Left Field Cinema

Exposition and set-up are crucial to the success of a large number of films. What distinguishes the superior films is the ease and subtly with which both exposition and set-up is revealed and or explored. John McTiernan’s 1988 action movie classic Die Hard is widely considered one of the greatest action movie ever made. Personally it is one of my favourite films of all time - it’s not without its flaws but is endlessly enjoyable. Despite belonging to the action genre it is not the films action set-pieces which make it so memorable – it is a combination of all the elements which make cinema what it is, performance, character, dialogue, direction, and of course story. But perhaps more than any other aspect of Die Hard, its screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza (based on the novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp) is possibly the most impressive. In combination with McTiernan’s direction and Bruce Willis’ performance as John McClane the first five minutes of Die Hard establishes its character, setting and themes in the most economic fashion possible.

We are not including the 20th Century Fox logo at the beginning of the film. Our counter begins at the start of the caption “A Gordon Company/Silver Pictures Production” over which the sounds of airplanes can clearly be heard. Five seconds into the film we cut from this caption over a black matte to a runway as a large passenger plane lands, from this first shot there are many implications, firstly the sky is a dark orange colour indicating that we are beginning some where hot, the darkness suggests evening or dawn. The second shot begins on a man’s hand, a left hand with a ring on the ring finger indicating that this man is married, the sound of the plane can still be heard so we know the shot is from within the plane, the hand grips the seat, from this we can infer that the man is a nervous flyer. The shot lifts to reveal another man in a shirt, tie and waistcoat – he is reading a magazine, not gripping his chair, from his appearance before we even see his face we can assume that this man is a frequent flyer, possibly a businessman given that he’s flying in a suit, his face is revealed, he’s in his thirties of forties, the shot slowly zooms out and he utters the first line of the film “You don’t like flying do ya?” As these words are uttered the man who was gripping the chair is revealed, he is also in his thirties or forties, he is John McLane, but we do not know this yet, he replies to the business man, “What give you that idea” a wry grin on his face as if to say “am I that obvious” or perhaps “don’t ask stupid questions you jerk”. If this is what McLane’s smile is attempting to indicate to the man - it fails - as the business man continues to advice McLane that the secret to surviving air travel is to take your shoes off when you get where you’re going, walk around on the rug barefoot and make fists with your toes. Almost a minute into the film and we still don’t know where this is going? Who’s the main character, is it our businessman who likes to impart home grown wisdom on incidental travelling companions or is it the gentleman he’s sat next to? The next cut is crucial our evaluation; the third shot is a close up of McLane’s face which fills the right hand side of the frame, he gives the businessman an incredulous look and asks: “fists with your toes?” as if he didn’t hear him correctly. We cut back to the business man who confirms our suspicions and proves that he is indeed a frequent flyer and is also astute enough to read McClane’s doubtful tone; the businessman assures McClane that although it sounds crazy he should trust him as he’s been flying for nine years. “Yes sir, better than a shower and a hot cup of coffee!” he enthusiastically proclaims, McClane coughs “okay” as if still not entirely convinced. So far McClane has been framed in close-up, and the businessman has been framed in mids, indicating that it is McClane who is of greater importance. We cut to a wide as passengers stand up getting ready to disembark the plane. McClane stands up also and goes to grab his bag, the film cuts back to the businessman; his face has suddenly changed from smiling and full of life to serious and worried as he sees something - McClane has a firearm holstered under his jacket as revealed in the reverse shot. The businessman looks up to McClane and McClane takes an amused moment to both reassure the man and to turn his last line of dialogue against him “It’s okay, I’m a cop. Trust me; I’ve been doing this for eleven years.” McClane’s half smile is still present, he opens the compartment above the chairs and pulls out a large teddy bear with a big red bow around its neck, as he does his attention is diverted to a young attractive female flight attendant who throws him a flirtatious glance, McClane doesn’t break eye contact as she passes him by, he even takes a second look back as he heads towards the exit, his eyes changing from cheeky to nervousness as if he didn’t expect such a look from the young woman. Over the intercom a female member of the cabin crew welcomes the passengers to Los Angeles and wishes them a very merry Christmas.

