Watch this video of Truffaut talking about Rossellini and Hitchcock. Wouldn't you want him (and perhaps his translator) at dinner with you one evening?
Read this essay and think about what it says in terms of mise-en-scene and The 400 Blows. Utilize at least one quote from this essay to back up any discussion of an aspect of mise-en-scene that you want to include in your analysis of one of the following scenes. Analysis should be at least 3 solid paragraphs and mimic what you will do next year for your assessment. Remember to analyze the meaning of the scene as well as its relationship to the film as a whole. Discuss cinematic elements!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP2eWHdZLDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9I-gsap0po
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERAGjXnXQwk
I don't have the essay to build off of but my favorite scene of the three is the last on where Antoine's shrine to Balzac catches fire and his parents, for the first and only time, follow anger with forgiveness and even happiness. It is also the first time we see Antoine's step dad actually get mad at him (because of his Michelin guide at that!) which just shows us how ignorant and bland Truffaut thought his parents were. This is a key turning point in the film as we now see that both parents are capable of getting angry with Antoine. Once his parents start to get mad at him, this is when we see Antoine's downfall. It's interesting to see that even as an adult, Truffaut believes that adults are oblivious to the things that are truly important in life and only care about useless thing such as Michelin guides and typewriters.
ReplyDeleteMise-en-scene is evident in this scene more so toward the second half after the family leaves to go to the movie. These scenes were actually shot in Paris so they were walking out of a real Paris movie theatre in this shot. It's interesting to think about this because you more and more understand that Truffaut wanted the film to be as close to a documentary of his early life as possible without it actually being so. While the family is in the car driving home talking about the movie they had just seen we notice that the windshield wipers are on showing that it is raining. Possibly indicating that everything is not as ok as it seems seeing as it does not take very long for Antoine to get in trouble once again, merely speculation. Also, costume design is important to this scene because when they were eating dinner at home, Antoine's family was dressed very casually but once they decided to go out they all dressed up (to an extent). Antoine's step father put on a sport coat for example. This shows us how big of a deal going out was in Paris at the time, my assumption is that families didn't go out very often.
My favorite part of the scene is when the family is frolicking up the stairs because it is a prime example of how quickly the moods change and the tables turn in this film. Not long after this joyous night on the town, Antoine screws himself over again and his parents are once again furious. I love when the step dad (blanking on his name) holds up Antoine's mom's legs and says "what beautiful legs your mother has) in such a serious heart wrenching film it's nice to have little bits of humor such as this. I'm also practically in love with the mother/the woman that plays her, she is gorgeous and indeed has some rockin' legs.
The mise en scene contributes greatly to the expression of meaning in the 400 blows. Also, it invokes feeling from the audience throughout the film and allows the viewers to draw conclusions about the characters in the film. Some examples of the use of mise en scene to create meaning and invoke feeling are seen in Antoine's house, the school, and the beach at the end of the film. Leland Poague stated that Truffaut used cinematic language as, "a social institution and a means of personal expression." This becomes evident in the way Truffaut uses mise en scene to convey the personal aspects of his own life that he placed in the film.
ReplyDeleteWhen discussing mise en scene in the 400 blows it is important to focus on the cramped house in which Antoine and his family live. The house immediately conveys their social class to the audience as the characters repeatedly scramble over each other within the excruciatingly small apartment. When Antoine's shrine to Balzac is set on fire, the three cram themselves into the little hallway with the fire seemingly inches away from them. The space in the hallway emphasizes the small fire and makes it appear far more dangerous to the audience. In a normal sized or large house, such a fire would seem almost insignificant to the proportions of the house. So, the mise en scene in this scene conveys a feeling of danger and is able to emphasize a set-piece within the scene. Another sequence utilizing mise en scene is the scene in which Antoine’s mom appears at the school just after Antoine explicitly told his teacher that she had passed away. As Antoine is shown sitting down at his desk, the camera then cuts to the door and tracks Antoine’s mom walking past it. However, her face is obscured by a bar on the door. The audience can see parts of her face and Truffaut trusts that the audience will realize who is walking past the door. This creates a sense of dread in the viewer as the arrival of Antoine’s mom implies the amount of trouble he will be in. Finally, Antoine’s mom’s face is revealed and the audience’s fears, as well as Antoine’s, are confirmed. Truffaut uses mise en scene to invoke feeling in the audience and makes the audience sympathize with Antoine by obscuring the mother’s face with a set piece in the shot. At the very end of the film, truffaut uses mise en scene to leave the audience with his intended feeling of freedom at the film’s close. The film’s final shot is a tracking shot of Antoine running down the beach. The on screen space conveys openness and the scene uses open framing. Antoine can seemingly go anywhere from this spot, and, all of his personal struggles have been escaped. The shot ends with a still shot of Antoine looking directly into the camera. Thus, the audience is left feeling this air of freedom as all of the turmoils they have watched Antoine go through are over for them as well.
