The Scarlet Empress - A Formal Analysis
The Scarlet Empress is a rather interesting work of art. I stress the word “art” because of the film’s brilliant implementation of mise en scène. The film’s director Josef von Sternberg’s exceptional staging of his scenes steers his audiences through the pure and cryptic realm. Before getting into, it is important to learn about the film itself. The Scarlet Empress centers around a Prussian princess Sophia Frederica (played by Marlene Dietrich) is sent to Russia to wed the Grand Duke Peter (played by Sam Jeffe), the foolish son of the Empress, in hopes of conceiving a male child to become heir to the throne. The story unfolds from the perspective of Sophia, from her time as an harmless princess to her ascension to the throne.
The plot lends itself to some gorgeous mise en scène, most notably during the wedding scene. Throughout the movie, it is clear that Sternberg likes to saturate his shots in ways to captivate the viewer to the story’s undertone. This is shown in scenes like Sophia’s preparation scene, in which the shot is saturated by three characters, a mannequin with a dress, a mysterious statue of sorts, all captured with a medium shot. Princess Frederica only appears in a small mirror shot of her face in both the large mirror and her hand mirror, as opposed to the medium body shot of the other two characters on-screen. However, no where in the movie is this saturation of a shot done as well as the wedding scene. The mise en scène of the wedding scene bears artistry that drowns by figures, which brilliantly showcases the princess’ pitfall into a new life that was forced upon her. Up until this point in the movie, Princess Frederica has been deprived of her familiar identity and her values, with a name-change to Catherine to top it all off. Now, she gazes upon the truth of her situation, having been hoodwinked into marrying a man who seems delicate and rational. In a close-up shot of the Grand Duke, we find out along with Catherina that the Grand Duke is merely a moron who smiles too much. As of this moment, her upcoming trials in this new life now seem more tricky than ever, and this scene further sets the stage for Catherine’s rise to the throne.
Along with the revealing shots of Grand Duke Peter, Sternberg peppered in some shots of Alexei, who has fallen in love with Catherina. Throughout the film, he tries to be alone with Catherina, even kissing her a few times, despite her wedding with the Grand Duke. In the reverse-shots of him from the wedding sequence, Alexei seems troubled by the marriage as he watches the new-found love of his life marry the fool. A note of interest is how the audience is not able to figure out where Alexei stands during the wedding ceremony amongst the crowd. It’s worth mentioning here that the shots of Alexei uses hard lighting to hide his face in the shadows a bit more, versus how shots of Catherine use soft lighting to signifying her being the central focus of the event. Furthermore, when the audience sees Catherine, one notices her inability to not constantly think about Alexei as opposed to the man she is marrying. She seems to be panting as she perpetually thinks about this cunning man who has been lusting after her ever since he arrived in Prussia. The camera only focuses in on her more and more, with the fire of the candle in her hand dying out. Upon viewing this movie for the first time, this can be viewed as her interest in the Grand Duke dying out, which is in stark contrast to her apparent attraction to Peter earlier in the film. However, this moment can also be the final nail in the coffin for Sofia Frederica in spirit, signifying the completed transition into Catherine II of Russia. Perhaps this shot of her during the wedding is intentionally open to interpretation by director Josef von Sternberg.
Praise cannot be given to the mise en scène of The Scarlet Empress without mentioning the make-up and costuming. The wedding scene is a wonderful example of costume design and make-up done well in a film, especially for a film released in 1934. The most prevalent example comes in the form of Catherine’s wedding gown for the ceremony. The gown is well-designed, elegantly recapturing the beauty and exquisiteness of the mid to late-1700s fashion. From the simple design of the veil to that grandiose crown on her head, Catherine’s gown is an good example of how impressive the costuming was for this film. To top it off, the candle in Catherine’s hand during the ceremony softly lights up the gown perfectly, giving the audience a good glimpse into the delicate design, a good display of Josef von Sternberg’s ability to light his scenes.
Furthermore, one can admire the fact that Catherine’s make-up was not overdone for this important scene. Catherine’s make-up was done simple in design, which kept the character’s innocence during the scene in full effect and staying true to her natural beauty. This is all in stark contrast to her husband-to-be, Grand Duke Peter. The audience does not get a clear look at Peter’s outfit for the ceremony, due to the fact that any look the film gives of Peter is shot in close-up and always using hard lighting. This stark contrast of Peter as opposed to Catherine is able to show her and the audience what Peter truly is in the context of the movie. Peter is not some charming and shrewd prince of Russia, he’s just a fool who smiles quite a lot. Then, of course, there is Count Alexei, the cunning man who lusts after Frederica/Catherine II. During the wedding ceremony, the film has Alexei sport a fur coat, as opposed to something more formal. It is rather odd but, nevertheless, the costuming for Alexei has the same amount of flair and grace as Catherine and just about everyone else in this scene. Something that sticks out, though, is the way Alexei is lit during the scene. Director Josef von Sternberg uses hard lighting yet again for Alexei, something deliberately done to show Alexei’s potential jealousy and clearly troubled by the wedding, as mentioned before. What may be troubling Alexei is not only the love of his life being wedded to another man, but also what this whole intricate plan by the Empress is doing to Catherine’s life, perhaps showing deep sorrow for her.
Another note of interest is how Alexei and Catherine are pictured using a reverse-shot to indicate the fact that they are staring at directly at each other, as opposed to her looking at her new husband Peter. This is to signify the lust between the both of them and how vital their little affair may be to the rest of the plot. The upsetting truth that prevails in this moment is that their lust for one another will never truly be fully pleased, mainly due to Catherine’s marriage to Grand Duke Pete, something that also shines through the use of the reverse-shot. What this all adds up to a wonderfully shot wedding scene with lighting that sets the mood and feel of every character, coupled with excellent costume designs that pair nicely with the era in which the film is set.
Director Josef von Sternberg has directed multiple films with actress Marlene Dietrich, practically launching her acting career with his work. The Scarlet Empress may be Sternberg’s most wonderful film of the bunch in terms of the use of mise en scène. From camera shots that provide deeper meanings to lighting that shows the true nature of the ceremony in relation to our main characters to the impeccable costume design of all of the on-screen characters that pay tribute to the film’s intended era. Mise en scène is meant to showcase notable traits about a shot or scene that is done by the film’s director to sway the audience to regard said traits, something Sternberg clearly understands and accomplishes with ease in his film. Sternberg staged the wedding ceremony scene really well, providing precise and meticulous attention to detail to every shot, setting a standard for other filmmakers to follow.
