Mise-en-scene in The Captains Feast

The Captain’s Feast establishes the nature of the fascist ruling class in rural Spain and the attitudes and values of Captain Vidal, the villain in the film. The feast is a scene of indulgence, greed and power. Vidal is a fascist brute, he is proud of his reputation and dominates the scene. The guests are hypocrites and prove to be arrogant, patronising and snobbish. Carmen, seems out of place and is represented as fragile, elegant and intimidated by the other guests, we also get the impression that Vidal does not care for her.

Vidal presented as a very neat, tidy and well groomed man, this shows he takes pride in himself. Another example of Mise-en-scene is his costume, which is an army uniform with many medals, which implies he is very high ranking and important. During the ‘Feast’ scene he tells everyone when to sit down, this connotates the idea that he is the most important person in the room. It also suggests that everyone obeys him possibly due to fear. Vidal is sat at the head of the table, which implies he holds the most power. The lighting in the scene highlights from the shoulders up and especially on his face, this signifies he is the centre of attention and everyone needs to be acknowledging him and worshiping him. 

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