The Importance of Being Titled*

I am a big fan of title sequences, in which the credits have their own little "short film" to name the top billed contributors of the project, while using visually engaging images to draw in the audience. Although it has virtually nothing to do with the plot itself, the design of the opening credits are incredibly important as they are the first opportunity a film has to capture attention. When a film chooses to make a title sequence, it's meant to summarize the mood of the film before things get rolling. With a carefully selected soundtrack, whether it be music, ambiance, foley or actual plot driven dialogue, the opening credits set the standard for the rest of the film. One of the most obvious examples of a title sequence are the James Bond films, which have a signature song and abstract imagery with silhouettes of naked women (except for Casino Royale). TV shows have more of a tendency to create well designed title sequences, as it's the trademark and cue of the show every week.

Some films start the plot and lay credits over the opening scenes, which in my opinion ignores the potential for a great and fairly unrestricted piece of art and design. On the other hand some filmmakers opt out of opening credits altogether, such as Christopher Nolan's films, which allow the audience to delve right into the plot itself without thinking about credits until the end of the film. If a film chooses to have opening credits at all and acknowledges their importance, they can only help to serve the film itself by creating a distinct and gripping ambience.

What inspired me to talk about title sequences was when I sat down last night and watched the Polish film Katyń (2007) by director Andrzej Wajda of the Polish Film School, none of which I knew anything about beforehand. I'd only skimmed the back of the case when I chose to rent it. I've been watching a bunch of foreign films lately and assumed it would be simple, quiet, shot on digital as opposed to film, with a decent story. However when the title sequence opened the movie, I was surprised. It was going to be an amazing film that I'd somehow missed. It's a simple title sequence, but clearly thought out and with a fantastic piece of music composed by Krzysztof Penderecki to set the unsettling, melancholy mood of the film (another of his songs shared in both Katyń and Scorcese's Shutter Island is the ominous Symphony No. 3). If you haven't seen Katyń, watch it.

Here's a collection of films which I think have title sequences with good hooks. I know I'm forgetting some good ones, but my all time favourites are The Fall, Watchmen and although it's not a film, the opening to HBO's Dexter is the best. Name off some awesome ones I missed!

*Special high five points for anyone who can guess what the background image of my title card is from



Before & After: Triumph Des Willens & The True Glory

Two documentaries, two countries and two periods of time tell very different and interesting stories about one central theme: Adolf Hitler's regime.

"Twenty years after the outbreak of the World War, sixteen years after the beginning of German suffering, nineteen months since the start of Germany's rebirth, Adolf Hitler flies to Nuremburg to review his faithful followers." ~Opening statement of Triumph Des Willens

Triumph Des Willens or Triumph of the Will was released in 1935, directed by Leni Riefenstahl is the infamous documentary which followed Hitler through many public events in the 1934 Nazi Party congress, which took place in Nuremburg. Being commissioned by Hitler himself, it was artfully crafted to portray all the splendor of the Nazi party and its leader and remains of the best examples of propaganda on film. Riefenstahl's cinematography alone is an amazing feat, especially for the time. However, it is the way in which she edited shots together, such as the young concentrating Hitler's youth drumming in line, up to the Furher's approving face, which were techniques used to sway the public in believeing in the good of the party. With a constant patriotic orchestra supporting these images, Triumph des Willens shows the world a new side of Germany, proud, strong and full of promise, rising out of the depression caused by World War I.


Riefenstahl's film became world reknown for the

beautiful shots and optimistic content for its country and won many awards in Germany as well as around the world-including the United States. What everyone seemed to lack in regards to this film was foresight. That is of course until second World War began, when Triumph Des Willens was banned by the Allies for being a product of the enemy.



"It is the story of the Nazi defeat on the western front. So far as possible, the editors have made it an account of the really important men in this campaign. I mean the enlisted soldiers, sailors and airmen that fought through every obstacle to victory. Of course to tell the whole story would take years, but the theme would be the same: Teamwork wins wars..." ~ Opening quote of The True Glory, spoken by Eisenhower.

The True Glory was released after the end of the war in 1945 as a collaboration between the British Ministry of Information and United States Office of War Information. Carol Reed, who had yet to direct The Third Man (1949) starring Orson Welles, was given the title of director for this film. However the term "orchestrator" might be more fitting, since it was hundreds of different pieces of documented footage edited together to create a comprehensible account of the Allies' invasion to the Nazi's defeat.

