Director : John Schlesinger
Writer : Daniel Pyne
Stars : Melanie Griffith, Matthew Modine and
Michael Keaton
Genre : Mystery/Thriller
Release : 22nd February, 1991 (UK)
date
Running : 102 min
time
PLOT
The film begins with Carter Hayes (Michael Keaton) lying in bed with a woman (Beverly D'Angelo), only to be quickly jostled out of bed and beaten up by some hired thugs who tell him to leave town or face worse consequences.
The story then moves to an unmarried couple, Patty Palmer (Melanie Griffith) and Drake Goodman (Matthew Modine) buying a large $750,000+ Polychrome house in the exclusive San Francisco neighbourhood of Pacific Heights, where they renovate it and plan to rent the two apartments on the first floor to cover most of the monthy mortgage.
Things seem rosy until they meet Carter Hayes who has all the trappings of being a good enant. in reality, Hayes is a con artis who does not pay either the or the security deposit, and changes the locks on all the doors. Hayes causes the Goodmans all sorts of trouble through scaretactics, verbal baiting and turning his own apartment into a dark cockroaching-infested den.
Drake assaults Hayes, who then vanishes almost without a trace after having stolen Drake's identity. thile Drake lies in bed recovering from gun shot wounds inflicted by Hayes, Patty becomes determined to have her revenge. she searches whatremains of the apartment and is able to track Hayes down to his new con game involving a wealthy widow. In the end Patty manages to kill Hayes.
How does this film relate to our film in the making?
The story line is also quite similar to 'Trapped in Love' as it involves a weird character which tries to destroy somebodys life. This film also beggins with a happy, new and bright life, which then turns into madness and ends up with the bad guy being killed by one of the main characters.
TITLE SEQUENCE
The title sequence of 'Pacific heights' begins with a blank screen and rather unusual sounds. It then fades into a low angle shot of a electric mill spinning. The audience are then able to recognise that the noise is coming from the mill. White shadowed writing appears on the left bottom corner, this is because there is blank space and therefore it does not hide the main object in the shot. Then the audience get introduced to the presenter of the film who is James G. ROBINSON. The image suddenly changed into a low angle shot of four electric mills spinning. The location is rather hard to tell, but the audience are most likely to think of a country side or a farm, as mills are not likely to be found in a city. More white shadowed writing appears on the screen, but this time it appears on the right hand side, in the middle. This is once again not to hide the main objects of the screen. This writing tells us the name of the producer who is Morgan Creek. The shot suddenly changes into a long shot which lets the audience see the location of where the film is set. Many more electric mills are seen on a plain land which is surrounded by mountains and this clearly shows the audience that it is not set in a city as no homes are seen. The audience are also able to see that this place can be visited by people, this is because there is a road in the middle of this plain land, the road is also easily recognized as a car drives past. The music changes to a faster tune, this goes with the spin of the mills. A name of the owner appears right at the bottom in the middle, where this also fits in perfectly as it is not in the way of viewing the atmosphere. The name of the owner is John Schlesinger. The shot changes rather quickly to the car that has been seen on the road. And now this shot pans left while one of the main characters are being introduced, Melanie Griffith. The shot then changes to a mid shot, this is when the audience are introduced to the characters by seeing them. We are able to see two men in the car, and this may mean that these two men are the main characters from the film. A name also appears, Matthew Modine. The shot suddenly changes to an extreme close up of one of the men' foot and a baseball bat. The music may make the audience think that something bad may happen, as the music is rather rough and not happy. The baseball bat also makes the men look rough as some people use baseball bats to beat people up, this also links with their expressions as they are not talking, and their looks are rather deep. The audience can easily understand that this bat and the foot belongs to one of the characters from the car as a car mat is easily seen. Just as the bat rolls to the left the shot changes into a long shot of the road and part of the land, the audience are then introduced to another character, Michael Keaton. Straight after that the name of the film appears right in the middle, this is because it is the main part of the film. As the car goes past the shot changes again to a mid shot of a different location. The fact of it being a different location is clear as the shot is of window blinds. Another name the appears which is, Laurie Metcalf.As the camera pans down another name, Carl Lumbly, comes up. To catch the audience attention the names dissapear and different names appear in different places, this automatically