Marceau
Played by Julien Carette, the character Marceau from La Regle Du Jeu (1939), borders what can be characterized as a minor character. In an ensemble cast which features so many characters it can be hard to define major characters or protagonists. In his essay “Referential acting and the ensemble cast”, Mathijs describes the goal of the ensemble cast to “stress a sense of collectivity and community at odds with the structure of protagonism” (89). This is apparent in La Regle du Jeu as most characters get a larger share of screen time than traditional single protagonist films do. Despite Marceau’s relatively large screen time in the movie, his actions serve primarily to affect comedic relief rather than to move the plot forward. As such, in this manner, Marceau should be viewed as a minor character.
Marceau is first introduced to the audience as a poacher being hunted by his adversary Mr. Shumacher. Once apprehended, and in following the movie’s theme of upheaval of social expectation, Marceau is offered a position as a servant in the manor. As a servant he bumbles his way through tasks in well intentioned but misguided efforts. Additionally, he falls in love with and begins a slap stick love affair with Mr. Shumacher’s wife, all the while desperately avoiding the spurned cuckold. Marceau’s antics allow for his character to occupy a large “character space”: a way to view minor characters’ roles as described by Alex Woloch, as “that particular and charged encounter between an individual human personality and a determined space and position within the narrative as a whole” (14). Marceau’s personality is so apparent it would be viewed as over the top to modern viewers, yet his role in the narrative in the whole is relatively uneventful. Despite the C-plot where Marceau and Mr. Shumacher compete for the love of Mrs. Shumacher, Marceau’s action have little effect on the A-plot involving the love triangles of the upper class.
Although Marceau’s character is a minor character, because of the ensemble cast around him, his scenes still carry value. Mathijs suggests that “[e]nsembles play off each other rather than off reality” (90). As such, in order for the A-plot to function, the B- and C-plot actors must function as a cohesive set. The portrayal of the servants and lesser upper-class guests becomes an imperative mirror to, and sounding board for, the A-plot upper class characters. Marceau’s over the top performance of his love affair then grounds the fickle pairing and re-pairings of the upper-class characters in a sense of reality, albeit still with some absurdity left for the viewer to ponder.
Works Cited
Mathijs, Ernest. “Referential Acting and the Ensemble Cast.” Screen, vol. 52, no. 1, 2011, pp. 89–96. MLA International Bibliography, https://ezproxy.tru.ca/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=2011441745&site=eds-live&scope=site
Woloch, Alex. The One Vs. The Many. Princeton UP, 2004.
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