Mise-en-Scene - The Basics

Mise-en-scene is one of the most fundamental parts of filmmaking, being everything you can see on screen; sets, props, costumes and even the way actors are positioned within the frame. in Luc Besson's 1994 film, Leon: The Professional, he makes a masterful use of the aspects of mise-en-scene to explore the depths of his central characters, and the way their circumstances and environments impact them on a deeper level.. The highly complex characters in the film remain fairly closed off for the most of it, with the exception of Mathilda, and eventually Leon. This means that the spectator gets a majority of their information about the character from the mise-en-scene.

Costume, when used well, can become incredibly symbolic and informative within the narrative. The character's each have their own costume motifs, and each motif tells a lot about the character. The twelve year old protagonist Mathilda, is first seen wearing a crop top, shorts and a raggedy cardigan. her attire remains similar throughout the film, although she eventually begins to wear a large bomber jacket when she moves in with Leon. Mathilda's mature, scruffy attire tells her backstory; she has a hard life, and is assumed to be the primary caregiver of her four year old brother. Her parents are negligent and she has grown up much faster than she should have. This is also shown by the fact that when we first see her character, she is smoking a cigarette, further backing up her overly mature demeanour.

The other protagonist, isolated hit-man Leon, also shares Mathilda's trait of often wearing almost identical outfits, his consisting of a white wife-beater, black trousers and a long black coat, with his trademark round sunglasses and a hat. His continuity of such a simple outfit reflects his longing for a more normal, stable life, as the film reveals that he had initially planned to settle down and get married until a tragedy propelled him into the life he leads as a 'cleaner'. The main antagonist of the film, Stansfield, is a corrupt Drug Enforcement Administration agent, who is responsible for the murder of Mathilda's family. His attire represents his authority and power over Leon and Mathilda. He wears a white suit, and always has his hair combed neatly back. Not only does this show his higher status in society, but is highlights his contrast with the two protagonists, which is also an example of binary opposition used to emphasize the tension between these characters.

The apartment building which the film primarily takes place in reflects their societal positions and bleak outlooks, particularly Leon's, with the plant he gives Mathilda being a noticeable pop of colour in the washed out setting, representing the idea of hope and starting again after tragedy, something he wishes for her as he was unable to do this. The colour palette is neutral and minimalist, and the apartments are shabby and cluttered. The brief glimpses inside Mathilda's apartment show brighter, neon colours, which demonstrates the chaos of her life, and contrasts the simplistic setting of Leon's apartment, which represents the neutrality and stability that she had been searching for.

Besson's brilliant use of mise-en-scene allows him to communicate so much about the characters and their feelings without slowing the film down with lengthy exerts of dialogue spelling this out for the viewer, and makes for a significantly more interesting viewing experience due to its very deliberate use of these aspects creating a strong aesthetic for the film.