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Understanding Film: Mise-En-Scene's Role In Slapstick Comedy

1086 Words5 Pages

Lily Reslink
Dr. Minnis
COMM 221: Understanding Film
24 April 2023
Mise-en-scene’s Role in Mr. Hulot’s Holiday’s Slapstick Comedy
Despite having sound, the structure of Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (1953) is highly reminiscent of a silent film. Sound plays such a minimal role that the film that the visual components naturally rise to prominence. With a film so reliant on what is in front of the camera to convey meaning in each scene, mise-en-scene in Mr. Hulot’s Holiday becomes the primary element in fulfilling the film’s purpose as a slapstick comedy. Mr. Hulot’s Holiday does not have a plot in the conventional sense of Hollywood narrative films. Instead, the film cuts between a series of unfortunate events that seem to follow Mr. Hulot wherever he …show more content…

Hulot’s vacation progresses, visually-driven gags continue to serve as the foundation of the film. Mise-en-scene contributes to these in several examples. The scene where Mr. Hulot rides on a boat that is cut in half is a clear-cut example of mise-en-scene’s role in creating comedic gags. Gags rely on presenting something unexpected and this scene does just that. The two halves of the boat folded over each other with Mr. Hulot struggling to free himself creates the illusion of some kind of shark or sea monster opening and closing its jaw. Given the pattern established in the film thus far, the audience likely presumes that something will go horribly wrong but they would have no way of knowing it would be exactly that. The shot that follows includes a distant shot of beach-goers, mostly children, running away in terror. The public beach setting is indispensable to this scene’s comedic effect. Having seen the build-up to the boat being cut in half and Mr. Hulot riding away on it, this outcome is more humorous to the audience because of the pure ridiculousness of the situation. This creative use props in front of the camera is indicative of the mise-en-scene’s effective role in the film’s comedy. While this gag obviously had no intention of tricking the audience, each part of the set up of this scene in front of the camera enhanced the ultimate humor of tricking the

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