We’re now one minute and thirty seconds into the film and at the end of the first scene, and what do we know? We know that the character of McClane is a cop, we know he has lots of experience, we know that he’s arrived in Los Angeles for Christmas and has a very large present in his luggage - a teddy bear - a present either for a spouse but more likely for a child. We know he is married from the ring, but conversely we also know he’s not afraid to hold a flirtatious glance with another woman with whom he is unacquainted indicating that he may well be estranged from his wife or have loose morals when it comes to fidelity. From his reactions to the businessman’s methods of surviving air travel we can assume that McClane is a man who doesn’t suffer fools gladly; he isn’t nasty to the man but he doesn’t ever give his statements any form of sincere recognition. More than this we know that despite being a cop and dealing with criminals for a living and carrying a piece of weapon with him even on airplanes - McClane is also uneasy with flying - perhaps afraid of putting his life in others hands, or someone who prefers to keep his feet on the ground – trust issues perhaps? This is what we know what we’ve inferred from the scene or extrapolated from the evidence. But what does this all set up, a cop as a protagonist indicates perhaps this is a story about crime, at this point we don’t know if Los Angeles is home or a new place for McClane, we know it is Christmas, o despite having a gun, McClane in all likeliness is either returning to a loved one or visiting a loved one. But more important than all of this is the businessman’s suggestion that McClane takes off his shoes when he reaches his destination, for later terrorists will attack McClane’s destination whilst he is doing as the man suggests leaving McClane in the awkward position of fighting for his life barefoot and being forced to run over pieces of severed glass at a crucial juncture. This is one of the main obstacles McClane must face in his dealings with the violent terrorists later in the story and it is set-up within the first ninety seconds of the film, before we even know our protagonists name.

The next scene begins inside an airport terminal. McClane arrives and places a cigarette in his mouth, but before he does the title “Die Hard” appears on screen. The title conjures a series of images about the film we are about to see, the term refers to someone who doesn’t easily give up. Perseverance. Being hard to kill. Hard to stop. The word “die” through association alone conjures death, destruction, pain, violence, murder, manslaughter etc, the word “hard” brings with it its own associations, tough, solid, strong etc. Crucially the films score by Mchael Kamen begins with this shot and the title reveal, the sounds of Christmas sleigh bells and dark strings combine to create a contradictory sound - serious Christmas – an oxymoronic term but this is what he hear. McClane lights a cigarette and inhales, waiting for his bags to arrive. The cigarette and the giant teddy bear are contradictory images and sets up another image for McClane, an anti-hero (smoking), a family man (teddy bear.)

The third scene of Die Hard shifts locations more drastically; at close to two minutes into the film we shift location to the Nakatomi Plaza, a 40 story building. Although at this point we don’t yet know this. A Japanese man steps out of a well furnished office, he is Joseph Takagi (although his identity has yet to be established) he buttons up his jacket and greets some people outside his office, walks past a group of musicians playing a light piece of classical music. He walks to a balcony overlooking a large group of men and women and a very prominent Christmas tree. He calls for their attention, and he gets it almost instantly. He congratulates the men and women on this being one of the most successful years in history of the Nakatomi corporation, as he does a woman can be seen walking out of an elevator and through the crowds, her focus not on Takagi but on the paper work in her hands, she is clearly working late as everyone else has begun a Christmas party. The woman walks down an office corridor, a man in a black jacket approaches her from behind and identifies her as Holly when he asks her if she fancies dinner tonight. She identifies him as Harry and clarifies that it is in fact Christmas Eve, and proceeds to give him a list of reasons why she can’t go to dinner with him, family commitments etc. Her tone indicates that she hasn’t seriously considered his offer for a second, and the smile on Harry’s face as he walks backward watching her reaction indicates that he was only half serious as her brush off is not in the least bit offensive to him. Despite this, Harry continues to elaborate on his plans for them tonight, “a roaring fire place, some mulled wine, a nice aged bree.” Harry’s appearance and attitude towards Holly, and taste in food and drink indicates that he is the opposite of McClane’s mocking, smoking cop. Holly takes a breath by the door to her office as if attempting to appease him with a mock surrender, before entering her lavish office, telling her pregnant assistant to join the party because she’s making her feel like Ebenezer Scrooge. It is established that her assistant’s baby is ready to “ten-four”. Holly sits in a large leather back chair, as expensive as anything else in her office and picks up the phone; Harry lightheartedly extends his offer “last chance”, Holly mockingly replies “bye” and spins the chair around to face away from him.

