Again, (I’m thinking I’m starting to sound like a broken record here) this makes the audience confused and makes them invested in the film because people don’t like to be confused. The audience is asking questions like: Who is that man? Who is that woman? Why did the man kill that woman?

However, the element of confusion isn’t the only Noteworthy Noir Note™ in the opening scene – the use of inner monologue is the other Noteworthy Noir Note™. The man thinks to himself before and after he kills the woman and we, the audience, can hear is thoughts; almost as he’s thinking to us (if this doesn’t make sense, it’s the only way I can explain how that he thinks so I’m sorry). The use of an inner monologue is common place in older noir movies and can still be found in “neo-noir” movies such as Taxi Driver (in Taxi Driver, we hear Travis – the main character – think out what he is writing in his diary.

Inner monologue not only tells the audience what the protagonist is thinking but also provides exposition, character traits, and can show character development/growth. If done correctly, what is seemingly “inner monologue” can be how characters communicate in the right setting (say a simulation eh). What I’m getting at is, in the right scenario, the inner monologue Noteworthy Noir Note™ can be much more.

The use of (mostly) black and white with high saturation is mainly a stylistic choice in Sin City to make it appear more like the comics, however it still should be mentioned as a Noteworthy Noir Note™ because earlier noir films had such a style to add to the grittiness of film.