Film

In 1986, the French critic Fereydoun Hoveyda stated that “the originality of the auteur lies not in the subject matter they choose, but in the technique they employ, i.e. the mise en scène.” Since at least the 1960s, the term mise en scène has been claimed by film criticism to express the singularity of a filmmaker’s work, and to address cinema's specific vocation in contrast with the other arts. But what exactly is mise en scène? How has the term been used, and what does it say about a film director’s practice? In this class, we will read and discuss definitions and applications of mise en scène as an analytical concept, and study how it appears in films by different filmmakers working in distinct production contexts.