Love Actually begins with images of people in a clean, white environment. The people are running to greet each other and all look elated to see the other person they are greeting. We do not know who these people are so we cannot yet assume that they are going to be a vital part in the film, we assume that they are not as not enough focus is placed upon them, with shots changing from meeting to meeting every few seconds. After a few seconds, a voiceover can be heard. Here, we are introduced to one of the main characters of the film. However, we do not know this yet as we can only hear his voice and do not therefore recognise him as a character but as a narrator, the only information we do gain is that the man's accent is English and from this it is safe to assume that the film is going to be set in Britain. The voice begins by saying "Whenever I get gloomy about the state of the world, I think of the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport." This not only confirms our preconceptions about the general setting of the film but also the setting that the meetings we are viewing are actually taking place, with the clean, white environment being developed in to an airport terminal. The voiceover continues to say that "love is everywhere" and gives a monologue about love alongside continuous videos of people greeting each other at the terminal. The voiceover finally says that "Love, is, actually all around." This line introduces the film's title 'Love Actually' and from this the audience can now assume that the man who is talking throughout the first two minutes of this sequence is indeed an important character. The images of people then fade out and the film's title is displayed at the bottom of the screen in red and white font. The audience hears christmas music begins to play and from this point the film continues.
How much of the plot is introduced in the opening 2 minutes?
It is clear in the first two minutes from the hugging and kissing of the people that the film is going to be a romance. It is clear from the narrator's accent that the film is British and that the setting is currently Heathrow airport, which indicates that England is the main setting, specifically London, it's recognisable capital city. The narrator talks mainly about love, saying that when the twin towers were hit, none of the messages sent to people from the plane were messages of hate. This suggests that the narrator has a lot to do with love in the story.
How many key characters are there?
In the first two minutes we are not introduced to any characters by name. We see many people in the images of the airport terminal but assume that they are not main characters once the narrator begins talking about how he thinks about Heathrow airport when is is despairing of the world. From this, we understand that we are inside the narrators head, experiencing what he is thinking about and from this we can assume that the narrator will develop into a main character.
Is there much dialogue?
The only dialogue in the first two minutes of Love Actually is the narration. This is effective as it does an excellent job of introducing the plot but does not give too much away at all, which leaves the audience keen to continue watching. Introducing the film's title in the last line is a complete hook as it leaves the audience to quickly develop their own ideas about what the rest of the film will be like.
