Mise-en-scène : Film Style and Interpretation

by John Gibbs

The first section of the book concerns some examples regarding the elements of the rise-en-scène which I found particularly interesting.

The book carries an interesting analysis on the long take which begins the second sequence of Notorious by Alfred Hitchcock, focusing on the use of lighting as a powerful and expressive tool: every character at the party is illuminated evenly, such as the main character Alicia Huberman, but there is a quiet guest in the foreground of the frame that sits with his back to the camera where he is not illuminated but has a distinguished silhouette. Even thought he says nothing at first it is easy to identify him with Cary Grant, the man lead of the film: Cary Grant’s not illuminated silhouette make him become part of the audience itself, sharing perspective and observations too.

In the book there is an interesting reference to an article (V.F. Perkins, Moment of Choice) about a scene from Jean Renoir’s La Règle du Jeu. The article analyses a range of examples of the ways different elements of the mise-en-scène can be employed expressively: The example used for the décor is from this film at the start of a country-house party where the hostess, Christine tries to deny the gossip about her relationship with André Jurieu, a young aviator. The décor in this scene permits a parallel with the black and white marble tiled floor which can be interpreted as a chess-board where the two characters move carefully since that a wrong move could lead to disaster.

In the second section it highlights the fact that all the elements of the mice-en-scène, even if they are individually expressive, depends on their effect on a combination of elements: again in the film “La regale du Jeu” the performance of Christine, the décor, the camera position and camera movement are all involved. Although, in order to make them collaborate better in the scene, it is important to be able to describe the potential of each singular element.