Analysis of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Mis-en-scène in A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan, 1951) emphasises the way Blanche Du Bois (Vivian Leigh) discloses the true scope of her identity to the surrounding characters. When Blanche first appears, she presents herself as a Southern Belle with traditional values, when in reality she has been forced to leave her home town due to accusations of promiscuity. The complexity of her character is enhanced on screen using elements of mis-en-scène, making use of costume and lighting. In particular within the opening sequence of the film, these devices are used to give the viewer the elements needed to piece together the person Blanche truly is.
Initially, setting and props are used to suggest to the viewer that Blanche’s identity will be a focus throughout the film. She appears stepping from a cloud of steam onto the train platform, her face covered by a net headpiece. Revealing her in this way suggests her character as a shadowy presence, her identity shrouded from the offset. People continue to walk through the smoke behind her, their faces hidden in shadow, a technique that builds the impression that identity can be masked. The viewer is given their first small piece of information on Blanche outside of the character she portrays.
Two scenes on, as Blanche enters the bowling alley looking for Stella, a mirror is used to reflect the duality of her persona and the tension between how she wishes to appear and the reality of her self. She leans against the cigarette machine, her head central to the shot and her reflection to its right, emphasising the juxtaposition between the two. Her duality here, mirrors the duality of her persona to come and of the conflict to be depicted between her external self and her inner passions. Here in the first scenes of the film, devices are used to suggest the complexity and shrouded nature of Blanche’s outer and inner self.
Blanche’s attempted suppression of the passionate part of her identity, following the death of her young husband, is further explored through costume choice for her character and for her sister Stella. Blanche and Stella are two women, whose lives could have followed similar trajectories had it not been for Stella’s defining decision to leave Belle Reve, while Blanch stayed. Both are passionate women but while Stella is able to explore her nature with her husband Stanley, Blanche has no such outlet. These intricacies of character are displayed in the opening sequence through the female characters costumes. Blanche arrives to New Orleans with her face covered by a net head piece, not unlike a wedding veil, bringing to mind an idea of modesty from the offset and with hindsight, hinting to her removal from the reality of her situation. Her dress is buttoned to the neck, with a fussy, feminine ruffled neckline and long sleeves. The gauzy material is not dissimilar to the material of Stella’s dress, however her sister’s ruffles are less pronounced and the neckline more revealing as it falls across her shoulder. The sisters hairstyles also reflect one another, Blanche’s heavily styled and tighter curled and Stella’s shorter with a natural look. Combined, these elements add to the impression that Blanche’s femininity and thus identity is ‘buttoned up’ and repressed, in comparison to Stella’s whose is uninhibited. The duality of Blanche’s persona is exhibited through comparison to her sister, the person Blanche could have been. Costume is used to emphasise differences between them.
Light and shadow are used to great effect throughout the film. Blanche is obsessed with manipulating her own lighting, she hides, turns lights away from herself and covers the flat in shades. However the lights and shadows that play across her face, those she cannot control, reveal a deeper sense of herself: the way she is perceived by the characters around her and the audience watching her.
When Blanche arrives on the train platform, her face is well lit, we see the conservative woman Blanche wishes to portray. It is when she enters the bowling alley, and the whirring fans overhead make the light flicker across her face, that the effect becomes more complex. As Blanche and Stella are reunited, Stella crosses Blanche’s key light ensuring her own face falls into shadow as she looks upon Blanche’s. Stella is seeing Blanche in the light of her donned persona. When they turn to look at Stanley off screen, shadows cross Blanche’s face and Stella is thrust into the light. Stanley changes the dynamic between the two women, Blanche must disguise herself before him to maintain her donned identity, whilst Stella effectively ‘lights up’ when she sees her husband. As the sisters sit down for a drink, Blanche pushes the soft wall light away from herself and onto Stella sitting with her face half in shadow as she proceeds to lie to her sister.
Mis-en-scène is used within the opening sequence of Streetcar to hint to the audience that there is more to Blanche than her outward appearance and manner suggests. This subtle use of smoke and mirrors suggest the layers to Blanche’s identity and her donned disguise within the first few seconds of the film. Blanche and Stella’s costumes suggest the nature of the woman she is striving to be and who she could have so easily become. Light and shadow are then used to portray the flickering nature of Blanche’s identity. As the light changes to match who Blanche is interacting with and how she is being perceived by them, the audience develops a sense of how she wishes to appear to these characters in turn. Ultimately the mis-en-scène of the opening sequence develops Blanche’s character into one who the audience understand they may not trust on first sight.
Audiovisual Works
A Streetcar Named Desire [feature film] Dir. Elia Kazan, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., US, 1951. 120 mins.