` Truffaut’s use of various aspects of mise en scene to create feeling gives him versatility as a director. The mise en scene contributes to the film in a number of ways, indicating the effort that was placed into it. Finally, it is important for a film to have engaging mise en scene so that the audience is drawn into the film and feel as though they are a part of what is going on rather than a static viewer.
Mise-en-scene is a key factor in understanding the Doinels' social standing, which helps to understand Antoine's character throughout the film. The scene I chose starts with the Doinel family eating dinner at their table and Antoine's step-father notices something burning. This scene is an excellent source for understanding Antoine, because in order to understand Antoine, his family's social standing must be observed. The family sits at a small dinner table, which appears very messy. The tablecloth is stained and the plates and silverware appear messy, as if they were just randomly placed on the table. Behind Antoine, there is a shelf with a large (radio?) sitting on it, resting on newspapers, with more newspapers resting on top of it. The messy and careless appearance of this apartment tells viewers that the Doinel family is not well off. Their space appears small and crowded and the lack of effort put into the home's appearance by the family conveys a lack of pride in their home. This shows viewers that they are just scraping by, money-wise, and they cannot afford to make their apartment look and feel like a home. This, of course, carries over into Antoine's personality and actions. He has no pride in where he comes from, especially not in his family, which in a way leads to his downfall. He doesn't respect rules and authority and he gets in major trouble later on, placing him in the Observation Center for Delinquent Minors. Although later on in this scene, he is shown having a good time with his mother and step-father, we get the feeling that this isn't a common occurrence by the fact that the family is dressed up for this special occasion. The two adults each wear a long coat, and Antoine's mother's even has a fur trim around the neck and wrists. Although this sequence is more upbeat and happy than the previous, by juxtaposing the two next to each other, the Doinel home appears even lower quality compared to the beautiful Paris. Leland Poague believed that "there is a contrast between affluence (the many shop windows against which Truffaut frames his action) and poverty (the cramped Doinel apartment..)." At the end of the scene they return back to their dumpy, drab apartment and their poverty is reiterated.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to being a contrast to the Doinel's poverty, the sequence in which the family drives around Paris after seeing a movie together stands as a taste of the freedom that Antoine desires throughout the film. He chases this freedom by skipping school and wandering the city all day, and finally after he is placed in the Observation Center, he escapes and runs to the sea, finally achieving this freedom he chases throughout the film.
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DeleteVery funny Aidan...
Deletethanks carl :) <3
Delete“The 400 Blows” is without a doubt inspired by the Italian neorealist movement, even Rossellini's style shows up in “Les Quatre Cents Coups”. Leland Poague stated that “Truffaut's debts to Rossellini and Renoir are as much stylistic as thematic—in both cases it is a matter of camera mobility and take duration”. The film exemplifies a theme of the absence of parents in the lives of their children. This is evident in Antoine's apparent mistreatment by his mother and father at home, and even has an impact on him in school. The other kids also deal with the same set of problems, and are pushed by the people around them to support themselves. The opening scene of Antoine at school exemplifies this. A multitude of low angle shots are used to portray the adolescents who tower over Antoine, who is powerless, showing that they are dominant. It is apparent in this scene that the theme of child neglect hovers over the plot of the movie, as children are constantly being taken advantage of by their predecessors. Another major scene that contradicts the power struggle between the young and old, but also supports the child disconnect motif, is the scene where Antoine escapes from the military school that his parents enrolled him into. The moment he arrives there, a massively wide shot is used to convey the giant world that Antoine has to face by himself, without the love and support of his parents.
ReplyDelete“The 400 Blows” is also able to show a simplistic style of filming paired with cinematic elements of the scene that create the meaning that Truffaut wanted the viewer to experience when watching his life story on the screen. One of these scenes that is extremely powerful is the final scene of the movie that seems to wrap up all the themes about adolescence that are present in the film. In this scene, Antoine tries to escape from the prison that his parents have put him in, and he does and runs to the ocean where he stops, turns around and the movie ends there. Truffaut wanted to make a film that is simple but also had the goal of making it different from other films of the time, which is shown in this scene.
There is clear influence from Rosselini but it is also quite original. The scene starts with a shot of Antoine running under a hole in the bottom of the fence that surrounds his correctional facility, and another man running after him. What is unusual about this shot from many films and similar to “Rome Open City” is that it is an extremely long take. Instead of using editing to cut back and forth between Antoine running and the guard chasing him, it is all done from one long shot that captures the whole scene solely by panning left and right following the actions of the two people. This allows us to understand everything that is happening in real time with true spatial relations. These themes show up in “400 Blows” and “Rome Open City” and the influence of Rosellini is clear in its importance in allowing Truffaut to express his childhood and that of many others in a film masterpiece.