DYM Barthes' Codes

The opening I chose to analyse is from the neo-noir film Sin City (2005).

Enigma Code

• Who is the woman?
• Why does he kill her?
• How does he know so much about her?
• Why does she trust him?
• Why are they on a roof in the rain?

Action Code

• He kills her - which suggests that he is likely to kill again.
• He is planning to 'cash her cheque in the morning' which suggests that he was paid for her murder, making him a bounty hunter.
• He tells her he loves her and that he can make her safe right up until the shot is fired: he is a liar as well as a murderer.
• He finds her alone on a deserted roof: the fact that he knew she was there suggests he knows a lot about her and has perhaps been following her.

Semiotic Code

• That they are on a rooftop towering over the city below suggests they are powerful - the peak of society.
• The grim weather is a portentous opening to the scene (it ends with a murder) and the intensifying of this towards the end suggests the worse is still to come.
• Her red dress is the most standout feature of the scene, the colour is symbolic of both the passion and the blood in the later part of the scene.

Cultural Code

• The voiceover, clothing and urban location call to mind elements of the film noir genre, although modernised.
• The scene is on a rooftop, a common setting used by characters trying to escape something, reinforced by their clothes which suggest they are hiding from a formal event.