Cinema Studies: Blue Velvet

Discuss the significance of mise-en-scene in Blue Velvet




Blue Velvet’s mise-en-scene serves as a basis for auteur theory. It is in every respect “Lynch’s classic”; it is also the film in which he “establishes his universe” and “creates a model which may serve in all the later films” (Chion 1995:97) . The mise-en-scene manifests a filiation with, and a ‘continuity’ between parts of Lynch’s oeuvre. In Blue Velvet, Lynch invents what might be called his ‘forever’ scene with the mad evening at Ben’s (Chion 1995:98). One aspect Blue Velvet’s mise-en-scene appears in many of Lynch’s films , so much so that it is named ‘Lynchtown’ . In the opening sequence of Blue Velvet, we see typical ‘Lynchtown’ characteristics in Lumberton- bright blue sky, red roses, a row of flowers in front of a white picket fence, and a man on a red fire truck, smiling as he waves at the camera. Shortly after that, Jeffrey Beaumont’s father collapses. The mise-en-scene in the opening sequence of The Straight Story is also that of a man collapsing in the vicinity of the house. In Blue Velvet, there is a scene where Jeffrey hides in a cupboard in Dorothy’s apartment, while in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, the character Laura Palmer finds Bobby Briggs hiding behind the chest of drawers in her bedroom. Lynch admits that as a young guy, he has had a fantasy of hiding in a girl’s room and watching her .



Another significance of Blue Velvet’s mise-en-scene is that it renders surrealist attributes to the film ; for instance, the motif of the severed ear “which obeys no comprehensible logic”, and the “image of ‘the yellow man” who, wounded and bleeding, obstinately remains standing before Jeffrey’s eyes (Chion 1995:90). This blending of surrealistic mise-en-scene into an otherwise formalist film makes the classification of Blue Velvet a highly debatable issue:

Although some purists argued that Lynch’s film did not belong to the fantasy genre…yet there are so many weird little touches and details that it is hard to deny that it belongs to the fantasy film genre. (Chion 1995:90) (Emphasis added)



Lynch describes Blue Velvet as “a story about a guy who lives in two worlds at the same time”- one of which is pleasant and the other dark and terrifying (Chion 1995:84). It is a story about a guy who has discovered “evil”, but the discovery will not change his life, and Lumberton will go back to its normal existence (Chion 1995:93). The representation of the ‘two different worlds’ is highly dependent upon the mise-en-scene; ‘Lynchtown’ placed in juxtaposition with the dark, film-noirish shots of Jeffrey ascending the staircase leading to Dorothy’s apartment, and him hiding in Dorothy’s cupboard .



Blue Velvet’s mise-en-scene also illustrates the Oedipal trajectory between Jeffrey (the symbolic child), Dorothy and Frank (the fantasy parents), which further adds to the fantastical attributes of Blue Velvet .



Through a clever maneuvering of mise-en-scene in Blue Velvet, Lynch “demonstrates his art of making daily life strange” (Chion 1995:98).

Cinema Studies: Vertigo

Use Mulvey’s theory of visual pleasure to analyse Vertigo




In the essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, Mulvey discusses the two types of scopophilia (‘active scopophilia’ and ‘narcissistic scopophilia’) and the “three kinds of looks” associated with cinema, in relation to the ‘privileging of the male gaze’ and the construction of women as the gazed-at ‘objects’. ‘Active scopophilia’ arises from “pleasure in using ‘another person’ as an ‘object’ of sexual stimulation through sight” while ‘narcissistic scopophilia’ is developed through narcissism and the constitution of the ego, from identifying with “the image seen” (Mulvey 1992:750). In Vertigo, Judy/Madeleine is the target of both the ‘active scopophilic acts’ of Scottie (the male protagonist in Vertigo) and the audiences :

“… subjective camera predominates. Apart from one flash-back from Judy’s point of view, the narrative is woven around what Scottie sees ... The audience follows the growth of his erotic obsession and subsequent despair precisely from his point of view (Mulvey 1992:755).



