La Haine

What is the importance of mise-en-scene and/or sound in creating meaning and generating response in the films you have studied.

Mise-en-scene is important in any film. This is because it enables the viewer to see more than just the characters within a film. It can foreshadow events by showing images in the background that are similar to events within a film etc. This can then create meaning within a film and build the story up. Mise-en-scene can also tell you a lot about a character, for example if a character is wearing white, they would be seen as angelic and innocent. Therefore all of these things have created a general response from the audience. Which adds to their general knowledge, this helps them form an opinion of characters and scenes.

In ‘La Haine’ when we first meet Vinz we see him in his bedroom and as the camera moves in 360 degrees shot we see his bedroom in detail and through the mise-en-scene we are able to tell a lot about him. La Haine continuously uses 360 degree shots to enforce the quote, “The world only goes round by misunderstanding”- Charles Baudelaire. This quote suggests that the lack of knowledge in a society will create a vicious cycle of struggle for the minority.

From this mise-en-scene we tell he is a religious man, by the traditional Jewish candles. The fact it is in his bedroom, indicates to the audience that he holds strong religious values. There is also a portion of family photos in his room, which also shows that he is family-orientated. This helps the audience see him in a positive aspect because he is a family man and this stereotypically, is the characteristics of a good person.

We can also tell from his bedroom, that he is highly influenced by the all of the American culture. This is shown through mise-en-scene because he has posters of Marilyn Monroe, Bruce Lee and American Wrestlers. This shows that he wants to live the American dream and one day earn enough money to support his family. This also links to the dreamer aspect of Vinz, this would allow the audience to be able to empathize with his situation and connect with him.

His room also includes stacks of American branded shoes and he is wearing a Spider-Man top. This shows that he is attempting to live like Americans and it is a form of escapism. This is evident because although he lives in France, he is wearing American influenced clothes and has American posters.  Which reflects on how bad French society is; by dreaming of America, he is escaping his problems. The mise-en-scene also shows Vinz asleep, which adds to the dreamer characteristic in him and helps re-enforce that idea.

The start of the film it has already been established that it is set in France through location and establishing recognisable shots in the projects. He lives in a multicultural estate, which influences the audience to believe that he struggles to get by due to the range of minorities living in the projects. Due to his Jewish background, the audience can see that he is an outside to the French culture.

In the first narrative dialogue in the opening scene, there is complete silence. Silence can be seen just a powerful as sound, this is because the silence enforces the importance of what the narrator is saying. Silence also causes the audience to pay close attention to the words being used, causing it to become a significant effect. The narrator says, “As he falls, he tries to reassure himself by repeating; so far, so good...” this is said to give the audience the impression that the society that they live in, barely let’s the minority get by. This idea is then enforced by the mise-en-scene a few seconds later, as the bottle rag bomb is thrown at the world. This foreshadows the riots and violence that is later carried within the film. The fact that the narrator says, “tries to reassure”, shows that the people within the projects are unhappy and they are not assured of their stability. This particular mise-en-scene causes an indication of corruption within the world and supports the earlier quote by Charles Baudelaire, that the world is highly misunderstood.

After the bottle is thrown, the world explodes and the narrator says, “It’s not the fall that matters, it’s the landing”. Causing an interpretation that it’s not the journey that matters, it’s the end result. This indicates that the rioters do not care how much of a fight they have to put up, it’s the final outcome that is importance.