The Usual Suspects- Opening Sequence Analysis

The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer) is a neo noir crime thriller and one of my all time favourite films. The first scene opens in medias res on a boat in the middle of the night. The plot of the film is about what, exactly, has happened on this ship. This short opening sequence is set up to pull the audience into the story and grab their attention. It not only moves us forward along the story's plot line but is also littered with clues that foretell crucial occurrences later on.

The events of the opening sequence occur chronologically and relate clearly to each other as the scene does not defer from this location. The establishing shot is an ECU of a book of matches struck alight- the fire already pre-empting danger and juxtaposing the water surrounding the boat. We are introduced to a character named Keaton (although at this early stage the audience is yet to learn his name) with a MS on a burning ship with several dead men about. Immediately, the contrast between the ECU and MS disrupts the narrative flow, making it uncomfortable for the audience. Keaton lights a cigarette and starts a fire that will kill him and another man on the ship. The fire snakes along a line of oil, passing a dead male before being extinguished by a shadowed figure (Keyser Söze) standing above Keaton who urinates on the flame. The symbolism from the high position of Keyser and his actions form a sense of power and also suggest he is the villain of the scene as he is either in shadow or silhouetted and we cannot make out any of his features. Keyser descends the stairs and lights a cigarette in front of Keaton. "How you doing, Kid?"

Keaton, "I can't feel my legs, Keyser."

One element that plays out later in this story is whether Keyser Söze exists so this opening dialogue is incredibly significant to the audience even if they do not know him by sight- a revelation left to the very end of the film.

Keyser flicks down the lid of the lighter and pulls a gun out of his pocket.  Keaton asks the time which becomes even more poignant when seconds later Keyser fires two shots, leaving the words to resonate like a doctor calling a time of death. Singer creates ambiguity by cutting to various LS and VLS of the boat and its immediate surroundings so although we do not see the violence or Keaton’s death we can infer it- reminiscent of Hitchcock’s Physco Shower scene where we never actually see the knife stab the skin but let our imagination fill in the blanks- a powerful technique used in thriller movies. 

Throughout the whole sequence, the score by John Ottman (in this scene 'Keyser Appears') emphasises the edgy, anxious and dramatic atmosphere. The camera focuses briefly on a leaking water pipe, which exacerbates the tension, suspense, but also futility as the camera then cuts sharply to a CU of Keyser's gloved hand dropping a cigarette, reigniting the boat. Keyser’s silhouette is seen climbing down the ladder and escaping before it explodes.

The camera slowly zooms into a large spool of rope, cutting away to snaking flames past dead bodies and flumes of smoke. The camera continues to zoom in on the ropes perhaps tricking the audience into a sense of entrapment; however the lingering final shot serves another purpose: a vital clue to the identity of Keyser Soze.  It is not the rope itself but what is behind it, or rather lack of… Only later on in the film do we discover that the absence of an individual behind the rope reveals the identity of Keyser himself and is a key clue in the renowned twist of the final scene. But of course, the audience has no idea of this…yet!