The film opens with a blank black screen, onto which appears the name of the writer, director, film studio and finally the title of the film. All of these credits are written in an ornate font in an aged-looking cream colour. The audience next sees the back of a man, who is sitting at a desk, writing in what appears to be a diary. The camera slowly zooms in to this diary, until we can see the tip of his quill moving along the paper. There is only soft candlelight, but the settings are perfectly visible and so is the fact that this character is dressed in elaborate period costume, which is a clear indication that this film will be set in the past.
A male voice then starts speaking over the scene as a narration - he says that he is writing his life story, which would be one woman for every page, however there is one he hasn't written about yet - Francesca. He says this name with fondness, so the audience can gather than this may be the one woman who he was truly in love with, therefore the genre of the film will be romance. Throughout this scene, soft and orchestral music was played in the background, which adds to both the historical and romantic themes.
The scene then changes to a close up of a woman rowing a boat, with her son. It set at night, so the only thing that is clear is the worried expression on the woman's face as she uses the oars to push them nearer to the land. We then see a wide shot of the tiny boat in a large area of water, signifying that they still have a long journey. The only sound during this scene is that of the character's breath and the movement of water.
We then change scenes again, as the woman and the young boy arrived on land. The camera turns to match the character's points of view, and we see a cottage-like house from which a woman hurries out and welcomes them inside. From this point, the classical music fades in once again until it is loud enough to be heard clearly without obscuring the dialogue. Through this dialogue, we learn that these three people are grandmother, mother and son, as the mother explains to her son that he will be staying with his grandmother. The camera focuses on the little boy and we then see a close up of her assuring him that one day he will return to Venice. Once she has left, the camera follows the busy grandmother as she tells the boy that his mother will return when she has died. As we see a shot of the boy looking out the window, she says that it's 'Not her fault, it's in the blood, the heat for love is irresistible'. The boy repeats the word 'Irresistible' and we then see a very long shot of the view from the window he is looking out of.
From the first five minutes of this film, the audience can gather a lot of information about what to expect from the film. It is clear that it is a romance, and that the main character is a man who was a serial cheat before finding love.
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