The tensions between Claude Chabrol's use of realism and his stylized artificial mise-en-scene

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

11 pages

Format :

.pdf

Published date :

07/29/2009

Category :

Arts & media

Sub category :

Film studies

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Summary :

Introduction
The outset of Que la Bete Meure
Analysis of Chabrol's viewpoint
1. The depth in characterization
The newsreel sequence
The role of music
The linguistic and extra-diegetic
The movement between realism and the abstract
The use of rhythm in the mise-en-scene
Reference to the surreality of the situation
Integration of the characters
Conclusion
Bibliography

Abstract

Jacques Rivette defined mise-en-scene as 'a precise complex of people and decors, a network of relations, a moving architecture of relationships somehow suspended in space' (1954: 44). In the films of claude chabrol, the mise-en-scene seems to embrace this definition. On the one hand his near-documentary realism provides a portrait of his subjects that is credible enough to make a social commentary, and thus contribute to what Monaco (1976: 258) refers to as 'chabrol's landscape'. On the other hand, this realistic 'portrait' is juxtaposed with extra-diegetic elements that reinforce the auteur's presence and perceptions, as well as serving to anticipate the action, as demonstrated in Que La Bete Meure (1969), in which a father looks for his son's killer and subjectivity and objectivity are interlaced. chabrol also explores the blurring between 'real' and 'imagined' life in Le Boucher (1970), which follows the platonic friendship between a schoolteacher and the local butcher, and her efforts to deal with her suspicion of him as a serial murderer strikes in this quiet village in Sout West France. chabrol finally uses chronological discrepancies to highlight the unchanging amoral behavior of a politically involved bourgeois family over time in La Fleur du Mal (2003).