Using Mise en-Scene, select one character to analyse and explain the ways in which the chosen character is represented.

In Media, we watched the begining of the Royal Tennenbaums film and chose one character to analyse and explain. This is my essay.

In 2001, the motion picture 'the royal tenenbaums' was created and directed by Wes Anderson, later to be released on 15th March 2002 in the UK, starring nmerous actors/actresses such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, and Owen Wilson. The film was nominated for an Oscar and went on to win various other movie awards. The film shows an extent of drug use, and scences of a sexual nature, resulting in its certificate rating at a 15.
The romantic comedy consists largely of five main characters: the Mother, Ethline, the Father, Royal and the three children; Chaz, Richi and Margot. The film portrays the upbringings of the three children and consequently how they turned out later in life. I chose to anaylse MArgot's character as i think her upbringing was the most influential. Margot is played by Irene Gorovaia as a young girl, and Gwyneth Paltrow as a woman. Unline her two brothers, she is the adopted daughter of Royal and Ethline Tenenbaum, which I think is a huge factor to Margots character. The film begins with a long shot of the Tenenbaums house, showing the three floors. On the first floor is Chaz's room, on the second floor is Richis room and on the third floor is Margot's room. This connotes to the audience that Margot is the most distant member of the family, possibly due to her heritage.
Margot's main interests are reading books, writing plays and possibly animals. She has perfectly cut blonde hair and is always shown with dark smokey eyes. This appearence gives the impression that she may be sayd, lonely, miserable or maybe resentful. In most scenes, Margots setting is considerably darker than others. For example; when her bedroom is shown, there are numerous bolts and locks on the door with a 'DO NOT ENTER' sign, this makes us aware that she is a very closed person and doesnt want to/like to interact with others, or be interupted. As you enter the room, Margot is sat in the middle of her bed listening to music through a pair of headphones perhaps symbolising that she doesn't want to share and likes to keep herself to herslef and drown out everybody else. Also what you notice when you enter the room is that there are curtains either side of her room, creating Margot as the center of perfect symmetry. This scene to me symbolises a stage and Margot being center stage. I think that this shows that although she comes across as closed and dark, she enjoys playing a fictional character as this prevents her audience from seeing the real her, which also seems to be how she acts in her everyday life. On the walls in her bedroom there are images of animals and Margot is often captured reading books about animals. This could be interpreted that she finds almost a saftey net, something she can rely on without them being able to speak and let her down or judge her.
The nest scene is Margot in her dark room which also shows a sense of how she likes to be alone as she cannot socialise in this hobby.
Her costume and props are all very personal relevant to her. For example, despite her love for animals, she is shot wearing a fur shaul and in her first play she is dressed as a blood-splattered animal. This possibly could be representing that altough she loves them, they are hurt, and likewise, she loves her parents but still feels neglected and lost. She perhaps wonders that if nobody cares for her, she she care for them. Another accurate symbolism of her, is her brothers 'failed' paintings of her, where she is always drawn without a smile, which says a lot about Margot as a person; very unhappy and shows little emotion. Considering this extreme noticeable unhappiness, her parents are either oblivious to it or generally dont care.
Margot is free spirited and individual as we notice in the things she does (eg plays), but also has a closed and dark peronsality. All of this could be due to the resentment she feels about the lack of a father figure. In the camer angles used in the film, the camera is always very centre and based on symmetry in the set. The sue of camera levels are used to show social class/power/status usually. Alot of the camera angles on Margot are high angles, meaning she is looking up at the camera. This gives me the impression that she longs or seeks something, perhaps a dominant male figure in her life.
The enigma code in the Royal Tennenbaums could be taht how did Margot lose her finger when she ran away? The symbolic cold is most accurately expressed when the bird is set free fromt he roof top, symbolising the upcoming freedom of the Tenenbaum children and for them to fend for themselves.
Personally, I think Margot's character is the most influential and interesting to analyse, as her thoughts, passions, fears and abitions all become clearer as the story unfolds. This is very skillfully done my Wes Anderson as the audience become intrigued to know more about her. She leaves lots of unanswered questions and mysteries for teh audience to pick up on. In terms of Vladimer Propps theory, I think that Margot plays the hero as she constantly seems to be seeking something, a father figure, recognition, love or just a greater meaning to her life.