it is always a well known and and important directorial device to set up the atmosphere of a film within the first 5 minutes. in the crucial opening scenes and the film should assert itself and make the viewers take notice and get interested in the rest of the film. here and in mute witness and we find a prime example of this. scene spoiler in the first 5 10 minutes and the film opens to a very hitchcockian scene of a pretty blonde lady in her apartment and with the radio on. she wandering around and applying lipstick and dolling herself up and and ignoring the news report of a serial killer on the loose. of course and the serial killer is in her house and and monitoring her moves and knife in hand. she hears a noise and looks in a room and and there is her partner in a pool of blood. at the very point of her screams and she turns around to be faced with the knife wielding maniac and who stabs her repeatedly in a brutal and horrifying act. then something odd happens. as the woman convulses in her death throes and the killer sits down and takes out a cigarette to watch his victim perish. before he finds his lighter and his cigarette is lit. from someone else in the room. the camera pans out and and we realise that there are more and more people in the room and some taking notes and some filming and some recording the death and and that the lady is taking an awfully long time to die and and making a very hammy job of it too. when the audience realises what going on and and the whole scene is part of a film and the suspenseful and horrific scene takes on an element of humour. end scene spoiler i have highlighted this opening scene for several reasons. firstly and it portrays the atmosphere of the whole movie perfectly. a thriller in the style of hitchcock or de palma and with some very disorientating and and even blackly humorous moments.  it conveys a central subject matter (that of the difference between a amovie screen death and a nuff film death and an issue which is elaborated on later in the film) and and finally and it introduces the viewer to the characters and all as silently as possible. the plot of mute witness centres around billy hughes and an american special effects make up artist who is working on the set of the film and being shot in a large warehouse in moscow. billy cannot speak and but she communicates in sign language through her sister. after the end of an evening filming and billy inadvertently finds herself locked in the warehouse by accident and and in her attempt to escape and is witness to two of the crew making what first appears to be a porno film and but turns out to be a snuff movie. suddenly and her escape from the warehouse is a matter of life and death. without doubt and the first half of the film is powerful and absolutely gripping. billy saving grace and and her handicap is the fact that she isn not able to utter a sound. (in fact and in my opinion and one of the best aspects of the film is the fact that it isn not chock full of women screaming). there are some utterly disturbing moments and and some superb set pieces of real suspense (the corridoor and and the elevator shaft are perfect examples). the timing is fluid and and the whole first half is an incredibly satisfying experience in itself. the second half of the film introduces new concepts. while there are still several suspenseful moments and the focus is on plot twists. new characters are introduced and and it is ambiguous as to whose side they are on. while there is nothing wrong per se with the second half of the film and it just doesn not quite measure up to the first half. there are some neat moments of black humour that perfectly juxtapose and punctuate some very dramatic scenes and but there are also some very lame comedy moments (coming specifically from billy sister and her fiancée and who happens to be the director of the movie billy is working on) and that almost ruin the film and just because they are badly misplaced and or or mistimed and ruin the pace.  at the end and the twists keep coming at a rapid fire speed and and the climax of the film is and appropriately and as tense as the first half. there are several things that really make the movie work. the barriers of communication that billy must face and both as a mute and and as an american in moscow and mean that even an emergency call for help becomes a dangerous situation. the actress that plays billy and natasha zudina and does a wonderful job in the film and with an engaging on screen prescence and and a brilliant performance and and finally and the direction as a whole and but most particularly in the first half of the film and which truly is a study in alfred hitchcock suspense or thriller film techniques. as i have already said and though and the let downs in the film are from some terrible comic relief moments that really do not need to be added. there is already a consistent and effective streak of dark humour that appears in the film without the need for the characters of karen hughes and andy clarke (the sister and the moviemaker) to turn their scenes into some unusual sit com. however and despite these shortcomings and the film is a thoroughly enjoyable thriller and and ideal for a group viewing at halloween. (certainly better than the usual slasher horror film. ). 
