OLD TROPHIES: MISE EN SCENE and FAILURE in THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001)

The subconscious way that people react to their environment is incredibly far-reaching. The behavior and mental state of everyone is constantly affected by the position of the objects around them. Since it is often said that art mirrors life, the meticulous control of visual images of a film is infinitely important to how the audience perceives the film. Mise en scene, literally "within the frame", totally exemplifies this idea. The set design, position of objects, contrast, and patterns of the objects within the frame of a film completely shapes the tone of the film and tells its story. The master of mise on scene has often been named as none other than Wes Anderson, whose distinct aesthetic can never be mistaken for another's. Wes Anderson's 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums seems to be a study in how humans cope with failure: through addiction, such as the darkly comedic Eli Cash; through paranoia, such as the disaster-obsessed Chas Tenenbaum; or, maybe, through persevering manipulation, utilized by Royal himself. The mise en scene of The Royal Tenenbaums strengthens the film's overall exploration of failure and creates a tone suggesting that the characters are each trapped in a life plagued by their failures.

It is made clear through the diegesis of the film that each of the Tenenbaum children's accomplishments peaked at a young age, leaving them to live anticlimactic adult lives. Each character's unhappiness is made clear through the film's techniques of mise en scene. Margot Tenenbaum is usually shown at a greater depth than other family members and away from the more densely textured groups of Tenenbaum children and adults. She locks herself in the bathroom all day away from her husband, illustrating her failing marriage. The only exception is Richie, whose relationship with Margot is constantly troubling. This establishes a social and public proxemic pattern, suggesting an uncomfortable and detached family dynamic and hinting at Margot's alienation and depression. In all scenes with Chas and his twin sons, they wear bright red tracksuits in order to easily identify each other. These suits are a strong dominant contrast and imply danger and tensity with their bold color. Wes Anderson also makes use of highly symmetrical design, comparing Chas with his sons and further tying Chas's identity to preserving them (and, by some measure, preserving what they seem to represent: healthy childhood, which Chas experienced as a period of high success). In most shots of Richie, his old tennis headband jumps out as dominant contrast next to his face and body, hidden by the subsidiary contrast of his hair, beard, and dull clothing. The headband remains a constant reminder of his former fame and success, which were all ruined when Richie choked during an important match and gave up his career forever.

The Royal Tenenbaums, it seems, is a story based heavily in nostalgia. At the beginning of the film, the story walks through the childhoods of the Tenenbaum children, immersing them in childlike environments with a heavy 1970's aesthetic. However, as the children grow up, the house and objects remain more or less the same, lost in time. 

This creates elements of parallelism within the film, drawing strong ties between the Tenenbaums' child and adult lives.  The past affects the present throughout every scene of a film, literally invading the present narrative through Wes Anderson's sets. The characters constantly find themselves crammed into environments built for children, such as the tent full of childhood knick-knacks which Richie sleeps in over the course of the film. He has grown too large to fit in the densely composed tent, but remains uncomfortably stuck in his old life. Most notably selected are the trophies from Richie's childhood that are crammed in that weight the right side of the frame: a constant reminder of Richie's childhood successes. It seems that the presence of those trophies seems almost comforting. The inability to move on from the past suggests that the Tenenbaum children are clinging to their most successful age, creating the main conflict of the film.

Wes Anderson's techniques of mise en scene carefully cultivate the contents of each frame, supporting the exploration of failure through its motifs of childhood. Living in a world arranged by Wes Anderson certainly seems heightened and unrealistic, but in its own way, The Royal Tenenbaums does mirror life. The effect of failure has been explored through storytelling since Gilgamesh, but the compelling and unique story of failure driving three siblings back into childhood in The Royal Tenenbaums touches on an accessibility and relatability that is rarely matched.