War - 'Without Remorse'

 War - 'Without Remorse' 

Today, I'll be elaborating upon the opening sequence of Without Remorse. Directed by Stefano Sollima, an Italian director and screenwriter. The two production companies that helped support & produce the film were, 'Paramount Pictures Studios' and 'Skydance Media'. 

How are the audience engaged? 

The audience are quickly engaged by the diegetic ambient sound of the rainfall. The rest of the surroundings remain quiet, besides the rain and it appears peaceful yet desolate. Then, an incident of chaos as a solider is struck into the pond by somebody underneath the water. 

Then another soldier is shot, stood directly by a discrete fire. This juxtaposition between fire & water is beyond intriguing. Director Sollima, is illustrating two oppositions that don't work together, to display the conceptual values & ideologies of war in a modern-day context. This information helps engage audiences further, as they come to acknowledge the considerable symbolism. 

Then, the soldiers carefully emerge from beneath the water surface. Eluding to this concept of secrecy associated with war circumstances, following the conventions of the following genre. They exit the water, to where they come together appearing to be on a rooftop of some description. Then, they show a landscape shot of the town. This engages audiences as the town appears broken, disheveled and ruptured intriguing them in the narrative elements that consist of questions. 

We are then enlightened via text that we are in Syria. 

The opening scene continues and we are fronted with many characters. Including one of the men, who audiences saw retreating from beneath the pond. He appears to be the main characters, as other characters refer to him as 'badass'. 

What tone / genre is set? 

The tone of this opening scene is eerie, as the scene is absorbed by cool toned colours, that obtain connotations of death, destruction and low morale. Highly adhering to the themes and the sheer prospect of war, being the genre itself. The genre war is illustrated, mostly via costume and prop guns. The characters costume obtain a familiar pattern majorly associated with war, camouflage. The prop guns are utilised by the characters in the opening sequence, to murder the apparent opposition. A common theme of war, furthermore, suggesting the war genre. 

Setting / Where & When? 

As Syria is a country situated in West Asia, we can assume this was perhaps a historical event.
However, I found no landmarks suggestive of which war this could be? Due to the use of colloquial language, we can understand the film must be of a modern context to a certain degree. 

What do you think the narrative will be? 

I think the narrative will be the troops on their exploration through Syria, featuring historical events or landmarks to inform / educate the audience. 

What is the dynamic between the characters in this sequence? 

I think that the character that is referred to as a 'badass', isn't very friendly with his troops and co-workers. He doesn't look as if he answers to anybody other than himself & possesses the role of leadership. Even if he weren't meant to obtain a higher status, he would continue to due to his determined ambience.