How does the opening of Pretty Woman work...? What are its forms and conventions in terms of genre/film language/film openings and film narratives/structures ...?

Pretty Woman is a classic romantic comedy from 1990; it has the typical two opposing characters that are eventually going to meet and fall in love. The movie also follows the typical film structure for a romantic comedy (man/woman character meets the other character and they fall in love). In this film, the equilibrium is when Edward (Richard Gere) a wealthy, respectable business man leaves his glamorous rich party, gets lost and finds himself driving the streets of the rougher parts of Los Angeles. The disequilibrium is when he meets Vivienne (Julia Roberts) who coincidently contradicts his lifestyle as she is a prostitute.


The opening shot of Pretty Woman sets the theme and message of the rest of the film, there is no visual action; however there are diegetic sounds of a piano playing and cocktail party music in the background setting the scene, and that what we are about to see is a very sophisticated, upper class party. A man says "no matter what they say it's all about the money" this suggests the message that will be foreshadowed throughout the film. We then see a close up shot of a pair of magicians hands manipulating money as part of a trick. The trick is being performed on two women hindering at the fact women can be bought. This is complimented by the line "penny for the wrist, how much for the rest". 


We learn that we are viewing an upper class, expensive party through the use of mise en scene. The party is being hosted in the Hollywood hills and is set in a pricey mansion. The setting is very light and sunny showing its innocence and care free attitude. Clothing also denotes the class of the party; all men are wearing tailored suits with shoes whilst the women are wearing conservative cocktail dresses and heels with their hair and make-up perfectly applied; everyone looks formal. Body language and posture also helps indicate their social position in society; all the ladies stand tall and the men walk with their heads held high. In the background we can see waiters pouring drinks and tending food at the white and pink buffet tables. Generally, all the furniture is white portraying wealth. After this, the name Edward is repeated from different characters, showing us that he is important to the plot and everyone is eager to see him. 


We then cut to Edward, who is currently in the middle of breaking up with his girlfriend. He asks her if his secretary called her and she replied "yes she did, I speak to your secretary more than I speak to you"; this shows us that he doesn't have any time for relationships and is very business orientated. We then see a shot of the back of his head whilst he finishes the relationship; this shot is useful because it tells us that he is quite emotionless and reinforces the fact that his work is his number one priority. After he has put the phone down, we see he is above everyone both in status and literally at the party as he is looking down on the party scene. 


Edward is very attractive to women, his ex-girlfriend who is married says "I couldn't wait for you" showing that she would rather be with him than her current husband but she had to settle for second best.


The film then cuts to Edward in the parking lot, asking for his lawyers keys as his limo is buried behind other cars. This tells us that he is not used to waiting and just uses somebody else's sports car because he can. Edward is very stubborn and is persistent that he uses his lawyers car. His lawyer is hesitant as Edward is normally driven around and hasn't got a lot of practice with cars. 


Once he has driven off, we see Ariel shots of him driving down Beverly Hills. Non diegetic music is played in the background; the music is very literal to the plot with lyrics like "I won't miss the way that you kiss" and "I'm over you", this relates to his break up with his girlfriend. 


We then cut to the rougher parts of Los Angeles and get a mirror shot of a pair of hairs exchanging drugs for money; this contradicts the first scene where money is being manipulated by a magician. It also tells us that we are no longer in the nice part of Los Angeles but we are in the rougher part. Various shots are used to present the setting and again the use of mise en scene helps emphasise the differences between the two places within the same city. Instantly, we notice that the light is much darker than the first setting; not only because it is night time but it also represents the danger and poverty of the place. It is not all white and light that we saw in the wealthy party setting. There is graffiti on the shops iron bars which tells us that stores get broken into so iron bars are needed. Prostitutes are roaming the streets looking for money to pay for drugs, food and rent. The prostitutes are wearing very revealing clothes such as short skirts, low cut tops and heels; their hair and make-up is very messy and over the top. This totally contradicts the women's style at the cocktail party. 


A visual joke is then made before we are introduced to the other main character Vivienne; the Hotel in which she rents a room in is clearly very run down as only two letters work out of the neon 'hotel' sign. Those two letters are 'ho'. 


Vivienne's alarm is going off at night which tells us she is either a prostitute or has a legal night time job. Knowing what sort of place she lives in and by the clothes she is wearing we can tell she is a prostitute. 


Before leaving her apartment she over hears a conversation between another tenant an the landlord; the landlord is asking for the rent. Vivienne then goes into her bathroom and lifts the lid of the toilet to find the rent money but she doesn't have enough. The fact that she has to hide the money in the toilet shows that it is a rough area; it also tells us that she wants to pay the rent which is important to win the audience over. 


Before Vivienne goes into the Blue Banana Club we see that a prostitute has been murdered; this emphasises and reinforces how dangerous her lifestyle and the area she lives in is. The next scene is between her and her room mate Kit who has spent their rent on drugs; we learn that Vivienne is honest, she is not into drugs and just wants to pay the rent. This helps us warm to her as we wouldn't generally sympathise with a prostitute. Whilst in the club a fight breaks out behind them, they just turn to see what has happened to them but then go back to their conversation, this shows that fights happen all the time and they are used to it. 


We then jump to a shot of Edward asking for directions to Beverly Hills, a tramp answers him but only jokes "you're here, that's Sylvester Stallone's house right there" this portrays that he is now lost and in the roughest part of town. It is also an indication that he and Vivienne are going to meet soon. 


The scene then cuts back to a discussion where we find out that Vivienne is new to this town and new to prostitution; this also makes her more likeable to the audience. Finally, Edward pulls up as he is lost and cannot put the car into gear, Vivienne goes to help him and ends up getting into his car and they drive off together. From that moment we know somewhere along the line they are going to fall in love. 


In conclusion, the opening scene to Pretty Woman works well due to its unrealistic plot and the background of the two characters. Through the use of mise en scene we are supposed to fall in love with the characters and like the idea that they are eventually going to fall for one another.