makes the audience look as not a lot is going on in the scene. The camera then pans down to a pile of books on the floor and another name comes up, Mako. The music then changes to a romantic music as well as the shot flips to a shot of a dark shadow and starts to pan up showing the audience another name, Dorian Harewood. As the camer pans up we are able to see a bag on the floor, as the mood is set for romance, this begins the wondering of the audience, who the bag may belong to. The shot changes into a night time shot which is a long shot of the room that they have seen details of. This is clear as the blinds are the same. We are also able to see the owner of the bag, who is a naked lady in a bed with a man. This now creates a full romance scene. Now the text changes into a purple colour, which may give of a hint of romance. The text now tells us that the film has been casted by Malin Finn. The view of the room is not that clear, this may be to hide the characters identities, to make the audience want to know who they are. The fact of making it look unclear has been completed in a very clever way, this can be seen when the camera zooms out. This shows us the camera zooming out of a TV screen, the reflection of the room. The TV also introduces us to the time of when the film has been set, this is very clear as the TV looks rather old. The costume designers are then introduced to the audience, who are Ann Roth and Bridget Kelly. More writting appears telling us who the music had been created by, Hans Zimmer. The audience are then able to hear noises comming from the characters, which may represent love. The camera then pans down, proving us the time of the film, as the TV table also looks old. The editors name comes up as the camera pans down, Mark Warner. The time that the film has been made also is shown to the audience by showing old, black and white photographs which have been left on the floor. More writting comes up including the name of production designer, Neil Spisak. As the camera is zooming into a photograph the name of the director of photography appears, Amir Mokri. Another location is shown to the audience by birds eye view of the outside of the room/house/flat. It looks rather rich, as people have swimmingpools in their gardens and the houses look rather big. More writing is shown to us. The camera pans right introducing the audience to the town/city. The music changes into arabic music, which may mean that this film has been set in a hot country. A huge sign then appears saying 'Sun Hills Estates at Palm Desert'. This straight away makes the audience think that is has been set in a desert. However, the audience have been tricked as it is only a model of a town/city. As the camera zooms out we are able to see this clearly, as the surroundings are inside of a building. The fountain and the cactuses in the back may still leave the audience thinking that it is set in a rich and hot country. The producers are also included on the screen. The truck that we have seen before appears behind the fountain, we are bale to recognise this as it is red as well as by the noise it makes. We then hear the car door shut, and we are able to see one person walking to the left. The shot from day light turns into an extreme close up of a glass of an orange drink, which a woman is putting her hand in. It is clear that it is at night time as the background is rather dark, also we are able to tell that it is a women as she has a ring on, and her fingers are thin. White letters are able to be seen on the black background which tells us who has written this film. The audience are then introduced to the main characters and are able to see that the hand belongs to the woman. The shot changes into a mid shot and we are able to see her taking out ice out of the glass and putting it in her mouth. The lady is naked and therefore men would be rather attracted to the film. Romance can then be easily seen as the man behind the woman kisses the woman. More writing comes up 'produced by Scott Rudin and William Sackheim'. As when the glass has been shown it looked like night time it is actually day time, this is very clear as the window in the background is rather bright. The lady lays down and the man moves an ice cube across her back, this may show the audience that the location that the film is set in is rather warm, this is because the lady does not mind the freezing ice cube going across her back. the name of the director appears, John Schlesigner. This title sequence has interesting shots as well as it is mysterious by the changes of the music as well as the changes between day and night time. This is a good title sequence as it introduces us to where it has been set in a clever way, by not revealing the whole scene. I think that this title sequence is better than the 'Fatal Attraction' title sequence as it includes more details, where the 'Fatal Attraction' title sequence only introduces us to the city, night time and the characters. But, I really like the 'Fatal Attraction' title sequence as it is very simple and easy to understand, where 'Pacific Heights' includes lots and lots of information and different shots.
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