For this assignment I chose to analyze a scene from the 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums, directed by Wes Anderson. I chose the scene in which Richie Tenenbaum, played by Luke Wilson, tries to kill himself because of the unrequited love he has for his adopted sister. This scene comes after a scene with Ritchie and Raleigh St. Clair (Bill Murray) receiving bad news from a private detective. They are told that Margot, who is both Raleigh's wife and Richie's adopted sister, was having an affair with Richie's best friend. After a brief cut to another scene, and a quick exchange between Raleigh and another character, Richie excuses himself to the bathroom.
This scene starts with a close up of Richie, who is standing in a small bathroom, staring straight into the camera, which the audience believes to be a mirror. This allows the audience to have an intimate close-up perspective of Richie, who is feeling very vulnerable and hurt. Also, the fact that for the first half of the scene he is wearing dark tinted sunglasses works well in that his eyes are hidden, so we can’t really fully see or understand his emotions. This is completely in line with the idea of the entire film, which is a very close personal view of 5 members of a very dysfunctional family, like a family portrait. This is actually a very good way to describe this film because a portrait-style framing, where a character is standing facing the camera in a medium shot as if a portrait were being taken of them, is employed numerous times throughout this film. Furthermore, a song called ‘Needle in the Hay’ by Elliot Smith is playing during this scene, which is a very quiet yet intense song sung in almost a whisper and played very softly on an acoustic guitar, which furthers the feeling of intimacy of this moment in the film.
On the technical side of things, I see a lot of interesting deliberate choices that enhance the experience of these particular shots. The lighting for this scene a bluish-green color, probably achieved by putting gels over the bulbs. I find the lighting itself to be interesting during the first half of this scene, because the harshest and brightest is the backlight. (Note: The image above happens later in the scene.) The key and fill light are both extremely dim, and centered right above the camera in front of the Richie’s face. The camera is using a wide-angle lens, because although this is a close up, he does not take up the whole frame, and there is a lot of space on each of his sides. Also, the framing of these shots uses the classic two-thirds rule—he is in the middle ‘third’ of the frame for the entire scene. There is no camera movement during any shots of this scene, though there are a few short cuts—one to a longer medium shot from an angle behind Richie, showing him reaching into the medicine box for shaving supplies, one going back to a slightly closer version of the original close-up, and a bunch of very rapid cuts of images we have seen previously in the film, to show his life flashing before him as he puts a razor through his wrists.
The Royal Tenenbaums is an amazing film. There is such an extreme attention to detail that seems to border on obsession. Every shot is so stylized and meticulously done, which provides for a truly beautiful experience when watching it. Wes Anderson is my favorite director, and I highly recommend any of his films, like The Darjeeling Limited or Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou to anyone who wants to see a real artist at work.
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