It essentially is the antithesis of Triumph Des Willens, as the footage was not shot for art or propaganda. It was shot by hundreds of different people, on both sides, with the single motive of recording what was happening before them. It therefore lacks the pre-conceived cinematography and quality of Riefenstahl's images. In that regard it is a trust-worthy account of warfare and serves to show the horrorifying results of the Nazi's regime. It ends with the discovery footage of the concentration camps, as people throw hundreds of starved, naked corpses into pits, and footage of cities made of rubble. To depict the information of the Allies' journey, maps segment different significant events on which shadowy swastikas are chased away by the Allies' flags. With added narration of dozens of men and women who tell anecdotes of their war experiences (most likely actors), The True Glory obviously takes a slant towards Ally patriotism. However, it is hardly anything to protest, especially when compared to Hitler's Aryan-idealized, swastika-filled propaganda masterpiece.



Bloody Sam (Whether He Likes It Or Not): Peckinpah's Tumultuous World

Cross of Iron starring James Coburn

Gratuitously violent, misogynistic, tactless, fascistic and other such condemnable labels have constantly surrounded Peckinpah’s controversial body of work, stemming from the 1960s New Hollywood movement. However I chose Peckinpah in spite of all negative critiques because I not only believe that such critiques for the most part misinterpret his work, but also I believe he is one of the most intimate auteurs in cinematic history. His films reflect uniquely heavy, personal viewpoints through central themes, character interaction and film techniques in a way which isn’t readily perceivable in many other director’s filmographies. However, in light of his outlandish personal life, I believe a lot of it tends to be ignored.

Intimate might now be a word which connotes “Bloody” Sam, as his films tend to focus on dirty, tight-lipped men, who have a disdain for social regulation and whose lives innately revolve around violence. However, it is the way in which these characters react to their surroundings which reveals Peckinpah’s troubled emotional core.

His themes, which are notorious in his popular revisionist Western films, stretch across many genres. From Major Dundee (1965), a civil war Western, to Convoy (1978), a modern campy action-comedy, the plots revolve around a tight-knit brotherhood, which is somehow breached-either by betrayal from within the group, or invasion from an outside source. This breach can be depicted as a rift in friendship, such as Locken and Hansen in the Killer Elite (1975) or a rift in marriage such as David and Amy Sumner in Straw Dogs (1971). Or it can be portrayed as the intrusion of an enemy into the group, such as the aristocratic Capt. Stransky who attempts to control Cpl. Steiner’s platoon in Cross of Iron (1977), which is my personal favorite of his films.

Split/Screen

I love this device. Mostly because I love the 60s and that's when it became very vogue to split screen multiple events or even just moments, through multiple images on the screen at the same time. Thomas Crown Affair (1968) was my was my favorite example until I saw The Boston Strangler (also 1968), but it's been featured in films such as the cutesy Pillow Talk (1959) to the trademark look of the intense, thriller tv series 24 ('01-10). Aside from the regular split telephone conversation the split is simply stylish, used to pump out more information at a faster rate, and sometimes it's chosen to reveal important juxtapositions, which is when I like it best.


Two films which utilize the juxtapose split nicely are the relationship dramas Conversations w/Other Women (2005) and (500) Days of Summer (2009). If you haven't seen them, watch them!

Stalker (1979) Andrei Tarkovsky

I finally checked this out, after years of wondering what it was. I chose not to learn anything about it and just watch. It's an amazingly slow, amazingly shot, lofty film about existentialism in the Soviet Union.

Synopsis: Three men, the Stalker, the Writer and the Professor go into "the zone", where an inhuman object crashed and started messing with the fabric of reality. Inside the zone is a room which will unleash your ultimate desires, and the threat of tricky reality traps along the way, along the lines of the "paradox" in Inception. Although it's closest relative I can think of would be Aronofsky's The Fountain, there is very little visually which suggests Stalker as a fantasy film.

IMDB lists that there were three cinematographers: Aleksandr Knyazhinsky, Geogi Rerberg and Leonid Kalashnikov, but it sounds like there was drama on the set and Rerberg's work wasn't in the final project. Kodak stock.

Desaturated color for most of the film and high contrast/sepia tone while the men are in the city, with a very expressionistic feel. There's a nice sudden "Ahhh!" moment when suddenly the landscape is bright, natural green. Nothing but textures, as each wide shot packs the screen with objects sprawled around the characters, jutting out at every angle. 

Although it's fairly avante garde in the storytelling, the film works for me and has influenced plenty of filmmakers in their surreal-philosophical art. Did I mention it was 3 hours long? Even if you want to put it on in the background at a party, it's an interesting visual piece at least.