10 Best Opening Shots In Cinema History

3. Touch of Evil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8AXd1ayxrg Citizen Kane might be popularly regarded as Orson Welles' magnum opus, but to me there are several ways in which his 1958 suspense classic A Touch of Evil is a superior film. While Kane was noted for its immaculate deep focus photography and ambitious, timely narrative, A Touch of Evil is a feat of technical virtuosity all by itself. No better is this realised than in the opening 3-minute-plus single-taken shot, which begins with a man turning the timer on a bomb, and then planting it. From here a couple gets into the car, and as they drive off, it seems like Welles must be about to cut in order to catch up with them. Of course, Welles had other ideas; he passes back along the building and catches them as they drive towards the camera. We then follow a couple (Janet Leigh and Charlton Heston) as the car trails in the background, and the scene finally climaxes with the film's first cut, as the car explodes while the couple look on in shock. As stunning to watch now as it surely was over half a century go, Welles set a standard that most filmmakers still couldn't dream of reaching.