MovieChat Forums > Werckmeister harmóniák (2001) Discussion > Best movie openings

Best movie openings

posted 14 years ago by rooprect
15 replies | jump to latest

What's your list?

1. Werckmeister
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcDVjCNTVP8

2. The Delicate Delinquent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnbMKvHPCNg

3. Denti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gv7EliJGBo

4. Catch-22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB5KlYa3MxE

5. Hitchcock's Rope

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] el-9984 12 years ago

1. Werckmeister

2. Andrei Rublyov

3. 8 1/2

4. La Dolce Vita

5. Satantango

6. The Player

[–] jimpemmas 12 years ago

Very good choices. I would add Once upon a time in the West also.

My Vote History: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=5479050

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

A bunch of yokels drunkenly staggering about each other... not exactly amazing unless you´re into community theater type of thing.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] rooprect 12 years ago

A bunch of yokels drunkenly staggering about each other

That's the point. Not all great movie openings have to be some grand display of cosmic significance set to the sounds of "Also Sprach Zarathustratra" (although I did like that opening too). Here I like the fact that Tarr took a group of completely completely awkward, clumsy, squalid, smelly drunks and used them to create an allegory about existence and our place in it.

The beauty is in the way Janos seems oblivious to the catastrophe and sinks into his own imaginative world, conducting the spectacle as if it's a grand symphony. The irony (and foreshadowing) is absolutely perfect.

Along the same lines is the opening of Catch-22 which begins with a majestic sunrise brutally punctuated by the ugly cacophany of life & the sounds of airplane engines coughing & wheezing into action. That one's a little more blatant but effective just the same.

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

Well it does score some points for originality; guess it just didn´t get me all giddy with joy as seems to be the case with a few others here. Also, like many other scenes, it sort of wore out its welcome a bit (with Tarr, this long shot thing seems to be more like a systematic fetish. Doesn´t always work).

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] deanowest 12 years ago

Possible spoilers:

I was giddy with joy when I saw the opening. there was such a sincerity as those men moved about circumscribing the solar system. It was true unabashed man dancing that only exist when men are comfortable with each other. This only makes the riot scenes that more frustrating. One man can incite horrible violence and another can create beauty in men.

Dictated, but not read.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] davidajgp 12 years ago

I agree, it's a great opening in The Turin Horse

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

"Of course you will get the likes of franzkabuki who will point out it´s just a horse walking down a road".

You will? Anyways, that´s not what I said about Werckmeister´s opening. Still is a community theater type of thing, though.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] gnalkhouri 11 years ago

1. Werckmeister

2. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

3. Satantango

4. Grave of the Fireflies

5. Snatch

[–] locustreign-1 11 years ago

the 3:30min opening trackin shot from touch of evil. orson welles :>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg8MqjoFvy4

the noir movie which ended all noir movies.

[–] rooprect 11 years ago

by - locustreign-1 on Thu May 9 2013 17:26:38
the 3:30min opening trackin shot from touch of evil. orson welles :>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg8MqjoFvy4

the noir movie which ended all noir movies.

Freakin amazing. I think we have a winner

[–] johnnysmac 8 years ago

The Turin Horse, The Fall, Antichrist, Manhattan, Werckmeister Harmonies, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, The Sacrifice, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Trainspotting, Inglorious Basterds, and There Will Be Blood have the greatest opening scenes in my opinion.

I'm going to find it and I'm going to destroy it. I don't know how yet. Possibly with dynamite.