Semiotics and The Royal Tenenbaums

Living in such a visual world, it is important to understand semiotics, as Chandler suggests, ‘Living in a world of increasingly visual signs, we need to learn that even the most realistic signs are not what they appear to be’ (Chandler, 2002, p.11.) So instead of studying it in a context that bores me (most of the books on it do just this), I am going to apply semiotics to film. Peirce, one of the theorists who came up with the idea of semiotics (along with Saussure), stated that ‘Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign’ (Peirce, 1931-58, P.172). If what Peirce suggests is true then the science behind interpreting meaning in film, is all to do with the, oh so confusing, theory of semiotics. So far I can just about grasp the concept of the signifier and the signified combining together to create the sign. Yet I think its necessary to relate this model to a film in order to really understand what it means. As an audience we can interpret meanings from the smallest, most insignificant prop in a film, even if it was not what the director intended.  Which to me suggests that all the elements combined to create a film, such as: cinematography, lighting and mise-en-scene, could each be described as signifiers.  For example, in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), almost every scene has a little something that can be picked apart and interpreted. However, one of the more significant signs within the film is that of the hawk. Conventionally to a David Attenborough enthusiast for example, the hawk would signify connotations such as predator or swift. Yet within the context of the film, (as the hawk is set free at the start) it signifies the freedom and nurture that the three children wish for themselves, whilst later changing (as it flies home at the end) to signify that they all have now received their wishes through Royal Tenenbaums metamorphosis and somewhat unconventional plan to right his family. I.E. Sign= signified (freedom/nurture) + signifier (hawk).

 References:

Chandler, D. (2002.) Semiotics: The Basics. 2^nd edn. Oxon: Routledge.

Peirce, C. S. (1931-58) Elements of Logic eds. Hartshorne, Charles. and Weiss, P. (8 Vols.) Cambridge, USA: Harvard University Press.