This film begins with an old lady telling the story of Edward to her grand child which is probably set in present day and after being given a shot from the mansion looking down towards suburbia and then cutting to a sunny day in suburbia which is set around the 70’s (roughly) we are taken back in time to tell a story which adds a real feeling of a fairy tale effect to the film. This first scene and a few flash backs later on in the film is the only thing that makes it non-linear but not in any large way. There is very little that isn’t actually shown to the audience instead of just having characters talk about key events that may have happened off screen.
Certain events that happen in the first 15 minuets are created so they can be relevant to events later in the film. These events could be warnings of things to come or they could show characters weaknesses and how they will effect them. When Edward sees the picture of Kim it is obvious this is going to come up later in the film or when Edward is first discovered by Peg he briefly mentioned how his “Father” (His inventor) didn’t wake up which adds mystery to the story.
There are other times we are given warnings of things to come, E.g. When Edward is riding in the car with Peg he tries to put his head out of the window but ends up hitting his head on the glass, A sign that Edward cant deal with this life style that he has been introduced to. This theory is backed up when Pat shows Edward to his room that consists of a water bed, Obviously this is maybe the worst sort of bed Edward could sleep in (The bed could represent the suburban life style) and secondly Peg doesn’t even seem to think about the fact that Edward may have problems sleeping on the bed (In the same way she doesn’t think that maybe Edward wont fit into the suburban life style).
The way space is structured in certain parts of this film is very important, The Scene where Peg finds Edward in a Giant loft starts with her entering the loft there is a cut to a wide shot of the whole loft which makes Peg seem very small. These sort of shots continue until Edward begins to approach Peg and as he does the camera pans towards him creating even less space to be seen in the shot, After Edward reaches Pat there are no more wide shots as before and also Edward never really leaves Pegs side for the rest of the 15 minuets which confines them both to a very small space. E.g. when they are in the car together. In some ways when all of the close up shots begin we are shown that now Edward is in suburbia he is no longer Free in the same way he was in the empty loft even though he was alone.
In conclusion this first 15 minuets is what creates the plot, Atmosphere and characters for the rest of the film and must be done correctly to inform the audience of what they need to know for the rest of the film. It also sets the path for a non-conventional ending.