According to Mulvey, Freud describes scopophilia (active scopophilia) as a ‘component instinct of sexuality’ that exists quite ‘independently of the erotogenic zones’ (Mulvey 1992:748). The “insistence on just looking” is also “part of refusal to touch”; one reason for Scottie’s status as bachelor is “a lack of the usual male aggression that would reach out to touch”. (Coates 1991:180)



‘Narcissistic scopophilia’ is associated with the ‘mirror phase’ . Freud sees the two types of scopophilia as ‘interacting and overlaying each other’ (Mulvey 1992:750). For instance, it is possible for the audiences of Vertigo and Scottie to perform several ‘active scopophilia’ and ‘narcissistic scopophilia’ acts simultaneously. While viewing the film Vertigo, the audiences are perhaps, inevitably performing ‘active scopophilia’. In order to assume the subject position of Scottie as a ‘voyeur’, it may be necessary for the audiences to identify with Scottie, and this involves ‘narcissistic scopophilia’ on their part. While witnessing Madeleine’s act of ‘narcissistic scopophilia’ towards Carlotta’s image, the audiences (who are now occupying the subject position of Scottie) are again, re-enacting ‘active scopophila’.

While instances of scopophilia bring about pleasure to the voyeurs - in the reverse formation, there is pleasure in being looked at (Mulvey 1992:748):

“…In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness…” (Mulvey 1992:750)



Judy’s exhibitionism and masochism make her an ideal counterpart to Scottie’s active sadistic voyeurism ; “she knows her part is to perform, and only by playing it through and then replaying it can she keep Scottie’s erotic interest” (Mulvey 1992:755). Midge’s act of painting her own face into the Carlotta portrait (which seems to suggest an inherent desire in women to be objects of fetish) momentarily places herself in the subject position of the ‘gazed-at’.

To conclude, I will agree with Mulvey that the predominant gaze pertaining to Vertigo is the ‘male gaze’, while the female characters (particularly Carlotta and Judy/Madeleine) are objects of the combined gaze of the audiences and the male protagonist.

Cinema Studies: Mildred Pierce

What is the significance of the ‘false suture’ in the opening section of Mildred Pierce?




As Monte dies, whispering ‘Mildred’, the next shot shows a car drawing away from the beach house…A dissolve leads us into a shot of Mildred walking on the pier in a suicidal state. (Cook 1996:76)



The ‘reverse-shot’, which shows the real murderer of Monte Beragon is deliberately withheld, and this creates a ‘false suture’ in the opening sequence of Mildred Pierce.

The significances of the ‘false suture’ include the ‘creation of enigma’, the privileging of the patriarchal discourse through its function as a ‘snare’ and its representation of Mildred as the site of ‘duplicity’, as well as its reflection of the historical context within which the film is placed.

The ‘false suture’ creates an enigma: an enigma that deflects the audience from asking “Who killed Monte Beragon?” to asking “Why did Mildred Pierce kill Monte Beragon?” (Nelson 1985:450). This enigma is subsequently answered for the audience in the final flashback in the film (Nelson 1985:451). By changing the narrative’s central enigma, a disparity between Mildred’s story and the detective’s discourse is created (Nelson 1985:450). The knowledge that Mildred is not the murderer is withheld from the viewer, so that the resolution of the enigma rests entirely with the patriarchal police detective, who is the representative of the Law (Cook 1996:76).

The false suture establishes a “hierarchy of discourses”, wherein the female discourse is suppressed in favour of the male discourse (Cook 1996:69). Mildred’s story contains complexity and ambiguity, showing a concern for emotions rather than ‘facts’, while the detective’s discourse is aimed at reaching the ‘truth’, which involves the invalidation of Mildred’s version of the story (Cook 1996:71). Between Mildred and the detective, it is the detective who plays the upper hand; he is “the agent who instigates Mildred’s discourse and the termination point of each segment” (Nelson 1985:454). The detective is represented as the locus of omniscience; he knows that Mildred is not “telling the truth” (Nelson 1985:453). In contrast, the false suture articulates Mildred as the location of ‘duplicity’ and ambiguity (Cook 1996:78). By creating the binary oppositions of false/true and real murderer/innocent suspect, the ‘false suture’ functions as a ‘snare’; that which increases “the desire for a resolution which represents the truth” (Cook 1996:70).

The “displacement of guilt” to Mildred through the false suture is deemed related to the historical conditions at the end of World War II (Nelson 1985:450). The release date of Mildred Pierce coincides with the transition to a post-war economy and the return of the troops – a period whereby the relative economic freedom given to women as part of the war effort “had to be revoked” (Nelson 1985:457). As such, it can be said that the false suture’s significance also lies in its function as a tool for a patriarchal ideology .

The ‘false suture’ suggests a multitude of binary oppositions within the film . The ‘false suture’ in Mildred Pierce is more than just a clever maneuvering of filmic and cinematic codes. It is in itself a ‘discourse’ – perhaps, one that has profound significance on both the levels of narrative and ideology of Mildred Pierce.