I'm just gonna stop here and admire the OP.
(WARNING: ESSAY AHEAD and FIRST POST EVER)
First of all, love how it's not just a random mash of scenes and actually reflects a lot about the story, and may even shed more light on Avilio's character. The OP begins with MC walking alone on a bridge, with what seems to be a church in the background. Since the camera is zoomed out, the audience can see the contrast between his size and that of the towering bridge. It's Avilio against the whole world. Questions arise, where is he heading? With such dark colors, cloudy skies, and gloomy atmosphere, we can come to the conclusion that his destination will not be a clear-cut and happy one. The place of worship in the distance can also illustrate that wherever Avilio is headed, he is traversing away from God.
The next scene shows MC running in the woods as a young adult, when it suddenly leaps into the past. Back into the night when he escaped from his family's murderers while stumbling through the forest. Throughout the entire OP, Avilio receives bursts of memories and hallucinations. He sees his parents and his little brother walking in the streets.
A light guitar string trembles as flashes of small hands putting out a candle's wick are overlayed in sepia. Small candle flames symbolize life, and putting it out foreshadows death. There's a scene in first person where you witness MC's younger brother escaping the security of the closet, jumping into the light and view of the mafia. This is the brightest of all the "flashback/memory" scenes, and perhaps illustrates Avilio's greatest regret and core of his guilt.
But it doesn't end here! He's suddenly jolted back into the present, back into reality by none other than Nero! Gone (for now) are the drabby hues of gray and white, and we get to see the festivities of a political marriage. Of course, the sense of fragile peace don't last for long, as the OP suddenly rushes into a scene with Avilio and Nero facing each other, sitting in a candle lit room with only moonshine and themselves to keep company. Oh, and Avilio has a firearm leaning by him. The room doesn't look to be a regular conference room of the Vanetti's, a painting is hung crookedly in the background. Therefore, this may be a semi-spoiler that Avilio and Nero will be partners in an operation sometime in the future.
Next are 2 second flashes of close ups featuring Nero and Cortero, respectfully. This may signify that there is more to these characters than what they are revealing in public. Especially so is the fact that Cortero's eyes are hidden by the reflection on his glasses.
After a montage of more scenes and images dictating the operations Avilio and co. will soon face, comes my favorite scene in the entire OP. It's the closeup of MC's hands holding a pistol, palms shaking and arms twitching in what seems to be nervousness and grief. As he bring's the firearm to rest by his forehead, most of his face is out of view, and instead we are introduced to flashbacks of his brother's smiling inquisitive face and his parent's jovial laughter. He grips the pistol's handle with his right hand, the barrel with his left, eyes shut tight as he steels himself. All the while he seems to caress the gun over his forehead. It isn't until he relives his mother and younger brother's shooting do his eyes pop open and the shaking stops.
I don't know if the scene above is an actual scene or custom for the OP. However, I believe it illustrates just how complex Avilio's character is. Episode 1 and 2 showcased Avilio as clever, manipulative, and cunning, but only in this scene in the opening do we see a more vulnerable side to him. I hope there are more instances of this nature in the series, as it will help flesh out the MC into someone the audience can better relate to. As of now, he is still one of my favorite MC's, but I am hopeful that he will become my favorite. |