WHAT IS MISE EN SCENE? When I stated in bygone days that everything is expressed on the screen through mise en scene in no way contested the importance of the subject-mater and the imput of the numerous people cooperating in the making of a movie. I never intended, for instance, to ignore or dismiss the significant contributions of the actors and the scriptwriters. I simply wanted to point out that the distinguishing feature of a …showed first 75 words of 3480 total…

…showed last 75 words of 3480 total…great movie.The director's presence is felt all along and the movie proves how an "auteur" can transform the "stupidest" script into a masterpiece ofarttAs one critic noted"'The camera itself is almost a character"(Stephen Hunter in W Post sept 18, 98) [In the absence of rhythm, movies seem verbose! I hope that the foregoing remarks have helped in clarifying the concept of "mise-en-scene" as we used it in our articles in the 50s and 60s.]