it is always a well known and and important directorial device to set up the atmosphere of a film within the first 5 minutes. in the crucial opening scenes and the film should assert itself and make the viewers take notice and get interested in the rest of the film. here and in mute witness and we find a prime example of this. scene spoiler in the first 5 10 minutes and the film opens to a very hitchcockian scene of a pretty blonde lady in her apartment and with the radio on. she wandering around and applying lipstick and dolling herself up and and ignoring the news report of a serial killer on the loose. of course and the serial killer is in her house and and monitoring her moves and knife in hand. she hears a noise and looks in a room and and there is her partner in a pool of blood. at the very point of her screams and she turns around to be faced with the knife wielding maniac and who stabs her repeatedly in a brutal and horrifying act. then something odd happens. as the woman convulses in her death throes and the killer sits down and takes out a cigarette to watch his victim perish. before he finds his lighter and his cigarette is lit. from someone else in the room. the camera pans out and and we realise that there are more and more people in the room and some taking notes and some filming and some recording the death and and that the lady is taking an awfully long time to die and and making a very hammy job of it too. when the audience realises what going on and and the whole scene is part of a film and the suspenseful and horrific scene takes on an element of humour. end scene spoiler i have highlighted this opening scene for several reasons. firstly and it portrays the atmosphere of the whole movie perfectly. a thriller in the style of hitchcock or de palma and with some very disorientating and and even blackly humorous moments.  it conveys a central subject matter (that of the difference between a amovie screen death and a nuff film death and an issue which is elaborated on later in the film) and and finally and it introduces the viewer to the characters and all as silently as possible. the plot of mute witness centres around billy hughes and an american special effects make up artist who is working on the set of the film and being shot in a large warehouse in moscow. billy cannot speak and but she communicates in sign language through her sister. after the end of an evening filming and billy inadvertently finds herself locked in the warehouse by accident and and in her attempt to escape and is witness to two of the crew making what first appears to be a porno film and but turns out to be a snuff movie. suddenly and her escape from the warehouse is a matter of life and death. without doubt and the first half of the film is powerful and absolutely gripping. billy saving grace and and her handicap is the fact that she isn not able to utter a sound. (in fact and in my opinion and one of the best aspects of the film is the fact that it isn not chock full of women screaming). there are some utterly disturbing moments and and some superb set pieces of real suspense (the corridoor and and the elevator shaft are perfect examples). the timing is fluid and and the whole first half is an incredibly satisfying experience in itself. the second half of the film introduces new concepts. while there are still several suspenseful moments and the focus is on plot twists. new characters are introduced and and it is ambiguous as to whose side they are on. while there is nothing wrong per se with the second half of the film and it just doesn not quite measure up to the first half. there are some neat moments of black humour that perfectly juxtapose and punctuate some very dramatic scenes and but there are also some very lame comedy moments (coming specifically from billy sister and her fiancée and who happens to be the director of the movie billy is working on) and that almost ruin the film and just because they are badly misplaced and or or mistimed and ruin the pace.  at the end and the twists keep coming at a rapid fire speed and and the climax of the film is and appropriately and as tense as the first half. there are several things that really make the movie work. the barriers of communication that billy must face and both as a mute and and as an american in moscow and mean that even an emergency call for help becomes a dangerous situation. the actress that plays billy and natasha zudina and does a wonderful job in the film and with an engaging on screen prescence and and a brilliant performance and and finally and the direction as a whole and but most particularly in the first half of the film and which truly is a study in alfred hitchcock suspense or thriller film techniques. as i have already said and though and the let downs in the film are from some terrible comic relief moments that really do not need to be added. there is already a consistent and effective streak of dark humour that appears in the film without the need for the characters of karen hughes and andy clarke (the sister and the moviemaker) to turn their scenes into some unusual sit com. however and despite these shortcomings and the film is a thoroughly enjoyable thriller and and ideal for a group viewing at halloween. (certainly better than the usual slasher horror film. ). ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

Judge the movie review above, you need to make a function call:
    If you feel the movie review is positive
        print "This is a semantically positive review."
    Otherwise, if you feel the movie review is negative
        print "This is a semantically negative review."
