Pretty Woman essay

This essay was written as an analysis of a film opening

The film Pretty Woman centres on a love story between a businessman and a prostitute, both living at either ends of the LA wealth spectrum. We can tell Edward is rich because of the views at his house, how everyone talks about him and the trick seen at the beginning on how money is created from nothing. This is a mirror shot later on in the scene, where drugs are dealt. Both of these are common in ‘their’ worlds.

We also hear the words ‘penny for the ear, how much for the rest’ which gives us a clue to the secondary character, Vivian, who sells her body. We hear about Edward and see the views from his house before we see him taking a call from his girlfriend – who is breaking up with him because he doesn’t care about her. This shows us he is not a likeable man, that he only really cares about his business, and that is what has made him rich. The people there take notice of him, and he is allowed to drive his lawyer’s car without consequence (the fact he doesn’t really know how to drive shows that he is so rich he has a chauffeur normally). However, because he tries to find his ex, it shows he does seemingly care about her. Dialogue with an ex also shows that he has always been obsessed with business more than anything else. However he is shown to mainly be in control, and this could also show his importance and wealth, as people are prepared to listen to him. By having him flirt with an assistant, it tells the audience he is somewhat attractive, and by buying a new carpet instead of cleaning it emphasises the idea of wealth, a key theme in the film.

He is stood above everyone, to show his importance in comparison to the other characters and because the camera pans around him but sticks mainly to the back of him, we are less likely to emphasise with him.

We then move onto a shot of Vivien. The tracking shot of her in the underwear and the shots before of the LA underworld show that she doesn’t live in a nice place. The hotel sign only has HO lighting up, slang for prostitute, which tells us more about the character. We also see that photos have been ripped apart, someone’s face is missing from them, but we do not know whose. The way she puts black felt tips on her shoes suggests to the audience that she is poor, and by hiding money in the toilet – rent money – we know she is somewhat honest. We can tell she doesn't want to be a prostitute, but circumstances have forced her. We also see her telling off her friend for doing drugs, making her likeable. The dialogue 'she's new' tells us the romance is more likely to last than if she had been 'in the business' for a few years. We also hear she doesn't want a pimp, saying that it would take away her freedom and her money, which is one of the central themes. It also shows that despite her line of work, she is respectable.

The idea of dead bodies in dumpsters, drug deals, bar brawls and prostitutes on the street set up a different mise-en-scene to Edwards, and we know that the stories disequilibrium will be the two meeting each other and this shows that despite living in the same city, the two are completely the opposite, and it is a chance meeting (Edward gets lost and tries asking for directions, she thinks he is a customer).

The non-diegetic music played while we see them either driving or getting ready are almost literal of their situation, Edwards is about breaking up ‘I’m over you’ being one of the main lyrics heard, while Vivien’s is ‘I’m a wild one’ indicating the promiscuity and the fact her job relies on selling her body for sex. The part of LA we see with her called be called a ‘concrete jungle’ where law and order is not common, and so the people could be like animals compared to the rich, upmarket set of people of which Edward belongs to, and so this is how he would see people. This helps us understand the characters even more.

The rest of the music is diegetic sound effects to help create an atmosphere, which had possibly been done to make the film seem more realistic. Some of the cuts and shot types make us feel for Vivien but not Edward, like their personalities (Edward is often long shot while Vivien is mid shot).

Both characters are shown mainly through cross cuts and mid shots, occasionally with close ups. This gives us an idea of their body language, and while Edward stands tall and confident, Vivien seems a lot more nervous or frustrated at her room mate, which is shown in the close-up's of her face

One of the establishing shots of downtown LA features a man saying ‘everyone that comes here got a dream. What’s your dream’ as if to say Vivien hasn’t lived up to what she was hoping. 


This is a typical opening because of the way character, plot, setting and themes are introduced. We can tell its going to be some kind of rom-com or comedy because of the way the characters interact with each other. It is slightly less serious than the opening of an action film or a drama.