We change location again, this time there are two children playing on a kitchen floor of a normal domestic house, the phone rings and the young girl runs to it, answers and identifies herself as Lucy McClane and that this is in fact the McClane residence. Cut back to the office, Holly identifies herself as Lucy’s mother and thus establishes that her second name is also McClane, the shot pans left across a series of family portraits whilst Holly tells Lucy that she’ll be in bed by the time Holly gets home. The shot comes to rest on one family portrait in particular which shows Lucy, the young boy she was playing with (presumably her brother), Holly, and then John McClane (although we still don’t know his first name, we can in fact assume that his second name is McClane from now on. Lucy asks if Daddy is coming home, Holly appeases the question by telling Lucy to wait and see what Mommy and Santa can do. At this point we can see the sun setting in the distance, it is clear that Holly is in a tall building, and fairly high up. Holly asks to speak to Pauline - Lucy hands the phone to her. Pauline greets Holly with the word “ola” Spanish for hello, establishing her first language is probably not English, the implication is that she may not be a US national, and possibly from Mexico, although there is not enough evidence to establish this for certain. Holly asks if Mr. McClane called, Pauline in her broken English explains that no one has called; a slight moment of disappointment can be read from Holly’s face, disappointment for herself or for her children? We’re not certain at this point – perhaps both? Holly makes an excuse for this and requests that Pauline makes up the spare bed just in case. If there was any doubt about the status of John and Holly’s marriage it has just been clarified, they are not sleeping with each other - they are estranged - McClane doesn’t live in the same town; in fact he needs a flight to get there. Holly, Lucy and their other child are in residence in this town; John is not and at the least lives hundreds of miles away. After Holly hangs up the phone she exhales now more visibly disappointed that John hasn’t called, she turns to the one family portrait he is present in and turns it down onto the shelf so she doesn’t have to look at his face. In this sequence we’ve established quite a lot; for instance it is now safe to assume that Holly is an a much higher income than her estranged husband, a cop anywhere in America isn’t going to be paid as much as someone in Holly’s position or someone with Holly’s office. She’s the only one still working, indicating that she is career minded, working for a corporation which can afford such a lavish office space. Despite having a young family to look after she is clearly devoted to her career, and is independent of her husbands comparatively small pay package. There is also more in this sequence in terms of set-ups for Harry, Holly’s assistant, Pauline, and Takagi. Harry has proved himself to be a silk tongued go getter not afraid to ask for what he wants, he will ultimately try to defuse the situation with his tongue and will be shot in the face for his trouble. His confidence is his undoing in the end, and his death is a welcome reminder of how high the stakes are when the situation escalates; Holly’s rejection and later the competition in the form of McClane spur Harry on to try and bring the crisis to an end, perhaps to prove to Holly that he’s worthy of a dinner date with her afterall. Holly’s assistant is heavily pregnant, but rather than fall into the stereotypical hostage-gives-birth scenario, the story instead uses her pregnancy as a reason for Holly to negotiate with the terrorists, leading to her introduction to their leader Hans and her eventual kidnapping during the films last act. Pauline’s language difficulties and age establishes her as an immigrant - a fact that TV new journalist will exploit later in the story to get an interview with the young Lucy - an interview which will expose Holly as John’s wife to Hans and lead to her kidnapping. Takagi is established as a powerful public speaker, confident standing above his workers and congratulating them all, his confidence and leadership would keep them altogether, but when Han’s executes him shortly after taking the party hostage – that confidence is killed and the group are terrified. Takagi quickly establishes himself in the following five minutes as a powerful and confident man (perhaps the most confident in the film) so his death at the hands of Hans demonstrates Hans own confidence and power clearer than any other action could. It also hands over power and confidence to McClane who witnesses Takagi’s murder and realises the severity of the situation.

Back to the airport, McClane has finished his cigarette, has his bags and walks with a large crowd of Christmas travelers towards the exit, as he does a young woman with blonde hair runs past him and jumps into an embrace with a young man. McClane briefly observes this reunion before dismissively stating “California”. This line finally gives us a firmer grip on where exactly we are, in all likelihood McClane has come from the East of the US given his dismissive attitude toward the exhibitionist behavior of the young couple he just passed – his is of a no non-sense East Coast attitude towards such overt public displays of affection. As he continues through the airport a man with a cardboard sign and the name J. McClane can be seen. McClane finally identifies himself by stating to the man with the sign “Hey, I’m John McClane”. And that brings us to the end of the first five minutes of Die Hard. At this point, we still don’t know where the plotline is going, ultimately through the rest of the film a group of European criminals takes over the Nakatomi Plaza, and John McClane attempts to stop them and save the life of his wife. Key parts of the story, and the personalities of minor characters have also been established with pure economy. The exposition and set-up has been seamlessly incorporated into the dialogue and actions of the characters. The characters are rounded and grounded and the more time elapses the greater the sense of detail becomes as the story unfolds we learn more and more about these men and women despite the supposed limitations of the action genre. Even though this is essentially the story of Die Hard which has yet to be set-up, the themes of Die Hard and the central relationship between John and Holly have been established without a word of dialogue between the two characters. Ultimately Die Hard is about McClane’s attempt to save his marriage, not about stopping the criminal gang, but through stopping the criminal gang he will ultimately save his marriage. If saving his marriage is the theme of the film then it has been clearly established in the first five minute.

M.Dawson