Mise-en-scene in The Captain’s Feast
The Captain’s Feast scene establishes the nature of the communist party in rural spain during the spanish civil war, in particular the attitude and values of Captain Vidal, the antagonist in the film. The feast symbolises permissiveness of the ruling class, and at the head of the table the embodiment of a fascist brute, Vidal. He has a reputation that he is proud of, and dominates the scene. This is shown with the mise-en-scene. He sits at the head of the table as he holds the highest rank, shown by his pristine uniform and medals which stands out on the table because he is backlit by the fire, but is lit with dark lighting. This lighting gives him an omniscient, sinister aura. The red from the flames, connotes his anger, this relates to his short fuse and raging temper.
The guests at the feast are “high class” or at least seem to be until the scene progresses. It is shown that the guests are arrogant, patronising and aloof. This is shown to us by the way their mise-en-scene portrays them, for example the way they are dressed; they are all wearing bland, dark, catholic clothing that shows their lack of personality and that they are formal. We can also tell this by the way they use cutlery, and help themselves to the plentiful amounts of food. With that being said there are some members on the table that use their hands to eat which shows how they are hypocrites and aren’t all posh.
Carmen doesn’t seem to fit in on the dinner table, she is wheeled in by one of the maids which shows her as fragile and in need of help. She is seen wearing light blue which stands out to all the dull coloured uniforms and brown suits the women are wearing, this symbolises her elegance and purity in the scene, this also symbolises how she has gained class, and can keep clean, the vibrant colour is a sign of wealth. Vidal is shown to not care for her, they are sat close together to show that they are in relation but many shots show that there is some emotional distance between them. She seems cut off from the others because she doesn’t feel like she fits in with them, she is not use to having class and she seems quite awkward in the scene.
(As a class we created a slideshow that presnts the Mise-en-scene in each individual category and character.)