MovieChat Forums > Eighteen (2005) Discussion > The first scene...

The first scene...

posted 17 years ago by Jey047
3 replies | jump to latest

Here's a recommendation, which I think makes the movie much better and much more emotional when you get to the climax at the end of the movie.

Skip the first scene.

The first time I saw this movie I missed the first scene, which after seeing the entire movie, I think gives away the emotional climax of the story. Skipping the first scene makes Pip's secret and an actual secret, so that you're at the same place as everyone else Pip interacts with, and just as shocked by the revelation of the secret.

I love this move, but this makes the movie much more powerful. When I saw the movie again from the start, it was immediately obvious that the first scene gives away Pip's entire story. It gives you the climax before you have a chance to build an attachment to the character and makes you prejudge him.

So if you haven't seen the movie yet, but are planning to, skip the first scene. You can always come back to it later, although really, the almost exact same scene shows up again during the climax, so your not really missing anything.

[–] gayspiritwarrior 14 years ago

The first scene doesn't give everything away. We see the events but hear no words, so we may have an idea what's going on, but we don't know. We also don't know who any of the characters are or how to feel about them. By the time he tells his story we've grown to know Pip and to empathize with him. Without the hints at the beginning, this scene would be all about our shock at the events instead of being about his emotional catharsis. It works better just the way it is.

"The value of an idea has nothing to do with the honesty of the man expressing it."--Oscar Wilde

[–] chilipam2002 13 years ago

I agree with gayspiritwarrior. If you watch the movie from the start, you wouldn't understand the first scene. You wouldn't even think that the father is ordering his son to give him a head. It will only be clear once the same scene is shown in the screen with all the sounds in it. If someone watched this movie without seeing the first scene first, then seeing this scene after finishing the movie won't matter anymore because you already knew what exactly it is. I recommend to those who haven't seen this movie but planning to do so to start the movie from the beginning.

[–] duked 12 years ago

Nice spoiler there!