ABSTRACT
The sepia tint and the high contrast between light and dark are maintained for the first two sequences of the narrative. These sequences are specifically contained within the same mythic domain by this device, and many of the meanings of the silent prologue leak into the opening five minutes of the narrative. The prologue is a western within a western, offering us images of the classic 'shoot 'em up' in order to signify the film's self-consciousness and to alert the audience to the degree of participation expected from them. The contrast between the sepia-tinted monochrome stock and the colour-film stock used later on is maintained throughout the film as a contrast between the lost, innocent 'past ' of the characters, and the wry, knowing 'present' of the audience. Thematically, the juxtaposition of a historical wild west with the modernity of (even silent) film foreshadows the heroes' plight as they become, more clearly as the film progresses, engaging anachronisms. The choice of film stock, then, and its deployment, have a thematic function as well as a stylistic or tonal effect.
